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) she was proud to be his friend. Old Cogburn rears back in his saddle saying "She got the last word in anyway!" The screenplay was written by actress Martha Hyer, the wife of producer Hal B. Wallis, under the pen name "Martin Julien". Director Stuart Millar, a longtime Hollywood producer, had directed only one film, "When Legends Die" based on the classic novel by Hal Borland, prior to helming "Rooster Cogburn". Although "True Grit" was released by Paramount Pictures, Wallis made a deal with Universal Pictures to finance this film. The film was shot in Oregon in autumn 1974, in