<P> Frank Ross ( John Pickard ) is murdered by his hired hand , Tom Chaney ( Jeff Corey ) . Ross 's young daughter , Mattie ( Kim Darby ) , travels to Fort Smith , Arkansas , where she hires aging U.S. Marshal Reuben `` Rooster '' J. Cogburn ( John Wayne ) to bring Chaney in , raising his fee by shrewdly horse trading with Colonel Stonehill ( Strother Martin ) . Mattie has heard that Cogburn has `` true grit . '' She gives him a payment to track and capture Chaney , who has taken up with outlaw `` Lucky '' Ned Pepper ( Robert Duvall ) in Indian Territory ( modern - day Oklahoma ) . </P>
<P> Frank Ross ( John Pickard ) is murdered by his hired hand , Tom Chaney ( Jeff Corey ) . Ross 's young daughter , Mattie ( Kim Darby ) , travels to Fort Smith , Arkansas , where she hires aging U.S. Marshal Reuben `` Rooster '' J. Cogburn ( John Wayne ) to bring Chaney in , raising his fee by shrewdly horse trading with Colonel Stonehill ( Strother Martin ) . Mattie has heard that Cogburn has `` true grit . '' She gives him a payment to track and capture Chaney , who has taken up with outlaw `` Lucky '' Ned Pepper ( Robert Duvall ) in Indian Territory ( modern - day Oklahoma ) . </P>
who played ned pepper in the original true grit
who played ned pepper in the original true grit
Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall