The Cowboy and the Lady

The Cowboy & The Lady

Directed by H. C. Potter. 91 mins. (1938)

Gary Cooper – Stretch Willoughby

A naïve cowboy visiting Palm Beach becomes romantically involved with a sheltered socialite seeking freedom from her strict political family, forcing her to choose between society expectations and true love.

Also starring Merle Oberon, Patsy Kelly, Walter Brennan, Fuzzy Knight, Henry Kolker, and Mabel Todd.

A romantic comedy blending Western and high-society worlds, the film won the Academy Award for Best Sound. During production, Henry Kolker replaced Thomas Mitchell as the heroine’s father, requiring all of Mitchell’s completed scenes to be reshot.

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell*

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell

Directed by Otto Preminger. 100 mins. (1955)

Gary Cooper – Col. Billy Mitchell

A pioneering U.S. Army Air Service officer challenges military leadership over its neglect of air power, leading to a controversial court-martial that tests his convictions and reshapes the future of aviation.

Also starring Charles Bickford, Ralph Bellamy, Rod Steiger, Elizabeth Montgomery, Jack Lord, Peter Graves, and Darren McGavin.

Based on the true story of General Billy Mitchell, whose advocacy for military aviation helped transform modern warfare. The film references future Air Force leader “Hap” Arnold—later associated with the WWII B-25 Mitchell bombers named in Billy Mitchell’s honor. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay.

MARIA’S NOTES

Once again, it was intriguing to my father Gary Cooper to try to understand and to portray a character, an individual who stood up against the establishment, fought for a controversial cause and plunged ahead with cost and risk to himself and his career. 

Development of aviation in America as chronicled in movies started with my father’s portrayal in the 1927 movie Wings and culminated in The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell. This film exposes clearly the conflicts between the different branches in the Armed Services of the U.S. at that time which was heavily dominated by Navy interests. The brilliant Army pilot Billy Mitchell in WWI was quickly promoted to Brigadier General. Many then felt he was going rogue when he became a strong critic of the dominance of the Navy and he strongly believed that the success and future of warfare rested in developing serious air power. He was also a very strong advocate for the use of submarines in combat strategy. 

His passion for his vision caused him to be stripped of his military rankings and ended up in a trial and a Court Marshall. By 1941, due to Billy Mitchell’s efforts and outspokenness, the Department of Defense was eventually established.

He was a little understood hero but one that Gary Cooper felt to be portrayed.

Schedule for veteran’s day in November, please look up correct date

One of the deep pleasures of recent years has been Byron and my chance to know some of the Alvin York family. Sergeant York, the movie which won my father his first Academy Award, tells the inspirational true story of one of America’s real life heroes. York fought for his country in World War I against Germany although he was a pacifist in his nature. His simple honor and courage on the battlefield won him his Medal of Honor. 

The Betrayal

The Betrayal

Directed by Lewis Milestone. 80 mins. (1929)

Gary Cooper – Andre Frey

A young cavalry officer becomes entangled in a tragic romantic triangle when a restless woman, bound by duty and marriage, risks everything to pursue forbidden love amid the rigid codes of European society.

Also starring Emil Jannings, Esther Ralston, Douglas Haig, and Jada Weller.

Gary Cooper’s final silent drama, the film paired him with Academy Award–winner Emil Jannings in a story of passion and sacrifice set against aristocratic tradition.

The Adventures of Marco Polo

The Adventures of Marco Polo

Directed by Archie Mayo. 104 mins. (1938)

Gary Cooper – Marco Polo

The young Venetian explorer journeys to the court of Kublai Khan in imperial China, where romance with a princess and intrigue from a treacherous courtier draw him into a struggle to protect the emperor and secure his own destiny.

Also starring Basil Rathbone, Sigrid Gurie, Binnie Barnes, Alan Hale, H. B. Warner, and Lana Turner.

A lavish historical adventure loosely inspired by the travels of Marco Polo, the production was notable for its elaborate sets and costumes; Lana Turner later recalled the extreme makeup and hairstyling demanded for her role.

Task Force

Task Force

Directed by Delmer Daves. 116 mins. (1949)

Gary Cooper – Jonathan L. Scott

A determined U.S. Navy officer champions the strategic importance of aircraft carriers from the 1920s through World War II, battling skepticism and bureaucracy as he risks his career—and personal life—to transform modern naval warfare.

Also starring Jane Wyatt, Wayne Morris, Walter Brennan, Julie London, and Jack Holt.

A semi-documentary drama tracing the rise of carrier aviation, the film concludes with extended color combat footage following a largely black-and-white narrative. In a nod to Cooper’s earlier work, his character is briefly offered a copy of A Farewell to Arms.

Starlift

Starlift

Directed by Roy Del Ruth. 103 mins. (1951)

Gary Cooper – Himself

At a U.S. Air Force base during the Korean War, a young airman’s boastful lie about imminent combat entangles him with visiting Hollywood stars, leading to comic chaos and a morale-boosting show for wounded servicemen.

Also starring Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, James Cagney, Randolph Scott, and Ruth Roman.

A patriotic musical comedy featuring numerous celebrity cameos as themselves, the film was produced with cooperation from the U.S. Air Force and highlights the role of entertainment in supporting troop morale.

Springfield Rifle

Springfield Rifle

Directed by André de Toth. 93 mins. (1952)

Gary Cooper – Maj. Alex “Lex” Kearney

Branded a coward after a supposed failure in battle, a Union officer secretly goes undercover among horse thieves and Confederate raiders to expose the traitor sabotaging vital cavalry supply lines during the Civil War.

Also starring Phyllis Thaxter, David Brian, Paul Kelly, Philip Carey, and Lon Chaney Jr.

A Western espionage drama set during the Civil War, the film was shot in Lone Pine, California, where cast and crew reportedly witnessed a distant mushroom cloud from early Nevada nuclear tests.

Souls at Sea

Souls at Sea

Directed by Henry Hathaway. 93 mins. (1937)

Gary Cooper – Michael “Nuggin” Taylor

A carefree American sailor becomes entangled in the brutal realities of the 19th-century slave trade, ultimately risking his life during a catastrophic shipwreck to save others at sea.

Also starring George Raft, Frances Dee, Henry Wilcoxon, Harry Carey, and Olympe Bradna.

Loosely inspired by the 1841 wreck of the American ship William Brown, the film blends maritime adventure with historical drama. It received three Academy Award nominations.

Seven Days Leave

Seven Days Leave

Directed by Richard Wallace. 80 mins. (1930)

Gary Cooper – Kenneth Downey

A wounded Canadian soldier recovering in London agrees to impersonate the long-lost son of a lonely Scottish widow, only to form a genuine bond that compels him to return to the front and fulfill the role he has come to believe in.

Also starring Beryl Mercer, Daisy Belmore, Nora Cecil, and Tempe Pigott.

Based on J. M. Barrie’s play The Old Lady Shows Her Medals, the film is a poignant World War I drama exploring identity, sacrifice, and the emotional cost of war.

Saratoga Trunk*

Saratoga Trunk

Directed by Sam Wood. 135 mins. (1945)

Gary Cooper – Col. Clint Maroon

A charismatic Texas gambler and a determined Creole woman form a bold alliance to reclaim her rightful place in New Orleans society, challenging class prejudice and corruption in the post–Civil War South.

Also starring Ingrid Bergman, Flora Robson, Jerry Austin, John Warburton, and Florence Bates.

Based on Edna Ferber’s 1940 novel, the title refers to a major railroad “trunk line” linking Albany and Binghamton, New York. The film earned an Academy Award nomination for Flora Robson’s supporting performance.

MARIA’S NOTES

As the chemistry was strong between Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman in Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, it was a natural coupling for them to be paired in the film adaption of Edna Ferber’s best selling novel, Saratoga Trunk. Both movies were directed by Sam Woods but Saratoga Trunk had any number of problems including a lack of directorial vision to make the film come off, costing $1.75 million to make and coming in 42 days behind schedule. Stories don’t always move well from the page to the stage and even though it was a pleasure to watch Cooper and Bergman together on the big screen, it was not at the top of anyone’s must-see list.

As a sidebar - the white Stetson hat that my father wore in Saratoga Trunk is the hat that he gave to Pablo Picasso many years later when we visited the great painter in the South of France. In several of David Douglas Duncan’s fabulous photography books on Picasso, you can find the artist proudly wearing this hat - he carried it off well!

Maria Cooper Janis

Return to Paradise*

Return to Paradise

Directed by Mark Robson. 100 mins. (1953)

Gary Cooper – Mr. Morgan

A free-spirited American wanderer arrives on a secluded South Seas island ruled by a rigid missionary, and his independent spirit gradually transforms the community’s social order.

Also starring Barry Jones, Roberta Haynes, Moira Walker, and John Hudson.

Filmed on location in Western Samoa, the film contrasts Puritan authority with personal freedom in a tropical setting. Co-star Roberta Haynes later recalled Gary Cooper’s warmth and professionalism during the demanding shoot despite his declining health.

MARIA’S NOTES

My father thought that making Return to Paradise would be just that. I learned he got a rude awakening. Although Samoa was picturesque and beautiful beyond belief, the actual experience for all concerned was less than ideal. Novelist James Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific contained the story about which Return to Paradise was made. The original title - Mr. Morgan – is the character that Gary Cooper portrays. The island community is full of drama between Mr. Morgan and a harsh Evangelical minister who tries to oppress the natives’ lives. Morgan stands up to the minister with a fiery bit of dialogue, “I’m not taking orders from any two-bit Mussolini.” He falls in love, has a child, her mother dies in childbirth and the story continues to unfold. Mr. Morgan finally achieves his life’s redemption.

Here are some excerpts of some of my father’s letters that he wrote to my mother and me while he was away for those 3 very long months – don’t forget, no cell phones, no internet, not even faxes in 1951.

In one of his letters, he wrote that apparently there had been a shipping strike in San Pedro which delayed the delivery of the movie equipment – 120 tons of it – and halted production for a month.

“We’ve been sitting here without stuff to make a picture and no word from the ship yet…you just barely set foot on the ground here and you know why Gauguin stayed. It’s more beautiful than you imagine. The villages are like parks. The fales (houses) are all high-poled thatch roofs open on all sides. They decorate everything with flowers and the shoreline is nearly one solid continuation of villages and the people dress and look exactly as Gauguin painted the Tahitians years ago.

 “Big disappointment – the swimming!!! All sewage goes into the water and the water inside this coral reef surrounds the island…I hear the sharks, barracudas and eels are plentiful. You wouldn’t like it for long!! The food!!! Phewww!!

 “The ship came over the horizon Monday. No word from her on account of a different wavelength and it’s about a mile beyond the reef. We identified her as not a local craft. Everyone’s spirits rose, big excitement and much work unloading tons of equipment. The picture is really going to start!”

–––

In another exasperated letter he wrote: 

“Dear Sweet Girls,

It doesn’t seem to make any difference whether you work or don’t work here – the time goes so fast. It’s like looking back on having a fever – you don’t know where the devil the time has gone and you can never do all the things you set out to do on a Sunday off. You don’t write because you know the mail won’t go out for another 10 days or so. And also I’ve come home from work several times at 7:30 or 8:00, kicked off my shoes, had some soup and gone off to sleep – with clothes on – and up again before daylight. The parade of bright days and starry nights flicker by so fast – you really wonder if you’ll ever get out of here to see your own world and your own people.

“From where I sit now, you can look up on the high jungle-covered hill that dominates the town and on the top of which Robert Louis Stevenson is buried. In the daytime it’s usually backed by a huge whiter cumulus cloud and in the evening, flying foxes – an animal like a bat but a little bigger than Charlie our crow – fly in from the highest hills to feed on the fruit trees at night. Will try to get a movie of one before I go.

 “The picture is going pretty well considering the Samoans are a little “green” and also that money doesn’t mean a damn thing to them. The only thing they buy is cloth for their clothes, mostly the lavalava, a sarong to you. Every other darn thing the use, eat or live in comes from the trees and the plants around them. They believe in the long siesta at noon and think we are crazy to work right through the day. They swim and bathe a couple of times a day (but are still a little high!) but so are we I notice after just a few minutes exposure to work.

“There stores are limited. They buy from New Zealand, have a few canned goods. Very little variety. There was no hot water…the hotel was equipped to handle 20 people…when we got there, there were 60 extra people – they were swamped. They cook on crude stoves. Food wasn’t bad, but no too good. We didn’t have much time for pleasure…got up at 6; leave the hotel at 7; drive out to location which was an hour away; get back at 7:30 or 8; finish dinner at 9 or 9:30; then fall in the sack…2 pooped to work on Sunday. I went spear fishing a couple of days – caught small stuff. When I had 2 days off, I had a sore throat and stayed in bed. It would be good to see my 2 girls about  now. I miss you very much. I love you very much and I want to come home.

–––

Returning home from a movie location in Paris (Love in the Afternoon) was a lot different from my father’s tale of the South Pacific.

Peter Ibbetson

Peter Ibbetson

Directed by Henry Hathaway. 85 mins. (1935)

Gary Cooper – Peter Ibbetson

An idealistic architect reunites with his lost childhood love—now a duchess—but after a tragic accident leads to his imprisonment, the two sustain their bond by meeting in shared dreams beyond the confines of reality.

Also starring Ann Harding, John Halliday, Ida Lupino, Douglass Dumbrille, and Virginia Weidler.

Based on George du Maurier’s 1891 novel, the film is celebrated for its romantic fantasy imagery and enduring cult reputation. It is included in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

Operator 13

Operator 13

Directed by Richard Boleslawski. 85 mins. (1934)

Gary Cooper – Capt. Jack Gailliard

During the American Civil War, a Union spy disguised as an enslaved woman infiltrates Confederate territory, but her mission is jeopardized when she falls in love with a Southern officer loyal to the opposing cause.

Also starring Marion Davies, Jean Parker, Katherine Alexander, and Ted Healy.

The only screen pairing of Marion Davies and Gary Cooper, the film was made at Davies’s request while Cooper was on loan from Paramount. The Shackleford mansion interiors were later reused as Twelve Oaks in Gone with the Wind (1939).

One Sunday Afternoon

One Sunday Afternoon

Directed by Stephen Roberts. 85 mins. (1933)

Gary Cooper – Biff Grimes

A small-town dentist reflects on his youth and the betrayal that cost him both his closest friendship and the woman he loved, as memories of ambition, rivalry, and regret shape his middle-aged solitude.

Also starring Fay Wray, Frances Fuller, Roscoe Karns, Neil Hamilton, and Jane Darwell.

Based on the Broadway play by James Hagan, the film was acquired by Paramount at Gary Cooper’s urging after he learned of the property through Fredric March.

Now and Forever*

Now & Forever

Directed by Henry Hathaway. 81 mins. (1934)

Gary Cooper – Jerry Day

A charming drifter and con man attempts to reform his reckless ways when reunited with the young daughter he has long neglected, but the lure of crime threatens the fragile family he is only beginning to build.

Also starring Carole Lombard, Shirley Temple, Guy Standing, and Charlotte Granville.

One of Shirley Temple’s early dramatic roles, the film paired her with Gary Cooper, who famously asked the child star for her autograph. Temple memorized the entire script and often prompted Cooper during scenes.

MARIA’S NOTES

As Now and Forever was made in 1934 my father was still kind of “newlywed"(1933 marriage) and he didn’t want to accept more than one picture that year. My memories years later of his comments about that film revolved mainly around one very little, cute, adorable…and highly annoying little girl named Shirley Temple who played his daughter. She already had made a name for herself in the industry. He admired a lot her intelligence and talentbut was highly irritated with her annoying habit of knowing not only her own, but everybody else’s lines when shooting a scene. Little Shirley was not shy about speaking up and correcting you in front of the cast if you made a dialogue mistake and said “and” instead of “but”. Understandably, this is never done and it drove him crazy!!!But he overcame that frustration and they actually got along very well. and their relationship and scenes together are touching and memorable. By contrast, his co-star Carol Lombard and he have an explosive relationship in the film. The contact and dynamics work very well for the story. Off screen Carole was a family friend and there was many a weekend afternoon with the Coopers and she and Clark Gable who were madly in love with each other, just relaxing, playing tennis, swimming. I have been told she could hold her own with the guys when it came to swearing—quite a shock coming from this very feminine blond!The movie was a “sleeper” and a much better picture than popularly acknowledged by the critics at the time. But the public was very happy!

Maria Cooper Janis

North West Mounted Police

North West Mounted Police

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille. 126 mins. (1940)

Gary Cooper – Dusty Rivers

A determined Texas Ranger pursues a fugitive to 1880s Canada, where he becomes entangled in the North-West Rebellion and a romantic rivalry while striving to uphold justice far from home.

Also starring Madeleine Carroll, George Bancroft, Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster, and Robert Preston.

Loosely inspired by the Riel Rebellion in Saskatchewan, the Technicolor epic was filmed largely on Paramount sound stages and Western U.S. locations. It earned four Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Film Editing.

Nevada

Nevada

Directed by Edward Killy. 62 mins. (1944)

Gary Cooper – Nevada

A drifting cowhand is wrongfully accused of murder after being found with stolen money beside a slain miner, and must clear his name while evading a corrupt land baron’s plot to have him lynched.

Also starring William Frawley, Anne Gwynne, and Guinn “Big Boy” Williams.

Based on Zane Grey’s Western novel, the film was released by Paramount in a shortened reissue version in 1944 drawn from the original 1927 silent production featuring Gary Cooper.

Man of the West

Man of the West

Directed by Anthony Mann. 100 mins. (1958)

Gary Cooper – Link Jones

A reformed outlaw traveling east to hire a schoolteacher is stranded with unlikely companions and forced to confront his violent past when he encounters the criminal gang that once raised him.

Also starring Julie London, Lee J. Cobb, Arthur O’Connell, and John Dehner.

One of Gary Cooper’s final Westerns, the film is now regarded as a genre classic; French critic Jean-Luc Godard championed it upon release. Despite lingering injuries from a past car accident, Cooper performed many of his own riding scenes.

Love in the Afternoon*

Love In the Afternoon

Directed by Billy Wilder. 130 mins. (1957)

Gary Cooper – Frank Flannagan

A charming American playboy in Paris becomes the target of a jealous husband’s murder plot, only to find himself unexpectedly drawn to the naïve young daughter of the private detective hired to protect him.

Also starring Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver, Van Doude, and Lise Bourdin.

Billy Wilder’s romantic comedy pairs Gary Cooper with Audrey Hepburn in a May–December romance that tested censorship boundaries; a dubbed line was added to soften implications of their intimacy. The film received multiple international awards and honors.

MARIA’S NOTES

The movie Love in the Afternoon was taken from a popular french story titled  “Arianne."

It is a film in which Gary Cooper plays not to his typical film image at all. Every actor wants to ‘stretch his abilities, and take on different personas. He had gotten a piece of advice in the early days from Sam Goldwyn who said in effect-" to be careful Coop and never let your public down. They don’t want to see you as other than the “hero,” in whatever form…”

His character Frank Flannagan in Love in the Afternoon is a tycoon/playboy of a “certain age” who has been definitely around the track many times and is romancing a very young, beautiful, charming cello student, Audrey Hepburn, who  lives with her detective father, Maurice Chevalier. It reunites professionally Cooper and the great director Billy Wilder, who were close personal friends (their first film together was with Claudette Colbert in Bluebeards’s  Eighth Wife in 1938 ).

Wilders first choice for this role was Cary Grant or Yul Brynner, however schedules didn’t permit, but given Coopers age Wilder felt it could work very well with him portraying such a sophisticated scoundrel. My father was tired playing ‘virtuous” roles, wanted to do the film, work with Billy again, and then--location in Paris  was  NO hardship!

One of the lovelier scenes takes place when he is having a picnic in the Bois ( the park) in Paris. I was visiting the shoot that day and when the crew took a lunch break my father said to me,” Do you want to go for a row on the lake.? It was beautiful as  he got his daily workout by rowing very energetically around the little islands of trees and flowers, but funny to see all the crowds lining the banks of the large lake..all pointing and wondering who was the  young lady in the rowboat with Gary Cooper????

Does the comedy give Cooper the chance to redeem himself in the end??. I invite you to watch a kind of magical romance and find out for yourself.

Maria Cooper Janis

Lilac Time

Lilac Time

Directed by George Fitzmaurice. 80 mins. (1928)

Gary Cooper – Capt. Philip Blythe

During World War I in rural France, a British aviator billeted at a farmhouse falls in love with the farmer’s daughter, their fragile romance unfolding beneath the constant shadow of aerial combat and loss.

Also starring Colleen Moore, Eugenie Besserer, Burr McIntosh, and Kathryn McGuire.

A silent wartime romance noted for its atmospheric sentiment, the film inspired immersive exhibition practices—one Boston theater famously scented its auditorium with lilac perfume during screenings.