Cheap Rooster Cogburn (DVD) (John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn) (Stuart Millar) Price

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Customer Reviews of Rooster Cogburn

Dull plot, wasted superstars
What a tragedy that Hollywood was able to unite two of the powerhouse superstars of cinema in one movie, but then saddle them with a plodding, boring and utterly pedestrian script. The chemistry between Wayne and Kate Hepburn is palpable and their scenes together are a joy to watch. But there are too few of such scenes to justify repeated viewings or to classify this movie as anything but average and a spent opportunity.

Hepburn is miscast as a crotchety, virginal spinster who pines in her heart for the Duke, but is too repressed to act on her instincts. The Duke's reprisal of Rooster Cogburn is interesting, and he delivers an excellent performance, but the script fails him time and again. Ultimately it's frustrating to watch two great stars wallow in this banal plot. One interesting element in the DVD version is the gorgeous Rogue river scenery which seems to come to life in this format.

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WAYNE'S BEST ACTING.
Wayne is ruthlessly overlooked for this one, a heartache similar to the fate of The Big Lebowski. Its one of those sad mysteries of life; one of the truly great, last, and forgotten westerns. If you read enough Leonard Maltlin, you really start to wonder if he was raised by Quakers. Rooster Cogburn is a fast-paced actioner with accessible, beautifully embellished characters. Its not best picture material the way The Outlaw Josey Wales couldnt have been---not enough "morality" spoon-fed in even bites.
Hearing Wayne say,(in an overlooked line by most, I'll bet)"Don't worry son, they'll pay for it," brings tears to my eyes. It throws me back to my childhood memory of what Wayne represented: There's good guys out there you just don't want to mess with. Wayne fuses all his elements to create this masculine, wise, clever, experienced, tenacious, hard dinking, yet respected federal lawman like none ever seen. This time he's got a real director to back him up.
There are incredible lines, as funny as they are character-building:

SCENE:
(Wayne and Hepburn, recently stealing their supplies, are surrounded at night by Jordan, Zerbe and the rest of the bad guys/murderous white trash.)

Richard Jordan, as HAWK:(YELLING) "You may have the gatlin' gun, but you ain't got the know-how to use it!"

Wayne: (to Hepburn) "Deputy,... show-em'"
(Hepburn cranks the gatlin-gun, scattering their startled enemies in the dark, causing destruction. stops.)

Wayne: (with a fierce grin, hilariously sarcastic, yelling)
"AAAIIIN'T THAT THE WAY IT WORKS, HAWK!?!?!?!?!"

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John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn stand toe to toe
Sometimes a multitude of wrongs can come out right. Hollywood has a penchant for making sequels to successful films, so when John Wayne finally won an Oscar for his performance in "True Grit." Wayne played Rooster Cogburn, a fearless, one-eyed U.S. marshal who never knew a dry day in his life. Fortunately Hollywood waited six years before making this 1975 sequel. However, at that point they not only hired a novice screenwriter, actress Martha Hyer ("First Men in the Moon"), they let her rip off "The African Queen" and turn it into a western. Fortunately, they hired Katharine Hepburn to play opposite the Duke.

That is what "Rooster Cogburn" comes down to, the chance for John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn to do scenes together; it also explains why the film is also known as "Rooster Cogburn and the Lady." Hepburn plays Rose Sayer, no, wait, I mean Eula Goodnight, who is the daughter of a minister (Jon Lormer) instead of the brother of a missionary. The gospel is still being brought to the natives, except this time we are set in the Cascades of Oregon rather than the jungles of Africa. The bad guys are now a gang of thieves led by Breed (Anthony Zerbe) and Hawk (Richard Jordan), instead of Nazis, and this time they gun down the minister. So when Rooster comes along to track them down and bring them to his brand of justice, Eula insists on going along.

The plot is predictable in terms of the outcome and familiar when Kate and the Duke end up on the water. But there is fun to be had in these two standing toe to toe, but not jaw to jaw, and going at it. "To whom do you think you are speaking," she intones frostily. "You is to whom I think I am speaking, sister," he shoots back. She allows that he is bigger than she is, but only physically. He observes in this situation that should be enough and they continue to have great fun with the dialogue. Wayne has great fun hamming it up and Hepburn enjoys having an actor big enough to stand up to her assault.

The stories from the set were that the two great stars had great fun making this movie. Their politics were at opposite ends of the spectrum so they just avoid the topics and enjoyed being in each other's company. Wayne was playing a character he had done before in a movie, but then Hepburn's character is instantly recognizable as well, even if the name is different. The names do not matter. They can call them "Rooster Cogburn and the Lady," but it is the Duke and Kate, and their fans will not be disappointed by their time together.