The Virginian
Directed by Victor Fleming 91 mins (1929)
A good-natured cowboy who is romancing the new schoolmarm has a crisis of conscience when he discovers his best friend is engaged in cattle rustling.
Gary Cooper - The Virginian
Based on the novel by Owen Wister, first published in 1902.This was Gary Cooper's first talking picture and first lead role in a western. He felt that sound would ruin him, believing his voice was not adequate to the task, however Cooper would later refer to this as his favourite role.
Also starring Walter Huston, Mary Brian, Richard Arlen, Helen Ware and Eugene Pallette.
Maria’s Notes
It’s hard to realize that in 1929 out of 20 thousand movie theaters only1500 were wired for sound. My father had a naturally deep voice that served him well as the “talkies” transformed the film industry. Owen Wister’s The Virginian hit the screens with a huge impact—the book itself from which the film was made had sold 1.6 million copies in those days, and it gave my father one of the classic lines in Western movie history… ”If you want to call me that, Smile”. The story is not ‘dated” and in fact there is a resonance with another film classic of Gary Cooper’s, High Noon. The point being you don’t run away from your duty- even as it puts your own life on the line. The romantic cowboy/hero image of my father pulls you into the very essence of the story, in fact, to the essence of Gary Cooper himself… on screen and off.
Maria Cooper Janis