True Grit (1969 film) Their adaptation focuses more on Mattie's point of view, as in the novel, and is more faithful to its Oklahoma setting. Hailee Steinfeld portrays Mattie Ross, Jeff Bridges plays Rooster Cogburn, and the cast also includes Matt Damon as La Boeuf and Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney. True Grit (1969 film) True Grit is a 1969 American western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Kim Darby as Mattie Ross and John Wayne as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. It is the first film adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Marguerite Roberts.
Rooster Cogburn (film) to kill the three heroes anyway. Wolf shoots the man who is holding him with a small 5-shot Pepperbox handgun/derringer, that Rooster previously gave to him to protect himself and Miss Eula if need be. He escapes and scampers back to Cogburn's camp safely. Rooster has Eula hitch up the wagon horses, while Wolf scatters the outlaws horses. The bandits retreat from the torrent of Gatling gun fire, allowing the heroes to escape safely. The next day, Rooster "borrows" a raft from an old ferryboat man (Strother Martin) by wagging his pistol in the complaining old-timer's face, stashing as many