coopsgirl

I'm glad you liked the video . If I was in the movie industry I think I would like editing the best. I'm more of a behind the scenes person anyway and it just seems like it would be fun b/c that's where the whole thing really comes together and takes shape. I've got a really good idea for another one that would have clips going through his whole career set to this great song called 'Movie of My Life' and it's a guy singing about how he feels like he's watching a movie of his life. That's very interesting that Gary could have been Wright's husband and father over the course of their careers, weird, but definitely interesting.

Don't forget everybody that tomorrow is Gary's day for Summer Under the Stars. I'm glad they're showing A Farewell to Arms b/c I have two copies of that one and they're both unwatchable. Hopefully the TCM version will have both good video and audio together and I can finally see a good version of this one. Of course it's the last one they're showing and I'll be sound asleep so I'll have to wait until Wednesday to see it. Oh well, I guess I can wait that long

Cooper's screen persona is a fascinating study in masculinity. He's the only star I can think of who would cry on screen -- not because he's lost a spouse, a loved one, but because he's afraid, as he did in High Noon. That is my favorite scene in High Noon where he's in his office and he puts his head down on the desk and cries a little. That's probably what a lot of people would do if they were actually in that situation. Then when he realizes that young man is watching him, he straigtens up and tries to put on a brave face. Some of us have talked before about how put off we are by today's standards of masculinity in the movies and on TV. Action movies are definitely the worst. I'm tired of seeing men with more muscles than brains get shot at multiple times or severaly beaten yet they come out of it with nary a scratch and then easily take the bad guys out with an automatic weapon. Give me a man like Gary anytime who can be sensitive and calm yet powerful and in control of any situation all the same time. It constantly amazes me how much depth he had as an actor and a person and how it all come across just watching him on a TV screen. I think more with him than any other actor, when you watch him you just feel safe and comfortable like you know everything will be okay. I can't picture Bing Crosby in the role of Jess Birdwell at all. Frank Capra is my favorite director but Wyler did a fantastic job on Friendly Persuasion. I hate the 'auteur theory' b/c so often it leaves out many wonderful movie makers who for whatever reason aren't in the clique. Like I said Capra is my fave director and was an amazing person as well. Yet his movies get labelled as Capra-corn and many people today consider them too sweet or corny in many cases. I think it's wrong to judge his movies and many other old films by todays standards where movies are more violent and 'edgy'. During the depression and war years Capra made beautiful movies about regular people overcoming adversity in their own lives and often trying to help others as well. It's a real shame that he and many other directors either get their works twisted around by modern society or are forgotten all together.

Here's another video I made using clips from The Westerner. Dan put it best when he said Gary is 'Mr. Cool' in this movie. I used Dolly Parton's song 'Why'd You Come in Here Looking Like That?' b/c it's one of my faves of hers and makes me think of Gary everytime I hear it

Friendly Persuasion is about my second favorite Gary Cooper film. It would have been nothing without Gary Cooper in it. Can you imagine John Wayne playing that part? I definitely can't picture that but then really any part he played I can only picture him playing. I'm surprised every time I see one of his films has been remade b/c not only were the directors usually better in the original but it had Gary, the best actor I've ever seen, and you're just not going to improve upon any part he played. High Noon was remade as a TV movie in 2000 and The Virginian was remade in 1946 starring Joel McCrea (who was often used when Gary wasn't available). I'm not counting the TV version of The Virginian since that was a series and not just a one-off remake but there was a TV movie version of it made in 2000. Those two movies (especially High Noon) are such signature movies of his that it made me mad to think they had been redone, and not very well according to most reviewers. And of course let's not forget the fiasco that was Adam Sandler's Mr. Deeds (even though I would like to). I've never seen that one and never will b/c I don't want anything to taint my enjoyment of the original. I was very happy to hear that The Invasion (another remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1956) bombed and only made $6 million this weekend while it cost $100 million to make. I love the original and everytime I saw the preview for the new one I just yelled at the TV that if I wanted to see that story I'd watch the original one. You'd think Hollywood would eventually learn it's lesson that just b/c a movie was a hit once doesn't mean it will be again. Unfortunately I think that's one lesson that will never sink in.

Wow y'all were sure busy last night - ha! Kim everything you said about Gary was just beautiful and exactly why we love him so much. It's everything about him from the outside (those great looks) to the inside (his even more beautiful character) and of course his amazing acting ability that makes him stand head and shoulders over everyone else.

I was checking up on the Meet John Doe musical and it seems to be doing well. The writers have a blog on their website and from there they had a link to another's guy blog and I found the following write up about Gary Cooper. "Gary Cooper was always one of my favorites. He embodied the kind of old fashioned, good natured Americanism. He was a little bit conservative and he did testify before the un-American Activities Committee, but never gave away a name, betrayed a friend, or sold out the truth for convenience or opportunism. One of Cooper's best friends was Hemingway, and his favorite words came from the original John Donne poem that become the title of Hemingway's great novel: For Whom The Bell Tolls, also the movie Cooper starred in as well. According to his daughter, Gary Cooper's favorite words, from that poem, were these: "no man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main"." Newspaper reviews of the musical from Washington D.C. and Baltimore: This being Capra's world, we know "Meet John Doe's" sympathies are not with these sugar daddies. Far less transparent than its politics, however, is its title character. This is something of a problem for the musical, which does not give us sufficient reason to warm up to John Doe, to help us understand the character of the man. In the movie, John Doe, aka John Willoughby, was played by a bona fide matinee idol, Gary Cooper, and it was easy to take his wholesomeness as an article of faith. On the stage, we need to be provided with a little more emotional texture, so that we see why he is emboldened to accept this fraudulent mantle. Gerle and Sugarman (the writers) allot Doe only a single song in Act 1 -- about his love of baseball. It's a bit thin for a man with the challenges Doe faces in Act 2; both character and actor feel shortchanged. There are more than enough elements - romance, political intrigue and that old favorite, good versus evil - to craft this compelling musical. And Gerle and Sugarman's version even has a credible ending, something that eluded Capra, who filmed five conclusions, as he recounted in his autobiography, The Name Above the Title. The movie wound up with a final scene in the sugarcoated, "Capra-corn" mode. But the musical concludes in a manner at once dark and hopeful, a combination that feels truer to the plot and the characters. From the little bit I read of these reviews and others it sounds like John Doe does actually kill himself in the musical. I definitely have to disagree with people who don't like the ending of the movie b/c I think it perfectly fit. This movie was made during a time when the country was still in economic trouble and heading into another world war. There's no point in making depressing movies when people are going through hard times in real life on such a big scale as people were during this time.

I have seen some shorts from the early '30s that were filmed in color and it seemed so strange since I'm just used to b+w from those days. I've become really interesting in movie making from the silent film and early talkie era having watched so many of Gary's silent and early films and have stumbled onto some pretty cool stuff. A guy named DeForest (forgot his first name) was one of the first people to develop the sound on film process of recording. Some people were also recording the dialogue on to vinyl records that would be played along with the film but that wasn't very practical b/c the records has to be shipped with the film and sometimes they would get damaged. As early as '21 DeForest was making short reels with sound. He mostly made one reel films of vaudeville acts like Eddie Cantor. Unfortunately the studios were very slow to catch on to the new technology so it would still be several years before we got talkies. I found a couple videos of Eddie Cantor and this first one is from '23 using DeForest's phonofilm technology. Eddie Cantor in 1923 Eddie Cantor again singing Makin' Whoopee. Not sure of the year but he still looks young here so I'm guessing early '30s. It's in color but it looks more like 2-strip Technicolor. It wasn't as vibrant as the 3-strip they would later develop. I love the clothes the girls are wearing too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_xtxNbyK5s

So far I have bought Doomsday and Wings from them and they were both good quality, especially Wings. They have quite a few movies I want and they are at very good prices (about $13 each) so I hope they get their act together soon. They have Paramount on Parade (1930) which was Gary's first color picture (two strip technicolor). Some of the skits are bw and some are color and part of his skit is in color. It just amazes me too to see color films that are so old. I love bw but it is a shame that color didn't catch on earlier and become more affordable. They have a good selection of movies overall and I'd really like to get some of Clara Bow's talkies they have like The Saturday Night Kid. That one also has Jean Arthur and Jean Harlow very early in their careers.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is one of my very favorite movies so I'll have to go with Gary Cooper's portrayal of Longfellow Deeds. He's just a small town boy who is completely content with his life and then he inherits a fortune from a distant relative. As soon as he gets to New York to actually claim his money the trouble starts with reporters and other vultures out to take it and make a fool out of his simple (but not dumb), childlike personality. So he decides to give his money away to help the nation's farmers who are struggling during the depression but he is put on trial for being insane by the people who want to take his money. Mr. Deeds prevails and ends up helping thousands of people instead of keeping the money for himself, he also gets the girl along the way. I like this character so much b/c it shows the best of what people can be. Instead of being greedy and selfish, he gladly gives his money away to help the less fortunate.

I'm an only child so that's what I blame the talking to myself on - ha! I wanted to tell you too that if you haven't already searched through some of the older posts you should b/c we've put up a lot of pics of Gary. Also just in case you didn't know he has several movies coming out on dvd on May 22nd. There's a box set which includes The Cowboy and The Lady, The Real Glory, Vera Cruz, and The Winning of Barbara Worth. I'm especially excited that they are releasing Barbara Worth b/c that was his first real acting job in 1926 instead of just his previous extras work. Also coming out as individual dvd's are Ball of Fire, The Wedding Night, Unconquered, Marco Polo, and Cassanova Brown. These are all good ones and I hope this means that there are even more of his films on the way. Also they are re-releasing Pride of the Yankees sometime this month but it's the colorized version and I don't think it has any extras. You can already buy the black and white version and in my opinion it's much better. I've seen screencaps from the colorized one and it looks terrible.

I haven't seen Desire yet but I'm trying to. I ordered it from forgotten films on Feb 28 and still haven't gotten it. I've ordered from them before with no problems but now all I get are excuses about how they got behind in processing orders. It's been nearly six weeks and I hope this gets resolved soon.

Yes I love the Cowboy and the Lady!! I love the scene where he's 'playing house', it's so funny. I have a bad habit of talking to myself a lot and I always feel a little embarrased when someone catches me doing it He played that scene so well without any self-consciousness and it just comes off great.

I do really like his funnier movies like Ball of Fire, Cassanova Brown, His Woman, Along Came Jones, and You're in the Navy Now. That last scene in Ball of Fire is hilarious and I love it when he tells Joe Lilac 'put up your dukes' and then Gary ends up hitting his own self in the face! Those professors are too cute too and just about steal the movie from Gary and Barbara.

It's hard to pick faves but my top five would be Mr. Deeds, Ball of Fire, Meet John Doe, Pride of the Yankees, and Sgt. York. This is a good group and I know you'll enjoy it here. Angie

You are so right!! His movies are all very re-watchable. Even thought some of them weren't huge box office successes, I think they're all good to great and a dang sight better than most new movies. I like a lot of old movies but I didn't really have any actors in particular that I really just went crazy over until I saw Gary. He's the only one that I want to see every movie he made (even westerns which I have never liked before but I love his). I'm getting close too as I've got about 64 of them. He had such a wonderful career and the best actor I've seen (not to mention the best looking ).

He played so many characters that were like that and you just fall in love with them. His characters in Mr. Deeds, Ball of Fire, Meet John Doe, Casanova Brown just to name a few are so sweet and just such good guys. The fact that Gary was a good guy always seemed to come out in his roles and just made him so genuinely likeable. It's just a real shame there aren't any more like him.

I'm glad you got to see Cloak and Dagger, it is a good one. He and Lilli were great together and it is a shame she didn't make a bigger splash. This is the only thing I've seen her in but she was very good. This got me thinking about how studios would often pair up actresses early in their career with Gary once he was a big star hoping to make them stars as well. So that then got me thinking about the women who made their film debut with Gary. Talk about a nice way to begin a film career Grace Kelly - High Noon Roberta Haynes - Return to Paradise was her first credited movie role Marlene Dietrich - Morocco was her first American film Betty Brewster - Half a Bride Frances Fuller - One Sunday Afternoon Helen Burgess - The Plainsman Sigrid Gurie - Marco Polo Katina Paxinou - For Whom the Bell Tolls was her film debut and she won the Best Supporting Actress award for her part as Pilar Katy Jurado - High Noon was her first English speaking movie Sara Montiel - Vera Cruz was her first English speaking movie Elizabeth Montgomery - The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell Phyllis Love - Friendly Persuasion Honorable Mention Jean Arthur - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was finally the A list movie she needed to become a star

Well I'm just about all ready for my trip tomorrow to see the Astros at Spring Training in Florida. It's been rainy and muggy here for a couple days and that's supposed to keep on for a while but it's beautiful in Kissimmee so that will be nice. I hope y'all have a great weekend and don't have too much fun without me

That's too funny!!! As soon as I saw that smiley with the big ears I thought of Gable too.

I love the emails you get from John. It's so cool that you are able to talk back and forth with him and then share with us. I figured he would like the "High Tech Noon" video and I'm glad you sent it to him. I'm so excited to see the Cooper/Heminway documentary!! I can imagine the part with Kirk reading the letter will make me cry and I hate crying in front of people but I probably won't be able to help it

He had the soul of a boy--a pure, simple, nice, warm boys' soul... He was the incarnation of the honorable American." --- Stockholm, Sweden newspaper Svenska Dagbladet I like that quote a lot It really sums him up. He's definitely one of the most attractive men I have ever seen but that only gets you so far with me There are a lot of actors who I think are nice looking but I don't want to collect all their movies and read everything about them that I can (he's the only one who fits this bill for me). Gary just had that certain something that makes you want to watch him and even when other actors are speaking you still watch him just to see how he reacts to them and how good he is. He would be an awesome person to meet b/c I can imagine how much more all his wonderful qualities would come out in person. I totally agree with you too that more than any other actor we see a lot of his real characteristics in the characters he played b/c so many were like him-good, honest, decent people.

I've watched "High Tech Noon" several times and it cracks me up every time. The guy doing Gary's voiceover is hilarious I like the original Star Trek too. My dad was a huge fan when it was on originally and we'd watch repeats when I was a kid. I like Shatner too and was actually in a movie with him back in 2000. When they made Miss Congeniality (he was the host of the beauty pageant part) they filmed part of it in Austin and for the beauty pageant bit at the end they needed audience members. You can't see me but I'm in the audience clapping for the contestants. It was an awesome experience and if any of y'all get the chance to be an extra you should do it. It took all day of filming just to get a couple scenes and we were worn out by the time it was over that night. While actors are quite pampered and often overpaid, they do work pretty hard. I didn't get paid but we did get a free lunch and I got to talk to the director, Donald Petrie, and he was very nice and down to earth. He went around and talked to just about everybody and asked if we were having fun. During breaks in between some of the takes they raffled off prizes (they gave us free tickets when we checked in) and Shatner was the one who picked the numbers and gave them out. He was really cool and so was Sandra Bullock. The best part was at the end of the pageant when the crown explodes (I know that sounds weird but if you haven't seen it it's a cute movie) and we have to panic and run out of the theater. When we were practicing that it seemed so absurd but it was really fun to get to "act" a little bit.

I found some great stuff on youtube and y'all are gonna love it. The first one is a video somebody made of clips from High Noon over Green Day's song Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I'm not a Green Day fan but the song fits with the plot of the movie perfectly and it's very well done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR7hF-1YBCk This one is hilarious!!! Again it's High Noon but with a high tech spin. Do not eat or drink while watching this one or it will come out your nose!!!!

> I cannot stand Tom Cruise, Yes he was cute in Risky > Business and Top Gun. I barley stayed awake > watching Last Sumeri( sorry about the spelling.) He > can hardly act yet thinks he is all that and a bag > of chips. > The rest of the list is Nicholas Cage, Nicole > Kidman,Merril Street,Joan Crawford, > Gary Cooper,Elizabeth Taylor and John Wayne. All > of the about have inflated egos, conceted,inpossible > to work with, Oh I forgot Julia Roberts. I will > pass on any movies that the about are in. Perfer > real people. I know this is an old post but I see you have Gary Cooper listed in with stars you don't like and who have big egos and are hard to work with. I'm a HUGE Coop fan and I don't have a problem with you not being a fan but I just gotta say that he was not that way at all. I've read a lot about him and we talk about him pretty much daily in the Gary Cooper fans thread and by all accounts he was great to work with and not one of those people who acted like a lot of spoiled celebrities. I've read several stories where he and other actors were being mistreated on the set and he often stuck up for them and himself and so many people he worked with have nothing but glowing things to say about him. In particular Joan Leslie, who co-starred with him in Sgt. York has a wonderful story about how they first met. She was only 16 and hadn't done much acting yet and when she saw him she was in awe as he had been a big star for many years by then and she didn't know what to say to him. She thought calling him Gary or Coop was too informal since she didn't know him and calling him Mr. Cooper seemed to formal. She said he could tell she was nervous and he immediately made her feel at ease by calling her by her characters name, Gracie, and telling her he was pleased to meet her. She also called him Alvin, his characters name and she felt better after that. This may be a little rambly but I'd just hate for people to get the wrong impression of him.