‘True Grit’ featured by Carson City cinema club

The Carson City Classic Cinema Club will show the original film, “True Grit,” on Friday and the modern version on June 1 as part of Carson City’s Big Read event.

“Watching the film in conjunction with reading the book, sometimes it can give you a better understanding of the book or a different view,” said Rhonda Abend, director of the cinema club. “Visual art is entirely different from literary.”

The western movie made in 1969 is an adaptation of Charles Portis’ 1968 novel featuring the main character, Rooster Cogburn, played by John Wayne. The cinema club will air the movie 7 p.m. Friday at the Brewery Arts Center Performance Hall.

It will follow keynote speaker Glen Whorton, president of the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society, who will give an overview of the prison’s history at 6: 30 p.m.

Entry is free with a valid Carson City Library card. Otherwise, it is $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and students.

The Carson City Cinema Club was formed nearly four years ago as a way to help students fund participation in the arts.

The idea was formed after Abend toured the Ron Wood Family Resource Center and realized the amount of children in need in Carson City.

Proceeds from the cinema club are used to sponsor children in arts programs or buying supplies for arts organizations.

“The schools are losing funding for the arts, so the kids lose interest in it,” Abend said. “They’re losing sight of the fact that the arts have so many benefits, and literally, every single art form is represented in film.”

Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Big Read is a three-month celebration — which kicks off Thursday — of a literary work.

The cinema club will show the modern version of the film, released in 2010 starring Jeff Bridges, on June 1.

The keynote speaker that evening will be U.S. Marshal Christopher Hoye comparing and contrasting today’s law enforcement duties to those in “True Grit” at 6:30 p.m. The movie will begin at 7:15 p.m. in the Bob Boldrick Theater of the Carson City Community Center.

Abend said the films will be interesting to see for both their similarities and differences.

“There’s an entirely different way of storytelling anymore,” she said. “I think the classic films had to be more creative in storytelling and character development because they couldn’t rely on special effects.”

She can’t help but show her bias for the original movie.

“It’s John Wayne,” she said. “I mean, what more is there to say?”