VHS Rooster Cogburn

"Rooster Cogburn" on VHS, Universal, mid-1970s home video release. The film itself came out in 1975, a direct sequel to the 1969 John Wayne vehicle "True Grit," and this tape brings together the two biggest names in classic Hollywood for the only time they ever shared a screen. John Wayne as the one-eyed Marshal Rooster Cogburn, Katharine Hepburn as the missionary Eula Goodnight, a Western with enough star wattage that the premise barely mattered. The clamshell carries painted artwork rather than a photo still, Wayne in his black hat and pink neckerchief, Hepburn in a bonnet beside him. Hal Wallis Production credit runs on the case.

By 1975, Universal was deep into building its home video catalog alongside theatrical releases, and "Rooster Cogburn" sat at an interesting point in Wayne's late career. He had won his only Oscar for the original Marshal Cogburn in 1969, and this sequel was green-lit on the strength of that goodwill, plus the obvious commercial logic of pairing him with Hepburn, who had three Oscars by that point. The film drew on the same Marguerite Roberts novel territory that "True Grit" had mined, this time leaning more heavily into the screwball chemistry between the two leads than into pure frontier action. For VHS collectors, the early Universal clamshells from this period are a distinct object class: painted cover art was common in the first generation of retail tape packaging before studio photography became the default, and a painted-art Universal clamshell from the 1970s is increasingly rare in any condition. The Hal Wallis credit is also a detail worth noting. Wallis produced "True Grit" and insisted on the sequel as part of his deal, making this a Wallis project front to back.

This copy is a single-unit find. The clamshell construction and painted artwork put it in the earliest retail window for this title, before Universal shifted to later packaging formats. Worth checking the spine label for print generation markers, and the tape housing itself for mold or shell warp, both common failure points in clamshells of this age. The hinge at the clamshell opening is the first place stress cracks show up on Universal shells from this run. Inspect it before you shelve it.

OWNER VERIFY: Confirm the release year and pressing generation against the spine label and any catalog number printed inside the clamshell.