A Look Back At John Huston's "Fat City" (1972) Starring Jeff Bridges And Stacy Keach

John LeMay at cinemaretro.com offers a look back at John Huston's film about boxing, Fat City.

Fat City, released in 1972, was something of a “rebound” film for beloved director John Huston, whose previous two films had been flops. Based upon the 1969 novel by Leonard Gardner (who also wrote the screenplay), Fat City follows Stacy Keach as Billy Tully, a small time boxer who never made it big who is living in squalor. When Billy makes a rare return visit to the gym, he meets Ernie (Jeff Bridges, hot off of a Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Last Picture Show). Billy sees some potential in the teenager’s boxing ability and suggests he go see his old manager, Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto—the future “Coach” on Cheers). Ernie does as told, and soon finds himself under Ruben’s optimistic wing, while Billy’s life further deteriorates when he begins an affair with an alcoholic wreck named Oma (Susan Tyrell, who would herself secure a Best Supporting Actress nomination for this film). At the same time that Ernie begins his fighting career, he too runs into trouble when he impregnates his virginal girlfriend and soon leaves the world of boxing behind. When Ernie and Billy reunite on a work crew in the San Joaquin Valley, both become inspired to get back into the ring and return to Ruben. However, for those assuming Bridges and Keach inevitably come to blows in some sort of bloody boxing ring climax, they don’t. This is because Fat City isn’t so much a “boxing movie” as it is a character portrait of Kecah’s sad-sack loser who just can’t seem to help himself out of the bottle and other bad choices.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php

True Grit: I Like The Duke Better

I finally saw the Coen Brothers' film True Grit. I watched the film on cable last night.

As I'm a fan of the 1969 Henry Hathaway film that starred John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, the big, fat, boozy deputy U.S. Marshal with considerable "true grit," I've been looking forward to seeing what the Coen brothers do with the material.

Although the Coens insist their film is not a remake of the John Wayne film, comparisons are inevitable.

I like the Coen's small, odd, comic touches, such as the scene with Mattie Rose (Hailee Stein) talking to Rooster (Jeff Bridges) while he is in an outhouse.

I liked the look of the Coen film. I liked the music. I also liked hearing Mattie Ross' voice over narration at the beginning of the film and seeing her as a grown woman at the end of the film.

I thought Matt Damon was an improvement over Glen Campbell (who was not an actor), and although I thought Hailee Stein was very good for such a young girl, I also liked Kim Darby's performance as Mattie Ross in the original film.

Jeff Bridges is a fine actor, and I loved him as "the Dude" in the Coen brother's The Big Lepowski, but I don't think he measured up to John Wayne as Rooster.

Rooster is a larger-than-life character and only an actor with an immense screen presence like John Wayne can do the character justice. Wayne gave a much more animated, robust and funnier performance than Bridges, in my view.

Of course, a remake of a film does not cancel out the older film.

We have both films and we can like both of them for different reasons. And I hope the Coen Brothers' film helps to bring Charles Portis new and younger readers.

You can read my earlier post on True Grit via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/09/true-grit-updated-by-coen-brothers.html

You've Seen The True Grit Movies, Now Read Charles Portis' Novel

My hope is that as a result of the debate over which True Grit film is better, the new Joel and Ethan Coen version starring Jeff Bridges, or the 1969 Henry Hathaway version starring John Wayne, film goers will go to the source material - the 1968 novel by Charles Portis.

After watching the original film with the Duke as Rooster Cogburn in 1969, I went out and bought the novel and quickly read it. I thought it was a fine novel.

Jim Cullen at the History News network offers a review of Portis' novel True Grit.

You can read the review of the novel via the link below:

http://www.hnn.us/roundup/entries/136335.html

True Grit: 1969 Versus 2010

Entertainment Weekly questions the Coen Brothers' claim that their film True Grit, starring Jeff Bridges, is not a remake of the 1969 film True Grit, which starred John Wayne and was directed by Henry Hathaway.

You can read the piece and watch selected scenes of both films via the link below, and, as they say on FoxNews, you decide.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/02/01/true-grit-1969-versus-2010/

You can also read my earlier post on the two True Grit films via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/09/true-grit-updated-by-coen-brothers.html

The Dude Or The Duke: Who Has More True Grit?

Entertainment Weekly has an interesting piece on the Coen brother's film True Grit.
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The piece compares Jeff Bridges (seen in the above photo), who plays Rooster Cogburn in this film (and played "the Dude" in the Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski) to John Wayne (seen in the below photo), known as "Duke" to his friends and millions of fans, and played Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 version of True Grit.
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You can read the piece via the below link:
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http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/27/wayne-vs-bridges-who-has-more-true-grit/
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You can also read my earlier post of the two True Grit films via the below link:

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http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/09/true-grit-updated-by-coen-brothers.html

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I watched John Wayne's True Grit last week on TV and I plan to see the new True Grit next week.

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I like Jeff Bridges, but I think Billy Bob Thorton would make a better Rooster Cogburn.

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I watched Bad Santa last week and I thought that with Thorton's cantankerous personality and Southern accent, along with some weight gain, he would make an ideal Rooster Cogburn.

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Thorton (seen below as Bad Santa and Davy Crocket) has already followed in the Duke's footsteps, having played Davy Crockett in an updated Alamo film.

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Bad Santa, despite its foul language and coarse and criminal behavior, is a good, funny Christmas film. There is a Christmas sentiment at the end of the film.

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John Wayne's True Grit Out On Blue-Ray

In an earlier post I noted that TCM was airing the 1969 film True Grit, starring John Wayne, on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. to coincide with the theatrical release of the Coen brothers new version of True Grit, starring Jeff Bridges.

The Duke (John Wayne) is also competing with The Dude (Jeff Bridges) with the release of John Wayne's True Grit on Blu-Ray.

You can read the Blu-Ray review via the below link:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/True-Grit-Blu-ray/16875/#Review

You can read my earlier post via the below link:

 

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/12/day-with-duke-tcm-offers-true-grit-and.html

'True Grit' Updated by the Coen Brothers

I'm not one of those film buffs who believes that remaking classic films is sacrilegious. It is not an either/or situation and the new one does not cancel out the old.

I believe that director John Huston had it right when he suggested that film makers should remake film failures rather successful films (as he did with The Maltese Falcon), but film makers today like to remake successful films.

So it does not bother me that Joel and Ethan Coen are offering a remake of True Grit, even though I am quite fond of the 1969 Henry Hathaway film staring John Wayne.

Wayne, you may recall, received his only Oscar for portraying Rooster Cogburn in this film.


I like the Coen brothers' odd and funny films, so I look forward to seeing their version of True Grit. I also like Jeff Bridges and I'd like to see what he does with the Rooster character.

I read Charles Portis' fine novel True Grit shortly after seeing the Hathaway/Wayne film in 1969. The Coen brothers claim their film is closer to the Portis' novel than the earlier version. We shall see.

Tom O'Neil of The Los Angeles Times wrote an interesting piece about the Coen brothers' remake. You can read his piece and view the trailers for both the original film and the remake via the below link:

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2010/09/true-grit-jeff-bridges-oscars-news.html

O'Neil made the comment that John Wayne's Oscar was undeserved.

I disagree.

I thought John Wayne's comic, self-mocking character was wonderful. (I also think the Duke should have won an Oscar for a number of other films, including his greatest film , in my view, The Searchers.

I thought Wayne was truly great in True Grit when sitting on his horse facing four outlaws on their horses across a field, he yells "Fill your hands, you son of a bitch," and then charges the outlaws, a rifle in one hand, his revolver in the other, and the horse's reins in his teeth.

True grit, indeed.

I also like that director Henry Hathaway populated the film with great character actors like Kim Darby, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper and Strother Martin. (Glen Campbell, a singer and not an actor, was the weak point in the film).

I recall Mad magazine's 1969 satire of True Grit, which they called True Fat.

In the comic satire, Mattie tells Rooster that she wants a fat man for the job because fat men are jolly.

"Well, sister," Rooster replies. "I may be fat, but I ain't jolly."

"The job pays $500."

"Ho, ho, ho!" Rooster shouts out.

Very funny, I thought.

One last thought on classic film remakes. Even the poor remakes urges one want to see the original film. The remake may also introduce the original film to young people who have not seen or heard of it. And the films often make one want to read the novel the films were based on.