Elizabeth Harrower

True Grit -- A drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger help a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer in Indian territory.

In 1970, John Wayne earned an Academy Award for his larger-than-life performance as the drunken, uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshall, Rooster Cogburn. The cantankerous Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Cogburn's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter, sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disastrous when the inexperienced Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin.

John Wayne landed one of his last great screen roles as crusty lawman Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn, who reluctantly helps teenager Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) pursue her father's killer. True Grit is more a character study than many of Wayne's formulaic Westerns. The rousing final showdown between Wayne and the villains adds to the Duke's long list of outstanding movie moments.

A drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger help a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer in Indian territory.

A drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger help a stubborn young woman track down her father's murderer in Indian territory.

A headstrong young girl hires Rooster Cogburn, a hard-nosed fearless U.S. Marshall, to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When an inexperienced Texas Ranger joins the hunt, things go from troubled to disastrous.

Clark Gable (in one of his finest late-career performances) plays Jim Gannon, a school-of-hard-knocks newspaperman who despises journalism schools...until he sees who's doing the teaching. Attracted to lovely professor Erica Stone (Day), he masquerades as a novice in her class. Soon he's her prize pupil, all the while trying to make her his own prize.

Clark Gable (in one of his finest late-career performances) plays Jim Gannon, a school-of-hard-knocks newspaperman who despises journalism schools...until he sees who's doing the teaching. Attracted to lovely professor Erica Stone (Day), he masquerades as a novice in her class. Soon he's her prize pupil, all the while trying to make her his own prize.

In 1620, a group of religious outcasts boarded the Mayflower in England and set sail for the New World, where they founded a tiny wilderness outpost that was the genesis for what would become the United States of America. This is their thrilling story.