SoLost: True Grit & A Tale of Two Matties

Set in frontier-era Fort Smith, Arkansas, True Grit tells the tale of Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old girl "from Dardanelle in Yell County" bent on avenging the murder of her beloved father by enlisting a famously tough Deputy Marshal named Rooster Cogburn to track the murderer into what was then "Indian Territory," but which is now best known as Oklahoma.

The novel was a success. The movie was a success, too. John Wayne was awarded his first and only Oscar for his role as the crotchety-but-lovable Cogburn. The character, imagined by Charles Portis and interpreted by Wayne, quickly took its seat at the table of unforgettable American cinematic characters.

More than 40 years on, the legendary Coen Brothers, longtime fans of the story, decided to remake the film. The new version, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie, will be released the week before Christmas and is already the talk of the Oscar circuit.

SoLost noted that this uniquely Arkansas (and Oklahoma) story has produced multiple films that didn't shoot even a minute of the story in either state. We decided to strike out to see what the "True True Grit" might have been like and got more than we expected.

A headstrong teenage girl named Maddie who lives in virtually the same spot as the literary Mattie? Check. That she actually tried out for the film and got a callback? Check and check.

A delightful career actress who grew up in Fort Smith immersed in the culture (and offspring) of the characters that made up the basis of the original Portis story? Check. A slight infatuation with Josh Brolin's eyebrows? Check! (Though you'll have to watch to the end of the credits to figure out that reference.)

Join us for a look around the land that gave us True Grit as SoLost peers a little closer at the two films and the breed of Arkansans that form the basis for this uniquely American tale.