MissGoddess

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null Message was edited by: MissGoddess

Unbelievable, it did it to me again, this board!!! Message was edited by: MissGoddess

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Oh, Dan, I am so sorry about Dianna. I really understand because I have always been crazy mad about animals and each pet that I ever lost was like losing a family member. I hope she did not suffer too much and that you will feel comforted that she is at least in peace now. My family has a long tradition of feeding stray cats, and eventually adopting them, so I can also sympathize with you there.

Glad you enjoyed the article, Theresa---wasn't the picture cute that they chose? Well, they all are. Yes, I actually left on time this morning, what a miracle! I am usually not out the door until a quarter to nine. I have a friend visiting me and she saw the last few minutes of The Wedding Night, too but didn't like the movie because, she said, he was playing a cheater and she felt sorry for the wife. Well, he didn't actually cheat though in a spiritual sense he did---but then she said her Mom would have pushed him out the window in the same circumstances and even though I had to laugh at that I became indignant and said any woman would be foolish to give Gary up!

Everyone: Gary Cooper - The Best Dressed Man in the History of the World (according to Esquire magazine) He is the first one mentioned and pictured in their "survey": http://www.esquire.com/style/bestdressedhistory0907

> i know april!! im watching gary all day. acc changed > the date when classes start. now i can watch gary all > day!! yippeeee!!! > > im watching everyone being pixilated right now. > heehee! > > Message was edited by: > butterscotchgreer You're so fortunate, Theresa---I took a long weekend and am back at work today---I could kick myself for not staying out one more day so I could just watch Gary all day. When I left, The Wedding Night had just concluded and I was in tears.

That is so frustrating about Codura, John. I can see where this movie could and should have been greater than it is. It's a film that I have to watch repeatedly to grasp all the finer details. I had not thought about the lack of interiors---how interesting! I'm terribly sorry to hear Gary was himself so disappointed in its final outcome, but that shows how much he really cared about his craft. >>>Not enough space to elaborate on his argument in this regard, but well worth reading. Brian believes GC the most representative westerner in film history, including Eastwood and Wayne. >>>> I had posted waaaay back several pages that after listening to James Stewart's commentary on Winchester '73, when he was asked who was the greatest screen cowboy, "Wayne, Fonda or yourself?", I was riled because I think had the interviewer added Coop's name to the list, Stewart might just have answered 'Coop', and not John Wayne. Miss G

Frank---the closest Gary's movies come to noir I think would be in his last film, The Naked Edge (co-written by Hitchcock Psycho screenwriter, Joseph Stefano) and to a lesser degree, Cloak and Dagger and The General Died at Dawn (the latter mainly for the cinematography, which is somewhat expressionistic). You can probably find The Naked Edge on vhs from Ebay or Amazon's marketplace, but it's not on dvd. Gary's personality is not really suited to gritty, urban noir I think, unless it's in the guise of an innocent man caught up in forces beyond his control---a noir component that would work in his case. The Naked Edge fits that bill.

Fine review of They Came to Codura---thanks Dan, for posting it and thanks, John, if you wrote it. I still cannot find any trace of "cowardice" in Gary's character, I suppose that is because what he apparently did or failed to do is never actually shown, only referred to. I wonder about that choice---why did the director choose never to show him actually doing a cowardly act? Maybe John would know? Is it because they thought they were already giving Cooper fans too much to swallow? This enquiring mind wants to know.... Miss G

> They Came to Cordura is a very dark movie of Coop's > that you may like. It was butchered in the edit room > but still has a very powerful story. Gary Cooper was > very sick with cancer in it and he does have a very > tired and worn appearance in it that actually works > quite well for his part in the movie. I have heard > some refer to him as appearing very wooden with his > lines in this movie but I think he did a fine job > with them. The story line and it is a great one is > all about what is a hero, which is not all that cut > and dry and there are many dark characters in this > one. If you liked High Noon, you very well might > like this one better with your preference for darker > storys. This is not a favorite with most people that > post here as Gary Cooper did all of his own stunts in > this one and he is abused quite a bit. Actually I > think it is quite cheap on dvd now as it has been > reduced in price over the years. It is a double side > disc with the anamoriphic widescreen on one side and > the 3:4 display on the other. > > This is a favorite of mine and would rank in my top > ten favorite Gary Cooper movies. It was also the > very first movie I ever saw of his which may be why I > love it so much but not sure. I can not see anyone > else playing the part of Major Thorn. As an added > bonus Rita Hayworth gives her last great performance > in this movie. Frank---I heartily concurr with CoopFanDan on They Came to Codura---don't miss it when it plays tonight, it's a powerful film and one I think you would appreciate.

> > I've been married for twelve years and I can tell you > my words are final, boy, and they are > usually, "Yes, dear." LOL!!!

> > The majority of men are quite often afraid of > > powerful women, mainly because many of them have > been > > taught to believe they are the head of a family > and > > society. Oddly enough, I believe many women do > want > > the man to be the head of the family but they also > > struggle with how much power he's to have. It can > be > > a serious balancing act at times. > > I don't think the problem is that men are afraid of > powerful women. I mean, what powerful, or successful, > woman is going to be interested for ten seconds in a > man who is afraid of her anyway? I think its more a > matter of successful women not being interested in > men who haven't achieved as much as they have. And > can you blame them? > > course they want the man to be the head of > the family. That's just another way of saying they > want the man to be a man. They just want him to have > the family's best interests in mind, is all. They're > also impressed when the man remembers key dates, and > what she told him this morning. > > P.S. And Gary would agree, I'm sure. > My, but this thread has stepped into deep waters lately! I'm still paddling through the posts slowly. I have to temper my own remarks on gender issues because my opinions tend to be too extreme for most; let's just say I kind of agree here with what LuckyDan just said, and I do like manly men, no doubt about it. I believe when their with me, their "feminine side" is to be supplied by Me, hee!

>>>I'm not a Gary Cooper fan... yet. I haven't given his films a serious look, but I will watch a few of his films tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing Man of the West, Return to Paradise, and They Came to Cordura. The Fountainhead, Peter Ibbetson, Design for Living, and The General Died at Dawn are the other Coop films I'm getting itchy to see. I'm actually getting close to purchasing the one Cooper DVD box set. <<< Frank----I think you may be becoming one without realizing it yet....you are subtly being brainwashed: Gary Cooper Gary Cooper Gary Cooper..everywhere you turn in the TCM City today, you will run into....Gary Cooper! Hee!

[nobr]>What I really dislike is a regular person who does > things that people just can't do. Movies don't need > to necessarily be uber-realistic but I'm not buying > that a guy gets shot multiple times but gets up and > acts just fine > > Amen! That's also why I love Gary's movies; he wasn't > flying around in a spaceship and destroying > three-headed beasts! He was simply just a man with > superheroisms inside -- not outside. He didn't need > big muscles, a large gun and a cocky attitude. He > played the hero part to reality and wasn't some > fantasy superheo with freaky unrealistic powers. > [/nobr] [nobr] I don't know about the rest of you, but my own opinion on this subject is firmly rooted in belief the preference today for this type of "hero" is childish at best, or adolescent. This is why I think movies have gone backward. I don't even think the most primitive examples of the first movies made had characters as one-dimensional and cardboard as those being written today for men---or women, in the biggest budget movies. My emphasis is deliberate, because I know there are smaller films that are trying to do what was done so skillfully before, but in the normal course of artistic progress you wouldn't think the kind of "heroes" children are show today would have any place. End of rant! [/nobr]

>>>>In doing the Coop/Hem doc, I asked several of the talking heads if they could ever imagine a Cooper or Hemingway hero putting a gun to a man's head, grin cruelly, and say: "Go ahead, make my day." Most said no, their heroes played by a different set of rules. But Elmore Leonard thought otherwise. He could picture it, especially Cooper. As he pointed out, Cooper is a cold hard controlling man in The Hanging Tree, having murdered his brother and caused his wife to commit suicide. In Man Of The West, he's a vicious ex-murderer. Given the change in the Cooper hero -- he even owned the rights to Ride The High Country, had already asked Joel McCrea to be in it with him and had also met with Sam Peckinpah, but his cancer forced him to sell the rights; yet it's intriguing to think of a Cooper film directed by Peckinpah! -- and given the societal changes in the sixties, perhaps Cooper might have changed. <<<< John, my mouth almost waters at the possibilities---I am not a fan really of Sam's pictures, he's just too violent for my tastes, but I think Gary Cooper directed by him would be a cat of a different stripe. He couldn't, as you say, portray a man who gets satisfaction from killing (the way, for instance, Clint Eastwood's anti-heroes seem to), so he could only bring a more human and complex character to any Peckinpah scenario. As much as I like both McRea and Scott, I would give much to have seen Gary in either role. I'm just too excited to see the Coop/Hem documentary, it sound like it will shed much needed light onto Gary's neglected talents as an actor, one who passed from us at the peak of his craft.

Wow, Theresa, I had no idea Gary was considered for The Best Years of Our Lives...that is the only thing I can think of that would have improved the otherwise perfect film. And I think Freddie March did a great job, it's just that I would finally have gotten my wish of seeing my two favorite Montanan's, Coop and Myrna, play together in a film.

Very interesting post on Friendly Persuasion, Jemnyc! While I don't agree with the masculine/feminine points of view (I dont' think killing is a masculine characteristic, although perhaps in America it seems so---remember, the females in the animal world are the predators) I do think Gary had the unique ability to show the inner workings of a man who acts on principle, as opposed to the gut-reaction of anger or retribution. His performance in They Came to Codura underlines similar qualities even more strongly. I can see already your posts will be a stimulating addition to this thread, and I look forward to reading more of them, especially as you seem so knowledgable about Ford's films, too (like Dan said, I'm a "Fordian").