True Grit Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
6correct to beat the crowd
48 free True Grit trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
This True Grit trivia quiz covers all three tellings of Mattie Ross's story: Charles Portis's 1968 novel, the 1969 Henry Hathaway film that finally won John Wayne his Academy Award, and the Coen brothers' 2010 adaptation with Jeff Bridges and a 13-year-old Hailee Steinfeld. There is also a short detour into the 1975 sequel Rooster Cogburn, in which Wayne and Katharine Hepburn shared the screen for the only time. Expect questions on Fort Smith and Yell County, Tom Chaney and Lucky Ned Pepper, Little Blackie, the snake pit, the eye patch, the actors who nearly played Mattie and LaBoeuf, the fence jump Wayne insisted on doing himself, the hymn that runs through Carter Burwell's score and the ten Oscar nominations that turned into none. About a third of the questions are easy for anyone who has seen either film, a third need a closer memory of plot and cast, and the rest reward people who know the production stories and the book's differences from the screen. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the novel, the films and Charles Portis before publishing, and each question carries the sentence that establishes it. If you think one is wrong, use the report button and we will look again.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who wrote the 1968 novel True Grit?
Charles Portis
Charles Portis, an Arkansas-born journalist and Korean War Marine, wrote True Grit in 1968; his other novels include Norwood (1966) and The Dog of the South (1979).
Q 02In which magazine was True Grit first serialised in 1968?
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post ran it as a serial just before the book came out. By then producer Hal Wallis had bought the film rights from the galleys, outbidding John Wayne's own company.
Q 03The novel True Grit is narrated by Mattie Ross looking back from how long after the events?
A half century
A half century later, Mattie tells the story as an old woman. Its author said he simply liked the idea of having a starchy old lady as his narrator.
Q 04In True Grit, what does Tom Chaney steal from the murdered Frank Ross besides his horse?
Two gold pieces
Two gold pieces, California coins Frank Ross kept on him. In the 2010 film one of them turns up at a store in the Territory, and Mattie knows she is on Chaney's trail.
Q 05In True Grit, the Ross family farm near Dardanelle lies in which Arkansas county?
Yell
Yell County is where Mattie's story ends as well as begins: years later she has Rooster's body moved to the Ross family plot there.
Q 06What is Rooster Cogburn's given name in True Grit?
Reuben
Reuben J. Cogburn is the name he is called by in court. Before he wore a marshal's badge he had ridden with Quantrill's Confederate guerrillas in the Civil War.
Q 07In True Grit, how does the Texas Ranger LaBoeuf pronounce his own name?
La-beef
La-beef is how the Ranger himself says it. In the 1969 film a landlady tries 'La Boof'; he tells her the French is La Boeuf and that he calls it La Beef.
Q 08In True Grit, which outlaw leader's gang does Tom Chaney join after the murder?
Lucky Ned Pepper
Lucky Ned Pepper is an old enemy of Rooster's, who has already shot him in the lip in one fight and lost him when he slipped out of custody.
Q 09In which Arkansas town does Mattie hire Rooster Cogburn?
Fort Smith
Fort Smith sat on the edge of Indian Territory, which is why federal marshals rode out from there.
Q 10Why has LaBoeuf been chasing Chaney for four months in True Grit?
He killed a Texas senator and his dog
LaBoeuf says Chaney killed a Texas senator and his dog in Waco; the Ranger wants the Texas reward, while Mattie insists Chaney hang in Arkansas for her father.
Q 11Who directed the 1969 film True Grit?
Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway had already directed Wayne in The Sons of Katie Elder. The novelist recalled him setting up scenes with the book itself in his hand, its pages heavily underlined.
Q 12Who played Mattie Ross in the 1969 film True Grit?
Kim Darby
Kim Darby was 21 when she was cast. At one stage the studio had planned to age Mattie to eighteen, but Darby played her as the novel's fourteen-year-old.
Q 13Which singer played the Texas Ranger La Boeuf in the 1969 film True Grit?
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell also sang the film's title song. It was nominated for an Oscar and he performed it at the ceremony, where it lost to 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head'.
Q 21In True Grit, how does Mattie catch up after Rooster and LaBoeuf take the ferry without her?
Swims her pony across
Swims her pony across: the ferryman has orders to hand her to the sheriff as a runaway, so she bolts into the river. In the 1969 film a watching Rooster says, 'By God, she reminds me of me.'
Q 22What rating did True Grit receive in 1969 after its makers cut 'four-letter words' from some scenes?
G
G was the final rating. True Grit had first been rated M, for mature audiences; trimming the language took it all the way down to a general-audience film.
Q 23What did John Wayne win for playing Rooster Cogburn in True Grit?
Academy Award for Best Actor
Q 14Which singer was the original choice for La Boeuf in 1969's True Grit until his agent demanded top billing?
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was the first choice, but the producers dropped the idea when his side demanded top billing over John Wayne himself, and the part went to another singer.
Q 15Which actress was lined up to play Mattie in 1969's True Grit but withdrew after Robert Mitchum warned her about the director?
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow asked producer Hal Wallis to replace the director with Roman Polanski, who had just made Rosemary's Baby with her. Wallis refused, and she walked away from the part.
Q 16John Wayne recommended which future pop star for Mattie in True Grit after meeting her at a talent show?
Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter met Wayne at a talent show he was hosting, and he put her name forward. The producers passed because she had never acted.
Q 17Where was the 1969 film True Grit mainly shot, despite its Arkansas and Oklahoma setting?
Ouray County, Colorado
Ouray County, Colorado, stood in for Arkansas. The novelist had shown the producer's scout around the real country, but the film went to the Rockies, where the town of Ridgway later gained a True Grit Cafe.
Q 18John Wayne's eye patch in True Grit used which fabric, so that he could see through it?
Gauze
Gauze let Wayne see through the patch he wore over his left eye. The 2010 film's star was left to pick a side for himself, tried both and put his patch on the right.
Q 19What is the name of Mattie Ross's pony in True Grit?
Little Blackie
Little Blackie is the pony Mattie buys from the horse trader Stonehill. At the end Rooster rides him until he drops, racing the snakebitten Mattie to a doctor.
Q 20How does Rooster end the 1969 film True Grit after Mattie teases him about his age?
Jumps a four-rail fence
Jumps a four-rail fence: told he is too old and fat for such things, Rooster invites Mattie to come and see a fat old man some time, then puts his new horse over it and rides off.
The Academy Award for Best Actor went to Wayne on the night the X-rated Midnight Cowboy won Best Picture. Both of that film's stars were among the nominees he beat.
Q 24Accepting his award for True Grit, John Wayne joked he should have put on what '35 years earlier'?
That patch
That patch, he said: had he known, he would have put it on 35 years earlier. The one-eyed marshal had brought Wayne the first major acting prize of a career already four decades old.
Q 25In True Grit, Rooster Cogburn hunts fugitives for the court of which real 'hanging judge'?
Isaac Parker
Isaac Parker really did preside over the frontier court that Rooster serves. Rooster himself is invented: his creator called him a representative figure of the hardy deputy marshals who rode for it.
Q 26Which True Grit (1969) cast member played the gang leader and reportedly nearly came to blows with John Wayne?
Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall had constant shouting matches with the director on set, and he and Wayne are said to have nearly come to blows over them.
Q 27Who co-starred with John Wayne in the 1975 sequel Rooster Cogburn?
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn and Wayne were born two weeks apart in May 1907 and had parallel careers, yet this was the only film they ever made together.
Q 28Why does Eula Goodnight join Rooster's outlaw hunt in Rooster Cogburn (1975)?
They killed her father
They killed her father, a minister, when they overran his mission. She turns out to be a crack shot, and picks off an outlaw who is slipping round behind Rooster.
Q 29What stolen cargo drives the plot of Rooster Cogburn?
Nitroglycerin
Nitroglycerin, taken from an Army wagon, has to be hauled slowly so it does not blow up. Rooster wins it back, floats crates of it downriver and shoots them as the gang closes in.
Q 30Who played Rooster Cogburn in the 2010 film True Grit?
Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges is heard before he is seen: Mattie's first talk with Rooster takes place through the door of an outhouse, which he informs her is occupied.