Rooster Cogburn (1975)

John Wayne: Rooster Cogburn

Photos 

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Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  Eula : Reuben, I have to say it. Livin' with you has been an adventure any woman would relish for the rest o' time. I look at cha, with your burned out face and your big belly and your bear-like paws and your shining eye, and I have to say you're a credit to the whole male sex, and I'm proud to have ya for my friend.

  Rooster Cogburn : I'll be damned if she didn't get the last word in again. Well...

• Rooster Cogburn : Say, uh, there's one thing I would like to get straight.

  Eula : Hmm.

  Rooster Cogburn : We both know that the Lord brands lyin' a sin. You think He'll still smile on you after them whoppers you told in there?

  Eula : And if thy words stray from the truth for the good of God's own, if thy intent be pure, thou shall not then be judged sinful.

  Rooster Cogburn : Beautiful quotation. What book? What chapter?

  Eula : I will confess, Reuben, it is of my own invention, I just made it up.

• Rooster Cogburn : [to Eula]  Being around you pleases me.

• Rooster Cogburn : Ma'am, I don't know much about thoroughbreds - horses or women! Them that I did know, I never liked. They're too nervous and spooky; they scare me. But you're one high-bred filly that don't. 'Course, I don't know what you're talking about half the time!

• Eula : Just to whom do you think you are talking, Mr. Marshall?

  Rooster Cogburn : You is to whom I think I am talking, Ma'am.

  Eula : It's true that you are larger than me... but only physically.

  Rooster Cogburn : In this case, my dear lady, that is enough.

  Eula : Do you mean to tell me that you are prepared to use brute force?

  Rooster Cogburn : That is exactly what I mean.

  Eula : [pause]  Oh.

• McCoy : Do you know anything about rafts? There's rough water down river.

  Rooster Cogburn : I can ride. Can't be much different.

  McCoy : You ain't no sailor. I can see that. Water is like a woman: sly and fickle. You gotta watch it every minute.

  Rooster Cogburn : You a sailor?

  McCoy : I was once. Shanghai McCoy's my name. Been around the Horn, sailed the seven seas, seen everything, done everything, that's how I know people are rotten. I've seen 'em all.

  Eula : You're wrong, old man. We're made in God's image, and goodness is in us. Even in you.

  McCoy : Amazing! I never took you for a Bible-thumper.

  Rooster Cogburn : Hold it. She is what she is 'cause she wants to be. That's the way you take her. Like me.

  McCoy : You're wastin' your time preachin'. You too, Sister. I'm a ship that can't be salvaged.

• Eula : [Rooster is getting ready to take a swig of whiskey]  Reuben, have you ever seen an enlarged picture of a drunkard's liver?

  Rooster Cogburn : Damnation! Even in her sleep.

  [hits head on bottom of wagon] 

  Rooster Cogburn : Ow!

  [shouts] 

  Rooster Cogburn : Good night, Ms. Goodnight!

  Eula : [whispers]  Good night, Reuben.

• Rooster Cogburn : [Eula has gone to a creek to wash up]  Watch yourself, sister! Everything in these woods'll either bite ya, stab ya or stick ya!

• Hawk : You ain't got the know how to use it.

  Rooster Cogburn : [Eula fires off a burst with the gatling gun]  Ain't that the way it works, Hawk?

• Rooster Cogburn : You can't lock up a man's whiskey!

• [first lines] 

  Rooster Cogburn : It's the law, Pecos! We want you for the robbery of the Katy Flyer, murder of the engineer. Now git your hands on top your heads...

  [gunshots] 

  Rooster Cogburn : You bastard! You - bastard!

• Rooster Cogburn : How old are you?

  Eula : Shall we say it has already struck midnight?

• Rooster Cogburn : Well, out in the territory, we prize a dead shot more'n we do a lady's charms.

  Eula : Then I've come to the right place, haven't I? You mean the men in the West do not mind if their women outshoot and outsmart them?

  Rooster Cogburn : If they're quiet about it. No, here we value a spirited woman almost as much as we do a spirited horse.

• Eula : [referring to her bible quotation]  I will confess, Reuben, it is of my own invention. I just made it up!

  Rooster Cogburn : Hallelujah and jubilee, that is one quotation I will remember!

  Eula : And will you remember us, too, Reuben?

  Rooster Cogburn : Longer than I'll remember that quotation, Miss Eula.

• Rooster Cogburn : You ain't very hospitable.

  McCoy : I ain't got an ounce of goodwill in me, and that's a fact. I hate everybody. I'm a cantankerous old man, and I know it. I like myself better'n anyone I ever met, that's how come I took this job - to be alone with me!

• Eula : [as Rooster first arrives at the mission]  You're too late, lawman.

  Rooster Cogburn : Too late to stop 'em, but not too late to hang 'em.

• Eula : There are nine men with him. How can you best them?

  Rooster Cogburn : Well ma'am, I got my Navy Colt sidearm and a Winchester rifle on my saddle and a packet full of cartridges.

• Rooster Cogburn : It's payday, boys, come and get it!

• Rooster Cogburn : That shows you know more about the Lord and His Good Book than you know about men!

  Eula : That's my good fortune. I know enough about men to steer clear of them.

• Rooster Cogburn : [to judge]  You seem to forget, Judge. You hung up my guns today.

  Rooster Cogburn : [walks away]  I am retired, relieved, and rejoicing.

• Eula : [the Gatling gun falls in the river]  The gun. The gun, Reuben! We've lost the gun!

  Rooster Cogburn : Well, now, sister, just what the hell can I do about it?

• Rooster Cogburn : Damn your murderin' hides! Meet your maker!

  [starts shooting] 

• Rooster Cogburn : [his deputy is shot]  You bastard!

  [proceeds to kill all] 

  Rooster Cogburn : You bastards!

• Rooster Cogburn : [to judge]  I was proud to tell my deputy's wife that I shot his killers!

• Rooster Cogburn : I ain't had a drink since breakfast, and the only time I wear this coat's in your courtroom. Was always good enough when you needed what was in it!

• McCoy : You're shippin' out with a strange crew, captain.

  Rooster Cogburn : I'll match their mettle against most.

  McCoy : I'm glad it's your ship, not mine. Women can no more keep their mouths shut than a yellow-tailed catfish.

  Rooster Cogburn : [pats McCoy's stomach]  Got to agree with you there.