i think karen carpenter would have been much better in this. anyone agree?
Kim Darby really didn't bring justic to the part and wasn't great on the eye either - she had a "Beatles" haircut which was downright awful, although to be honest the character was extremley annoying but there you go. Ridculious character!
Top-notch film tho.
Kim Darby actually MADE that film. She was so good! Acting against such greats as Wayne, Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper, Ms. Darby held her own and even surpassed them.
The role she played was that of a young girl... not some glamour puss! Kim Daby brought more than justice to this film. She made it the great film it is.
Way to go, Kim!
I second what DawnMuse29 said, very strongly. In fact I'm amazed that anyone would suggest the contrary.
Ozymandias312
And I stood where I did be; for there was no more use to run; And again I lookt with my hope gone.
Me too. Darby was perfect for this and the character was SUPPOSED to be annoying. And she ended up being pretty 'gritty' herself.
shareAgreed. Kim is an absolute cutie and the stand up performance she gave was perfect. The young confidence and brassy character was unique for that day and age and was THE reason why the movie was so popular (the Duke's great performance not withstanding). Glen Campbell sucked.
shareI second the OP. Steinfeld was so amazing in the part.
Seemed very flat in this version and played like some 50s Leave It To Beaver or something.
I agree. The way grown men cowered to her business sense was hilarious. She bought back that pony for half of what he paid, and demanded he put shoes on it! I'm glad they didn't doll her up like a fragile princess. She owned that role!
Sincerely, yahmez the mad.
I didn't even make it more than 20-25 minutes into of a viewing of this flick before tuning out on account of my high annoyance with that damned little girl. Does she continue consuming so much screentime throughout the rest of it? I wasn't expecting in what was advertised a Wayne film, for him to be end up being a supporting character to some irritating, overtalkative little girl with a bad bowl-cut.
This can't possibly be so much better than the many other amazing films Wayne didn't win an Oscar for.
John Wayne won the Oscar less for his performance in True Grit than for his body of work. He was dying of cancer when he finally won. It was the Academy's way of thanking him for his work over so long a career.
The Academy does it all the time.
He was dying of cancer when he finally won.
He died 10 years after "True Grit."
No blah, blah, blah!
Exactly. This is one of the Duke's best, made better by the presence of Darby and even Glenn Campbell.
A great, great film.
Thnx for the crx.
From IMDb:
Over the years Wayne was beset with health problems. In September 1964 he had a cancerous left lung removed; in March 1978 there was heart valve replacement surgery; and in January 1979 his stomach was removed. He...finally got the Oscar in 1970 for his role as one-eyed Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969). He died in June of 1979.
No one is debating that he had health problems and I'm not debating that his
Oscar win wasn't partially due for his longtime service to the acting community. However, I don't think anyone thought he was on death's door in 1969.
His special Oscar right before he died is another story, of course.
No blah, blah, blah!
Actually, I don't think many people inside Hollywood circles or not thought the Duke would be around for much longer since back in those days the removal of a lung to cancer (still very ify surgery) was a sign that he probably should get his "affairs" in order.
Anyway, I just wanted to post the chronology of events, not debate this matter.
If I recall, it was HUGE headline when John Wayne had cancer - "the Big C". Celebrities often fought cancer silently, in the days when treatments were not as successful as they are today.
As to Mattie Ross/Kim Darby - in the novel - Mattie Ross was an annoying upstart. That is how Kim Darby played her. Having read the book, I was looking forward to the movie and Darby's performance was spot on. In the film Cogburn, LeBoeuf, and the Colonel, to name a few, say (in so many words) Mattie Ross is a pain in the neck. That is how she is to be played.
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Karen Carpenter would not have held a candle to Kim Darby's performance.
The actor was SUPPOSED to be aggrivating! Darby did it to a "T".
The only thing that I question is that they did not make her just a little bit more feminine looking. She kind of looked like a boy with they haircut. But on the other hand, I didn't read the book. How did the author describe her? That is what counts.
I thought for sure the opening scene with her, i thought it was a boy.
shareWhat a man!! He was SO TOUGH IT TOOK HIM TEN YEARS TO DIE!!
shareI am just boggled that people are like boggled.. I mean.. GIRLS were dying IN CHILDBIRTH at 14 during that time.. They were married.. Hell even Little House on the Prarie.. when did Laura take over at the TEACHER of the school? I'd bet she wasn't even 18 yet.. and she was already married at that point too.
There's a very sad.. trend of infantalizing (sp?) kids these days.. my cousin is like 14.. she can't even BOIL water.. by the time I was 8 I was routinely cooking my own meals and for my family (I grew up with one parent.. so I'd often start the meals and they'd wake up from a nap after work to finish).
I don't say that just to say look how great.. but just to point out.. that back then.. School started LATER.. kids, or boys, got OUT OF CLASS cause they were helping dad with the farm (part of the reason for WHY we get out for summer now.. as all the field work was done in summer).
Kids were often not even in school until 18.. being in school that long was akin go COLLEGE..
as for her performance.. I never thought it was special.. but it was never.. boring. I liked how stubborn she was. I mean.. that's the point. Her character HAD to annoy the US Marshall.. but at the same time be head strong.. and she definitely was NOT a girly girl.. (has anyone seen pictures of this new one? she looks like a prissy girly girl. "oh I broke a nail").
I LIKED that she never cowtowed to being the traditional girl in distress.. she screwed up trying to take the guy down.. but damn if she wasn't stubborn and fought like hell ... I liked that.
Granted.. there may have been some BETTER actressed at the time.. but.. Mia Farrow? Karen Carpenter.. those are a FAIL on all accounts. I just don't see it. And as for Glenn Campbell he was a rather ONE DIMENSIONAL character.. and kind of a joke foil for Wayne.. so for what they called for on the character.. he did great..
"What a man!! He was SO TOUGH IT TOOK HIM TEN YEARS TO DIE!!"
LOL
No blah, blah, blah!
I'm to the 45 minute and struggling to not hit eject! I was not expecting this at all since True Grit 2010 is one of my favorite films! She seems like she on some 1950s TV show picnic or something.
EDIT: It did get a bit better but still the new version had a much better Mattie.
I thought Kim Darby was a good fit for the role.
Her hair style may not have been flattering but her performance was very good.
There isn't a young woman better who could have played this part! Kim Darby carried this film.. start to finish!
shareKim Darby was too old to play the part of Mattie. Mattie was supposed to be 14 years old. Her figure and hands were that of an adult, not a young adolescent. Even as a child I noticed that.
As for her performance, she was very good.
Kim Darby was very annoying, but that probably was the idea. In effect, she was a young, annoying foil for both John Wayne and Glen Campbell, who couldn't stand each other.
Annoying as she was, she was also sort of sexy. Why didn't either The Duke or Campbell try to bed her?
I completely agree with Scorch. Darby ruined this film for me. I loved Cambell's smarmy, cockiness, Wayne's crabby & drunk tough guy, heck even Dennis Hopper and Robert Duvall were pretty good.
She wasn't believable in the role at all (especially since she was supposed to be a 14 yo) and each time she opened her mouth, I cringed. I had no sympathy for her whatsoever and actually wished she had gotten killed numerous times. I won't even mention the plot hole of a teenager being allowed to come along but it was ludicrous. LaBeouf said "she pulls his name like a gun (talking about Lawyer Daggett) and that was spot on, I wanted to smack her each time she said it. C'mon, I'm just not buying that the father was so dumb that he needed this brat kid to manage his affairs and where the heck was the mother?!? I would've rather had the brat hire the marshall and then have it be just Cogburn & LaBeouf from then on. At the end, I groaned when I realized she was going to live after the snakebite and ticked they killed LaBeouf after he got conked on the head with a rock.
Why couldn't they have gotten ANYone else to play this is beyond me. Some other poster said Glen Campbell was awful, wooden in the role....he was STILL better than Darby!
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"A transplanted Rebel" Vicki
A lot of the posters are missing the point about the Maddie character. At 14, most 'children' in the 1870s had full time jobs. They worked right along with the adults, and 'children' out in the middle of nowhere matured even faster. It would be nothing for a 14 year old to be off by themselves for extended periods of time. As Maddie showed an ability to handle the buisness affairs of the ranch, it was the right decision for her to go and handle her father's estate after he had been killed. And didn't a ranch hand accompany her to the town where the father was killed, only to be sent back to the ranch by Maddie later?
As for Kim Darby, I think she played the role to a tee. Maybe she wasn't 14, but she was young enough to make the point that a 'young woman' wouldn't necessarialy be in her position, but her attitude, and the fact that some people couldn't stand her, is a salute to Darby's acting ability.
Now that the 2010 version has come out see how all that you say ACTUALLY gets portrayed for real.
Mattie Ross - wonderful character
Kim Darby - one of the great performances by an actress
True Grit - a cherished classic because of her performance and chemistry with John Wayne
"Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency."
I thought she was excellent in this. She made the film, as mentioned above her chemistry with Wayne was great.
shareFrom what I've read, Mia Farrow was first offered the role of Mattie but turned it down, later admitting that refusing the role was the biggest mistake of her professional life. She wasn't 14 either but I think she looked young enough to have pulled it off. I think she would have done well but we'll never know. Kim Darby, IMO, wasn't great but good enough. I don't believe she really wanted to make the movie. At the time she was married to James Stacy (who later lost a leg & arm to a drunken driver) and had just given birth, she was petulant and distant with the crew during filming. I think she and Stacy got divorced not long after the movie came out. In any case, I loved True Grit!
share