Benedito Dias Rodrigues Those who watched African Queen will understand from where this movie came from,this sequel of True Grit,they tried explore the chemistry of those greatest actors Duke and Kate and they got it,no doubt about that,the movie is funny and every characters are engaged in their roles,especially John McIntire as judge and Strother Martin as McCoy the wise balsa man...they are superb...Rooster and Eula are on fight every time,both have a own way to think about the right and wrong and they are completely opposite each other....about the movie??? doesn't matter at all!!We must point out the amazing western landscape,in particular way Rogue river in the Oregon!!!Resume:First watch: 1989 / How many: 2 /Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5

James Hitchcock Rooster Cogburn" was John Wayne's penultimate film; his last was to be "The Shootist" from a year later. Here he repeats his role as U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn, the role which he had made famous in "True Grit" and which brought him his only Oscar. "True Grit" was ostensibly set in Oklahoma but was actually shot in Colorado; here the action is ostensibly set further east, in Arkansas, but the film was shot even further West, in Oregon.The film opens with Cogburn being stripped of his Marshal's badge by a judge on the grounds of drunkenness and his "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude. Soon afterwards, however, his badge is restored to him on the grounds that his style of law enforcement is exactly what is needed to combat a desperate gang of outlaws operating in the area, the authorities having realised that lawmen who ask questions first and shoot later end up dead, shot by the bad guys before they have finished asking their first question. The film then explores how Cogburn goes about his task, aided by Eula Goodnight, a spinster schoolteacher whose preacher father has been murdered by the villains and Wolf, a young Indian whose family have met the same fate.Vincent Canby, film critic of the New York Times, called "Rooster Cogburn" "a high-class example of the low Hollywood art of recycling". The basic plot- "tough lawman takes on a gang of desperados"- was already an over-familiar one in Westerns by 1975. The film's two most original features are the age of the leading man- at 68 Wayne was considerably older than the average Western action hero- and the active role taken by its leading lady. Despite her rather prim manner- she objects to Cogburn's drinking and profanity- Eula is no passive shrinking violet but a tough lady who can ride and shoot as well as any man and is determined to avenge her father's death. I suspect that Eula (whose father is still alive at the beginning of the film) was originally supposed to be younger than Cogburn, but the role went to Katharine Hepburn, who was the same age as Wayne. (They were born in the same month, May 1907).I would not rate the film as highly as "The Shootist", which I regard as a masterpiece, but it is at least as good as "True Grit" and considerably better than Wayne's antepenultimate film, the disappointing police drama "Brannigan". It was the only film in which Wayne and Hepburn, two of the most iconic stars of their generation, acted together, probably because Wayne tended to specialise in Westerns and war films, two genres with which Hepburn was not normally associated. She is, however, excellent here, playing in one of her few Westerns a character similar to the one she had created in "The African Queen", one of her few war films, more than twenty years earlier. There was to be no Oscar for Wayne this time, but he is at least as good as he had been in "True Grit". Much of the appeal of the film lies in the way in which Cogburn and Eula, who are about as different from one another as it is possible for two characters to be, nevertheless manage to work together.Director Stuart Millar handles the action sequences well and there is some striking photography of the Western landscapes, probably the reason why, whatever the film's ostensible setting might be, shooting was moved to the Pacific North-West. The film could easily have ended up as the sort of dull, derivative Western adventure we had all seen too many times before, but Wayne, Hepburn and Millar combine to produce something which still remains worth watching forty years on. 7/10

Wuchak Released in 1975, "Rooster Cogburn" stars John Wayne as hard-drinking, but formidable Marshal Rooster Cogburn, who reluctantly teams-up with a missionary, Eula Goodnight (Katharine Hepburn), and a Native orphan, Wolf (Richard Romancito), to take down a band of ruthless outlaws who stole a wagon of nitro and guns in the Oregon wilderness. Richard Jordan plays the hardened leader of the owlhoots, who is assisted by a man that used to work for Cogburn (Anthony Zerbe). John McIntire has a small role as a judge.I've been wanting to see this movie for years, but never got around to it till now. I was a little apprehensive as I heard it was seriously flawed, but was pleasantly surprised by how good it is. In fact, it won a spot on my favorite Westerns list.Let's first consider the nitpicky criticisms. One critic complained that a Gatling gun pops up out of nowhere when the protagonists are cornered, but Cogburn explained to Eula earlier at the Native Mission that there were guns in the wagon that the outlaws stole, along with nitro. Thus when they're later camping out (after confiscating the wagon) Rooster pulls out the Gatling gun in case the gang shows up. Where's the beef? Another complaint is that the guy who plays Eula's father is only a year younger than Hepburn in real life. Who cares? He LOOKS old enough to be her father. Besides, his role is a glorified cameo and so it isn't even worth mentioning. Another criticism is that the tone is "too light," but the film has the same air as "True Grit" and Wayne's other latter-day Westerns. It's an entertaining Western mix of serious drama with intermittent spurts of violence and occasional moments of amusement. Isn't that the way real life is? This is one of the things I like about the movie, it's not one-dimensional. One last beef is that Ms. Goodnight constantly spouts platitudes and homilies and it gets old after a while, but this ties-in to her character arc: She just lost her father and many Native friends and so when she meets Rooster she's grim and intent on justice. But, as she & Wolf get to know the Marshal, she increasingly lets her hair down, so to speak. Speaking of which, the highlight of the movie is the relationship that develops between Cogburn and Eula, as well the father/son rapport that grows between Cogburn and Wolf. They develop into a family of sorts and it's heartwarming. The banter between Rooster and Ms. Goodnight is well-written and consistently amusing, particularly if you're familiar with the Bible. Another highlight is the Oregon locations, some of which are spectacular, like the river canyon in the final act. Not many Westerns were/are shot in Oregon and this makes for a unique Western ambiance. This isn't to say that the movie is without flaws, however. For instance, is it likely that they would handle the nitro as seemingly careless as observed in the movie? Would any sane person cart boxes of nitro on a raft going down a river with a section containing serious rapids? It would be suicidal. But movies often amp-up things like this to make the characters and events larger-than-life. In short, this ain't real life; it's a MOVIE meant to entertain (but, don't get me wrong, I prefer realism). The film runs 108 minutes and was shot in Oregon (Deschutes National Forest, Rogue River, Smith Rock State Park & Grants Pass) with a few scenes shot at Six Points Texas, Backlot, Universal Studios, California. GRADE: A-

SnoopyStyle Rooster J. Cogburn (John Wayne) is the deputy Marshall for the western district of Arkansas and the Indian Nation. He has already killed 60 suspects in 8 years. Judge Parker takes his badge. Breed (Anthony Zerbe) leads a group of US Calvary into an ambush by Hawk (Richard Jordan) and his men. They steal the nitro to use for a bank job. Parker offers Rooster $500 for the return of the dynamite and $1500 for the arrest of Hawk. He tracks them to an Indian settlement where they killed many including the Minister. The minister's daughter Eula Goodnight (Katharine Hepburn) insists on joining Rooster with Indian boy Wolf.Wayne and Hepburn have some good banter but it overtakes the movie. Instead of a really hard man, he's simply a kindly old guy set in his way. He's not even that drunk. The overall tone of the movie is too light which takes away from the hard edge of the material and the action. This is like The African Queen done with a nudge and a wink. Both Zerbe and Jordan are good solid character actors and they both are good villains. Although it may be better to have only one to solidify that position.