The Duke is an institution alone and definitely cannot be reached. This is the one movie that I would give a Martian who flies from outer space and wants to know, who the hell is John Wayne!? Glen Campbell once said his acting was so bad it made the Duke look good.(Wayne won his first and only Oscar) In fact, Campbell's performance was quite good in his acting debut and I truly believe that if he had not been in this movie it wouldn't have been as successful and just another "DUKE" movie. At the time(1969), Glen Campbell was the hottest star in the world. A top 5 variety show & 6 albums in Billboards Hot 100...Did you hear me, I said 6(including #1,...Beatles #2)! The opening song on True Grit is the perfect door that opens to another time. 1969 to be exact! I remember going to the Tennessee Theatre with my Mom, step-father & some neighbors and how the movie gives me such a warm, safe feeling inside to this day of a time growing up as a kid in the south( AT THAT TIME ).Although the movie takes place post Civil War it still feels post summer of love...in Montana. Kim Darby is really the main character and gives a perfect performance as Madie Ross, but the man who puts the spice in Grit is the late, great Strother Martin! Although in the movie for a total of 10 minutes,"classic" Strother is what he is,"the best damned character actor ever" and never at a loss for words. The bargaining scenes with Darby could be entered in a short-story movie at a film festival! Never ceases to crack me up. Bottom line, the perfect Sunday in the Fall movie & from my experience 40 years of age & up appreciate this movie alot more, don't ask me why I'm 37.
