#21: True Grit (1969)
At the age of 62, John Wayne received an Academy Award for the portrayal of U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn, based on the historical figure that historians believe could have been the real-life lawman, “Heck” Thomas, known across the American West to have brought in some of the country’s toughest outlaws. Set in 1880 in Yell County, Arkansas, Wayne is joined by a strong supporting cast of characters as the U.S. Marshall sustains law and order amidst horse thieving, gun-slinging, and some of the more unfortunate crimes that took place in the first century of the American Southwest.
