Boozy, one-eyed Marshal Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) is hired to babysit a headstrong teenager (Kim Darby) on her journey through enemy territory in search of the man who killed her father. While the Vietnam war raged, the Academy no doubt deemed it a gutsy move on their part to bestow one of their glittering doorstops to a war-mongering, pigeon-toed stepping, self-parodistic movie star. The polarized peaceniks didn’t know from atrocities so far as open awards competition was concerned. If nothing else, Duke deserved a mantle burdened with trophies for his stentorian turns in Rio Grande and The Searchers, both directed by John Ford. At the time True Grit was released, there were many an impersonator who made a living by including The Duke in their niteclub repertoire. Given the right lighting and wardrobe, any number of the mimicking S.O.B.s — Rick Little, Frank Gorshin, John Byner, etc. — could just as well have filled their hands with Oscar gold, Pilgrim. Look for the 50th Anniversary revival, coming in May to a theatre near you.