Welcome to East Village Afternoon... enjoy your pop.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Hollywood Watch - Part 3

.

In the previous two posts, we mentioned a new film which hopes to become a classic, a remake of an already classic film, and in this post, we are excited to write about the upcoming remake of one of the most legendary movies of all time, "True Grit".
.
(john wayne, kim darby,
glen campbell)
.
"True Grit", 1969, based on the Charles Portis novel, starred John Wayne as the iconic character Rooster Cogburn, and won Wayne his only Oscar for Best Actor. He initially rebelled against wearing the famous eye patch, but director Henry Hathaway insisted, and when accepting his Oscar, Wayne whimsically mentioned that if he'd known putting on an eye patch would win an Oscar, he would have worn one a lot earlier in his career. The film also featured singer Glen Campbell in his first starring role as Texas Ranger "La Boeuf", Kim Darby as the young "Mattie Ross", and Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper in minor roles, "Lucky Ned Pepper" and "Moon", respectively. Also featured were well known character actors Jeff Corey as "Tom Chaney" and known other than Strother Martin in a small but amusing role as "Colonel Stonehill", the smooth-talking businessman who is outsmarted in business by the 14 year-old Mattie.
.
(glen campbell as "la boeuf")
.
Hollywood doesn't exactly have a stellar track record with movie remakes, so when we first heard "True Grit" was being remade, we were horrified. But then we heard that it's being done by The
Coen Brothers, ("Raising Arizona", "Fargo", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "No Country for Old Men"), we were not only relieved, but we're actually excited to see what Joel and Ethan Coen will do with the project.
.
(above: robert duvall as "lucky ned pepper")
.
Some of the cast is set: Jeff Bridges will play Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon is La Boeuf, and Josh Brolin is cast, but no mention has been made of his role. We're guessing he'll play Ned Pepper. So who will play Moon, Tom Chaney, and most importantly, what young actress will win the role of a lifetime as Mattie Ross? The word is that the Coen Brothers want a complete unknown to play Mattie, and that they're currently holding casting sessions across the United States looking for someone to cast in the important role.
.
The role of Mattie Ross made an overnight star of Kim Darby, and just as we mentioned in the previous post that every young actress in her right mind will vy for the role of Veda Pierce in the HBO remake of "Mildred Pierce", we're guessing the casting sessions currently taking place across the country to find the new Mattie are probably packed to the rafters as well.
.
(kim darby as "mattie ross")

No comments:

LinkWithin