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| The gallows at the Fort Smith National Historical Site |
Boulden also praises the author of the book upon which the film is based--Charles Portis. "While admittedly using a fictional form and characters, Portis was trying to hep with that and convey the 'true' spirt of this area in the 1870's," Boulden said. "He was reading actual newspapers and made site visits as part of hs own research. The snake pit and what happened there was actually real although Portis inserted his fictional characters into it."
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| Judge Isaac C. Parker |
Of course, there are two versions of the film, the original winning John Wayne a Best Actor Oscar (and features a young Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper). In terms of authenticity and historical accuracy, the original doesn't ring as 'true' as the Coen Brothers' adaptation. Most problematic are the filming locations. The 1969 version was shot on location against white-capped mountains in Colorado and in the climactic showdown, a famous landmark looms in the background--Chimney Peak. In truth the area of Fort Smith and its surroundings are located in Arkansas.
There is one historical inaccuracy in the film: In the early scene in which the girl goes into the businessman's office to try to get her father's money back, she walks by a typewriter on the left side. The typewriter is an Oliver #9, which didn't come out until 1896.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, but Rooster Cogburn was a real person. There's not much info about Rooster Cogburn directly, but 'Little George' Cogburn was a notorious bootlegger and outlaw. His son, 'Little Rooster' passed away in 2007 at the age of 104. I think my great-grandfather Tom Cogburn was Little Rooster's brother. The timeline of their moving from Arkansas around 1907 fits with the family history: Little George got into an altercation and killed two men, and was forced to flee.
ReplyDeleteWell now, I know a little about this subject having grown up in the Polk/Montgomery County Arkansas area. The "Rooster" Cogburn that I knew was really named Mitchell. His wife Bessy was a cousin of my grandmother and we visited in their home when I was young. When I was older Mitchel ("Rooster") carved rolling pins and what he called "hippy sticks" and sold them. Most of them were made out of local "red" cedar. They lived in the mountains at Shady (Polk County) in a cabin that was within spittin' distance of the county road. He was the Official State Wildlife Check Station in the area and I've checked many a deer there. As far as I know he was only called "Rooster" after the original True Grit movie came out; but I could be mistaken (I was once before).
ReplyDeleteHis father was Lil' George Cogburn who was on the run from the law a good part of the time. He was from Fancy Hill (Montgomery Co.). He shot a feller or two that was a-shootin' at him and was wanted for murder. Well, he weren't gonna have none of that and hid out in the mountains in people's barns and lofts of churches and such. I think he made a little whisky and sold it and that's probably why the law targeted him in the first place. He was never a dangerous criminal (not as dangerous as the law, I assure you) and the local folk helped him evade capture. As far as I know he never was caught. But, by god, a man has a right to defend himself; law or no law. Mountain people understand this to this day and the country would be better off if everybody could understand it.
p.s. My grandmother that was a cousin to "Rooster's" wife Bessy was a Parker but was no kin to the famous Hanging Judge Parker who was a Yankee. My family were all Confederates and proud of it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, these Parkers were kin to the Parkers that were killed by Comanche and Kiowa Indians at Fort Parker, Texas in about 1836. Cynthia Ann Parker was a young girl and was kidnapped and later became the wife of Chief Peta Nacona. Their son became the Great Comanche Chief Quannah Parker of some fame. There was a fictionalized account of part of this story that was made into a movie in (probably) the 1950's. I believe it was called The Searchers.