Bettina Klinger 2/18/26 Bettina Klinger 2/18/26

I Take This Woman

Bettina Klinger 9/9/25 Bettina Klinger 9/9/25

10 North Frederick

MARIA’S NOTES

The persona of Joe Chapin in this story by masterful writer John O’Hara was a strange role for my father to take on. Instead of the hero striding into the sunset after having vanquished the “bad guys,” Joe Chapin is a tormented soul. He wants to keep his integrity but allows himself to “sell out” for ambition’s sake.

Marry that with a bitter wife and a need to find real love as his years creep up on him, and he falls in love with his daughter’s beautiful young roommate.

His dilemma makes me think of the verse in the Bible where St. Paul writes:

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.”

He is a man cut down by his own desires and circumstances, and I think the story reflects—intensely—the human drama of many, many lives, both urban and suburban.

John O’Hara and Gary Cooper knew each other, and O’Hara said of my father’s performance that it was very much on target—sensitive and understanding of a man like Chapin: a conflicted soul who turns to alcohol to hide from his fears of losing power, and perhaps more importantly, the loss of his youth.

The young actor Ray Stricklyn, who plays his son, spoke of intensely observing Cooper and trying to catch the secret of his seemingly effortless “acting.”

In the film, his son’s final lines sum up the story. At his father’s funeral, he says:

“He was a gentleman, in a world that no longer respects gentlemen.”

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

High Noon

MARIA’S NOTES

Nobody involved in the making of High Noon thought they were making more than just another, hopefully, good little Western which cost all of $750,000. It was not filled with the expected action of cowboys vs. Indians chasing each other across the plains. However, in the talented hands of several artists from the Writer Carl Foreman to Director Fred Zinnemann, to its star, my father, Gary Cooper, the beautiful ladies Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado, the sinister villains including Lee Van Cleef and the wonderful theme song composed by Dimitri Tiomkin, this “little Western” turned into an iconic film that has affected and touched world leaders from Japan to Poland and shook up American politics at the time of one of our more shameful periods – the McCarthy hearings. According to those hearings, there was a Communist under every bed. My father was extremely close to High Noon’s writer Carl Foreman, in fact, he called him Uncle Carl and when the film’s producer Stanley Kramer wanted to take him off the film because of alleged Communist propaganda, my father simply said, “If Foreman goes, Cooper goes.”

Many books and articles have been written about High Noon. The story exposed the cross currents buried in human nature and politics. We see in the film a reflection of our own inner conscience and its struggle between fear and doing what you know is right – to do what you have to do for a greater good, or in the name of justice – concepts which are not limited to any one era. In fact, there’s a very interesting parallel between High Noon and Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea – both challenge our own personal definitions of Honor, Courage, Justice and Fear. My father won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Marshal Kane. It was the first time the “hero” of a film was shown to be human and vulnerable.

I strongly recommend for further reading the recent book,High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic by Glenn Frankel.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

For Whom the Bell Tolls*

MARIA’S NOTES

Life puts people together in magical ways and when Hemingway was writing For Whom the Bell Tolls he said that he based the Robert Jordan character on that of Gary Cooper the actor and person who he admired a lot. When the mountain retreat soon to become a world class ski resort – Sun Valley – opened, 2 stars walked the dusty streets of nearby Ketchum, Idaho. When Hemingway finished writing For Whom the Bell Tolls, he and his new buddy Gary Cooper would spend days tramping around the “low country” where the hunting for game pheasant and duck was superlative. It was a destination for both men who loved the outdoors and getting away from the pressures of their everyday creative lives.

When it was announced that Hemingway’s book was going to be made into a major motion picture and that Gary Cooper would be the star, for publicity purposes, Paramount Studios commissioned his portrait to be done. The noted Spanish artist Luis Quintanilla was called upon and brought out to Hollywood where he spent time at our home in Brentwood while my father posed for the painting. I happily have just had the opportunity to learn of its whereabouts and acquire it. It’s quite a dramatic portrait which clearly tries to embody the strength, character and heroic nature of Hemingway’s hero Robert Jordan. Mr. Quintanilla’s son Paul has written a fascinating book Waiting at the Shore about his father’s life and art. This painter/adventurer is very much a Hemingway character in his own right and they were in fact strong friends.

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

Casanova Brown*

MARIA’S NOTES

This film is a very different Cooper type role. He plays a sweet, rather awkward and naive man…not your typical Gary Cooper heroic character. My father was a co-producer on this movie followed by Along Came Jones, however wearing those 2 hats cured him of the “producing “ bug. He was co-starred with Teresa Wright, the wonderful wife of Lou Gehrig in the Pride of The Yankees, but not so wonderful in Cassanova Brown. The husband/wife relationship was quite the opposite, in fact dramatically so!The comedy that plays thru this film did not work all the time. That was a frustration for my father, as he in fact had a real flair and natural timing for comedy, something that is shown off wonderfully well in his film Bluebeard’s 8th Wife with Claudette Colbert, written by that master Billy Wilder and directed by Ernst Lubitch. Claudette Colbert and her husband Dr. Joel Pressman were close friends of my family, and we spent many happy weekends together at our tennis court and around the swimming pool.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

The Westerner*

MARIA’S NOTES

One of my father’s favorite directors to work with was William Wyler, from “The Westerner” in 1940, their first collaboration - to "Friendly Persuasion "in 1956. Both films created an important impact on the film career and character of Gary Cooper.

This unusual story/film- some half-truth and half-fiction was in the beginning a source of tremendous irritation and resentment between my father and producer Samuel Goldwyn’. My father thought that he would be portraying the historical, colorful and infamous Judge Roy Bean. To his shock he discovered that Goldwyn had cast Walter Brennen in that plum part. When Cooper objected strongly, Goldwyn tried to placate him by saying don’t worry we will he will expand your part!

His role in the shooting script did not please my father at all, but he finally agreed to - fulfill his contractual obligations “under a formal written protest”!

It was another one of those tough physical locations in the desert near Tuscan, Arizona with extreme temperature fluctuations endured by the cast and crew.The role GaryCooper inhabited- a character named Cole Harden, has to use his wit, cleverness and devious tendencies in order to save his own skin, when Judge Bean wants to see him DEAD. To avoid being hung, Harden cleverly plays on Bean’s obsession with the real-life famous beauty, singer and entertainer of the day, Lily Langtry, Walter Brennen and my father became buddies while making the film. They joked around with each other with Brennen making phone calls to my father impersonating Sam Goldwyn’s angry diatribes at Cooper!! The screenwriter Niven Bush and my father also became friends as he praised how helped his writing with the factual knowledge of the real was that was so important in developing the story line.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

The Pride of the Yankees

MARIA’S NOTES

The season starts to change— it stays light a little later each day and, Good news “BASEBALL SPRING TRAINING starts in Florida…which brings my mind always- to one of my father’s favorite films. THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES in which he plays the role of Lou Gehrig, referred to as The Iron Horse. He batted .300 for 12 straight seasons. His baseball career and life was tragically cut short as he was afflicted by the disease: ALS (Amyatropic Lateral Sclerosis)— known even today as the Lou Gehrig Disease. How awful that even today some 75 years plus later, science and medicine have still not been able to find a cure.

My father was very honored to be chosen to play the role of Lou Gehrig, but he balked at first and he knew one of his major challenges would be to try to be “a lefty” as my father was right handed.Sam Goldwyn, the producer, engaged the ‘training” services of Yankee trainer Lefty O’Doul to coach my father how to throw and bat left handed… I love this photo where O’Doul who believed that chopping wood with a long ax and from the left shoulder— with the wood-chopping stride and rhythm was essentially the same as the batting swing… made an early comment about my father’s efforts… You throw a ball like an old woman tossing a hot biscuit!!”

“Poppa” worked out hard himself at home too, working with a large boxing/punching bag and practicing bowling with his left hand so that using it would become more natural.The idea of playing such a known and beloved person kind of intimidated my father. He said “You can’t “trick up” a part like this with mannerisms or gimmicks.” So many millions of people knew Gehrig, watched him and knew how he handled himself.

When Gehrig was honored at Yankee Stadium he gave one of the most famous ‘farewell” speeches heard either in real life or on the screen.Nothing needed to be added as he walked off the field to cheers, national public admiration and tears.Lou Gehrig continues to be an inspiration to ballplayers and people everywhere who know his story. My husband, concert pianist Byron Janis, who is a huge baseball fan and I brought this Lobby card from the movie as a gift to George Steinbrenner when we sat with him at an “Old Timers Day” game atYankee Stadium. He said ‘Oh, would you like me to take this down to the locker room and get the “boys” to sign it?” Of course I said”. Byron and I love looking at both sides!

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

Sergeant York*

MARIA’S NOTES

The intersection of lives is a fascinating occurrence as it unfolds in time. The lives of Sergeant Alvin York World War 1 hero and the life of film actor Gary Cooper were melded together when Alvin York told Hollywood that theonly way he would allow his story to be told would be if Gary Cooper portrayed him. It won my father his first Academy Award and it spread the story of York’s heroism to millions of moviegoers around the world.

Some 75 years later at an event paying tribute to the WW1 medal of honor winners in the historical Park Ave. Armory hosted an evening at which both the Cooper family and the York family were together listening to a beautiful song — Song for a Hero composed by Maria Cooper Janis’s concert pianist husband Byron Janis written as a tribute to heros everywhere. It was beautifully sung by singer opera/ broadway artist Frank Basille. Following that was a one act play newly written about Alvin York by… I am so glad to meet and be getting to know the York family, both Col. Gerald York and last year met with one of York’s sons Andrew Jackson York at an event when each of us unveiled US Postal service stamps depicting our fathers. A truly unique and moving moment

A most memorable moment for me happened a few years ago when I found myself sharing a stage with one of the sons of Sergeant Alvin York. We both unveiled 2 large paintings of our Fathers, commissioned by the US Postal Service, as the images for one of the new “forever” stamps that were going to be circulated in post offices around the country.This was held at the amazing World War 1 Museum in Kansas City on the anniversary of Armistice day November 11th.York had become such an American hero—though a reluctant one- as he was a pacifist and did not believe in fighting or killing. Hollywood tried to woo the uninterested and elderly Alvin York, who refused to give the rights to his story to any film makers…unless… they could get Gary Cooper to portray him in a life story movie. My father was so extremely honored and humbled by York's request and, the challenge to take on that role. The two men met and got along beautifully. And so, a beautiful film was made, an inspiring story told, and Gary Cooper won his first Academy Award.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

MARIA’S NOTES

I have a new insight into the background of one of my favorite of my father's films, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, chosen by The New York Film Critic’s Circle as the Best Film of the Year (1936) and it garnered 5 nominations from the Motion Picture Academy - Frank Capra won for Best Director.

It is one of the key films in the career of Gary Cooper and was directed by the great Frank Capra with Robert Riskin writing the screenplay. His daughter Victoria Riskin has written a most interesting book about her father and mother, Fay Wray, one of the beautiful actresses of that era which gives an extremely accurate and fascinating look into the Hollywood of that time.

When asked about her father and which films most closely reflected his personal philosophy, she named Mr. Deeds as one of them. His development of the character Mr. Longfellow Deeds embodies the fact of the essential goodness of ordinary people and the ability of one man to stand up to the corruption and power plays of the rich and influential.

The film comments on that and the vulnerability of human nature. This all came together marvelously as directed by Capra and sensitively portrayed by my father with some good bits of humor thrown in. The chemistry between Jean Arthur and Gary Cooper was hidden in the beginning but poignant when finally revealed.

In January 2025, I had the wonderful experience of seeing Mr. Deeds on a big screen. It was shown as part of a Holiday series at the Film Forum in New York. One cannot compare the dramatic impact of watching a movie – any movie – as it was originally meant to be viewed. All aspects of the art form - from the acting, photography, sound effects, the impact of dialogue or the impact of silence - can only fully be appreciated in this way and not reduced to a screen measuring inches instead of feet.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

Morocco*

MARIA’S NOTES

The film Morocco stands out as a high point in Gary Cooper’s early career.

With his co-star Marlena Dietrich and his director, the infamous Josef von Sternberg it was quite a leap into the fire.The physical chemistry between Cooper and Dietrich was obvious on screenand off. This did not please their director who was obsessed with her and jealous.

He was known for being a tyrant on the set, but did get great performances from his primary love Marlena. My Father felt the rest of the cast was pretty much left on their own to lay their scenes. And no one ever “bullied” Gary Cooper. He stood up to Sternberg and told him offverbally and physically when the occasion arose.

His role as a devastatingly handsome American in the French Foreign Legion who, “loved women and left them”, was the epitome of the Wild Legionnaire. Coopers role was highly praised in this film of unrequited love, adventure, and those seeking revenge.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/30/20 Bettina Klinger 6/30/20

Meet John Doe*

MARIA’S NOTES

Every time I watch my father in Frank Capra’s film Meet John Doe, written by Robert Riskin, I am caught up again in the emotion and tensions of the film’s story which deals directly with how my father portrayed the strong, sensitive, naïve and very human aspects of human nature.

His portrayal lets the audience relate to the emotional conflicts and feelings that John Doe himself experiences. In a scary way, the film portrays all of us John Does and the conflicts we face as we fight to maintain our own sense of honesty and integrity in the pressure cooker of the “dark side” trying to overcome the better angels of our nature. Hope and redemption win out in the end but the conflicts that live inside John Doe are elements that we all are faced with in our lives.

The strength of human spirit, a higher power, or whatever you choose to call it when threatened by darkness, is overcome by the light.

Bettina Klinger 6/29/20 Bettina Klinger 6/29/20

Desire

Bettina Klinger 6/29/20 Bettina Klinger 6/29/20

Beau Geste*

MARIA’S NOTES

Beau Geste was made first as a silent movie in 1926 with Ronald Coleman as the major lead. In 1939 paramount did a remake “talkie” with my father Gary Cooper chosen to play one of theGeste brothers, who run off together to join the French foreign legion— the others portrayed by Robert Preston and Ray Milland.I remember my mother telling me that it was a very tough location, filmed in the Mojave Desert, some miles from Yuma, Arizona. The studio built a complete “movie town” with tents that had wooden floor and actual working bathroom for a crew of over 700 people.

I was told a dramatic story as I was growing up about how my father had gotten word that I was very sickbut with no details. So being stuck out in the desert he highjacked a camel and rode at full gallop to the nearest highway, where he ties the camel to a telephone pole and hitchhiked into Yuma and to the nearest hotel telephone to “phone home” to see if I was alright. Well, I later learned that colorful story was totally dreamed upby an eager PR person who fed it to the tabloids of the day!!! The adventure story itself of Beau Geste praises courage and appealed to my father’s early training and sense of values—and his belief in the importance of loyalty and self-sacrifice

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/29/20 Bettina Klinger 6/29/20

Ball of Fire

MARIA’S NOTES

This film is well described by delighted critics as a screwball comedy. It was originally titled The Professor and the Burlesque Queen. It gave my father the opportunity to stretch his “comedic chops” in his own subtle ways. He was happy to be working again, after the film Meet John Doe, with his old family friend and co-star Barbara Stanwyck who earned an Oscar nomination for her role as an exotic dancer named Sugar Puss O’Shea. Gary Cooper plays an English professor upgrading encyclopedias with his friends when some gangsters come into the plot and wonderful laughs ensue throughout the movie. I had never seen this on a big screen until the Gary Cooper Film Festival hosted by Southampton Playhouse, and the experience was wonderful.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/29/20 Bettina Klinger 6/29/20

A Farewell to Arms

MARIA’S NOTES

It does seem like Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway were destined to meet and become friends, although A Farewell to Arms was made before those two men had ever encountered each other.

My father portrayed the protagonist Lieutenant Frederic Henry and his co-star Helen Hayes, the First Lady of the American theater, starred as love interest Catherine Barkley. The story takes place in war torn Italy in World War 1 and the two of them fall in love. In real life, Helen, by her own admission, became totally smitten by my father. She said “ …if only he had wiggled his finger at me to come meet him, I would have left my husband (the writer Charles McArthur) and child and run off with him.” She muttered this in between takes of one of their love scenes in the picture, looking adoringly into my father’s eyes. She recalled, “Gary looked back at me, took me firmly by my shoulders and said ‘NO, HELEN , NO.’” Nevertheless, they remained friends even though much of her acting life was still devoted to theater and she lived in New York City.

The studio shot 2 different endings for the film. The first was the Hemingway ending, faithful to the novel, in which Catherine dies in Frederic’s arms, and the second was the “Hollywood Ending” where she lives. The studio and distributors opted for the Hollywood ending at first, but later distributed the film internationally with the Hemingway ending where Miss Hayes dies in Cooper’s arms. In some cases at select American theaters, moviegoers could choose which ending they wanted to see.

When I met Miss Hayes for the first time, my husband and I were invited to visit her at her home in Nyack, New York. She greeted us at the front door and as she opened it, she saw me silhouetted by the sunlight outside. She exclaimed, “Oh, you look just like Gary standing there, tall and quiet.” It was a very emotional moment for me. I really did not know what to say and could only focus on the deep feelings running through me. After so much time, a connection was still there. She was as beautiful at the height of her career as she was when I met her––an angel.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 6/5/20 Bettina Klinger 6/5/20

Wings

MARIA’S NOTES

This film WINGS is about the use of airplanes in World War 1 and the talented and brave men who flew them to daredevil extremes. It notably won the First Best Picture of the Year Academy Award in Hollywood in 1927 and introduced on screen, oh so briefly, a young handsome unknown actor who we literally- hear say a only a couple of lines—his last words being “Luck or no Luck when your time comes you’re going to get it”! and he walks out of the tent. Brief minutes later we see a shadow pass over the tent, hear a loud crash, and we know the pilot’s luck ran out! The movie audiences reacted so strongly and flooded the studio with letters wanting to know who was that incredible looking young man who gets killed? And so, a Star was born, who became one of the Icons of the Movie Industry. In those 90 seconds Gary Cooper captured the audience with a force of personality and a look in his eyes that overshadowed the 2 established stars of Wings, Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen. Director William Wellman, a terrific pilot himselfwho was part of the group of American pilots who joined to fight for the French in WW1 called the Lafayette Escadrille, directed the air fight scenes. One scene called for a plane to cash into a farmhouse. None of the stunt men wanted to do it, and Bill said “Never mind- I’ll do it myself”. You have never seen air combat scenes like this anywhere on the screen—even today, and, with no trick photography! My father’s career was launched by Wings. He never forgot that humble beginning which introduced one of the most revered stars and actors of the 20th century. With his looks, personality and integrity Cooper came to represent the best a Hero can be …the best an American can strive to beon screen and off.

Maria Cooper Janis

Bettina Klinger 5/5/20 Bettina Klinger 5/5/20

Vera Cruz*

Maria’s Notes

For my father going to Mexico both for work and vacation was eagerly anticipated or planned. Any time a film location was set for there he was delighted. Vera Cruzthe script was being worked on day by day, so no time to learn lines ahead of timenot my father’s favorite way to work. But the drama for himcame when he and Lancaster are in a cabin surrounded by the ‘bad guys” shooting out of windows to save their lives. Burt was standing behind my father and his gun went off by accident, shooting the “Blanks into my father’s left shoulder. An inch higher it would have taken off his left ear or scarred the side of his face. As it was, the wadding from the blank left a tattoo type of scar the size of a silver dollar in Poppas skin The tension between the two characters in the film builds— who gets the gold, who gets the woman??? And then---the final shoot out.

Maria Cooper Janis