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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

See the real ‘True Grit’ tonight at the Garland

Dan Webster

Though he was nominated twice for an Oscar, John Wayne was never much of an actor. Rather, he was a screen icon, one of those performers who imbued a role with the force of his personality. Though he'd made some 70 films previously, the true power of that force became obvious in the first film he ever starred in, John Ford's 1939 Western "Stagecoach."

Wayne was known for two types of film: Westerns and war movies. Thanks to his relationship with Ford and other directors (Howard Hawks among them), he was part of — and mostly the main attraction of — such Western classics as "Red River," "3 Godfathers," "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," "Rio Bravo" and "The Searchers."

As for war films, Wayne was first nominated for an Oscar for Allan Dwan's 1949 effort "Sands of Iwo Jima." Wayne can be seen also in "The Fighting Seabees," "Back to Bataan," "They Were Expendable" and a film he directed himself, "The Alamo" (which received a nomination for Best Picture).

So many notable performance, so few honors — except, of course, for fame and wealth.

And then "True Grit" came along. When he broke character to play the drunken lawman Rooster Cogburn in Henry Hathaway's adaptation of Charles Portis' novel, Wayne displayed a comic side that thrilled audiences. And the Motion Picture Academy. In a year that saw acting nominations for Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, Wayne — the sentimental favorite — won the little gold statuette.

In "True Grit," which co-starred Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper, Wayne stars as Cogburn, who is hired by the intrepid Mattie Ross (Darby) to find the man who murdered her father. The film's climax features one of the great showdowns, which includes one of Wayne's signature lines of dialogue (see embed below).

You'll have the opportunity to see Wayne at 7:15 tonight at the Garland Theater. "True Grit" will screen as part of the theater's Summer Camp 2016 series. (Note: This is NOT the 2010 remake, which was directed by the Coen brothers and stars Jeff Bridges.)

Billing itself as "Spokane’s Only Independent Encore Theatre," the Garland charges $2.50 for admission.

Inexpensive tickets and John Wayne starring in a Western. That's almost as good as an Oscar right there.