Any Gary Cooper Fans?

[coopsgirl]

I'm glad the boards are back up. I typed this up yesterday but wasn't able to post it.

 

Gary and my grandfather who passed away in 2004 died under similar circumstances so stuff about Gary?s death always hits me pretty hard b/c it reminds me of my Papaw. He didn?t die from cancer, but he had several health problems and had to be sedated the last few days b/c he was in so much pain. Also like Gary, Papaw found God before he died and the last couple weeks he was very happy and never complained even though he was in real bad shape. I wish it had happened earlier but I?m glad it did happen b/c I know he?s in Heaven now with Gary too . Gary reminds me a little of my grandpa. They were both tall, thin, and quiet. There are some words that Gary says the exact same way as my grandpa too and that always makes me smile. If I didn?t know he was from Montana, I?d swear Gary was a Texan b/c he had the right accent.

 

Here?s one of my fave quotes from the article.

 

*Whatever Gary had that made him the great star he was-the world fell in love with him and it was a love affair that lasted 35 years.*

 

It is funny how many people genuinely loved him (and still do ) who never even met him. It?s hard to put into words why too. It?s not just because he was good looking b/c there have been a lot of good looking men in Hollywood throughout the years. And it?s not just that he was such a great actor b/c there have been lots of those too. I think just in everything he did and everything he was, he was a notch or two better than everyone else. He was better looking, more talented, more humble, nicer, etc?. All that comes across when you see his movies and I think that?s why he was and still is beloved by so many people.

 

I liked too when she was talking about how he hated what Westerns had become in the late 50s/early 60s. It makes me wonder if he hadn?t died when he did, just how much longer his career would have lasted. Good guys like him were losing their foothold in the movies and more gritty, seriously dysfunctional characters were becoming more popular. Joel McCrea who had played a lot of similar good guy characters like Gary and also made a lot of Westerns, turned down many roles near the end of his career (early 60s; from ?62 to ?76 he only made a handful of films and that?s most likely b/c he didn?t like what he was being offered) b/c he didn?t want to play those types of so called ?good guys?. I imagine Gary would have done the same thing and his career probably would have ended b/c of lack of good material. I doubt he ever would have played a bad guy and in some movies from that era (60s/70s) it could be hard to tell the good from the bad most of the time.

[coopsgirl]

That was a good article. I do think it?s funny how detached from the pulse of the country Hollywood seems to be, and has been for a long time. I definitely like some superhero movies (Batman and Superman) but those guys shouldn?t be the only types of heroes we see on the big screen. Too much of anything is not good (Gary excluded of course ) and there should a mix of different types of heroes. The one type that is missing, which the article pointed out, is just the regular person who does the right thing b/c it?s the right thing to do. Regular, honest good guys just aren?t popular anymore, at least not according to the people making tv shows and movies. For example, AMC has an original series called *Breaking Bad*. Here?s what I got from the commercials b/c I wouldn?t waste time watching the actual show. The main character is a schoolteacher but for some reason he decides to become friends with one of the drop out students and they start a meth lab together. These are the main characters of the show and they are committing felonies!!!! Most ?heroes? nowadays are so dysfunctional that no real person is like that. No one is perfect but also most people aren?t that deranged either. They?ve gone so far to try and be edgy that it has gotten ridiculous. I was glad to see Courtney Cox?s show *Dirt* on FX got cancelled b/c that looked like nothing but trash.

[MissGoddess]

Hi Angie!

 

Good grief, is that what "Breaking Bad" is about? I have seen snippets of the commercials on

AMC but couldn't figure out what it was really about, only I could sense it was something I would

NOT like. That other series, "Mad Men", is also repellent and it won awards!

 

I think it takes a writer with some conviction and plenty of SKILL, which few screenwriters today

seem to possess, to first create a believable heroic character, and then a producer with guts and

money enough to back such a film. The irony is that they just don't realize how a "formula" like

that, as old as literature and drama itself, can clean up at the box office if it's simply done well.

[MissGoddess]

If any of you can get to Chicago on July 25th, look what you can see on the big screen:

 

Friday, July 25, 2008 at 8 p.m.

 

Children of Divorce (1927) with Clara Bow, Gary Cooper

Directed by Frank Lloyd

Live theater organ accompaniment by Jay Warren plus Jay Warren's fabulous on-screen sing-along

 

Clara Bow in her flapper-best stars in one of her few dramatic roles. Left in a convent school by their mothers, friends Kitty Flanders (Bow) and Jean Waddington (Esther Ralston) are, as the film title suggests, "children of divorce." Now as adults, Ted Larrabee (Gary Cooper) falls in love with Jean. And while Kitty is in love with Ludovico de Sfax (Elnar Hansen), a penniless prince, she reluctantly follows the advice of her month (marry for money) and tricks Ted into marrying her. Hedda Hopper plays the part of Katherine Flanders, Kitty's ill-advised mother.

 

http://www.silentfilmchicago.com/Festival.htm

 

Hopefully, if it gets an enthusiastic response, a dvd may be forthcoming?

[coopsgirl]

I remember seeing like an extended commercial thing for *Breaking Bad* before it started and that?s basically what they explained the plot to be. *Mad Men* does look sleazy too.

 

Jeff (aka. Gagman66) sent me an email yesterday about the *Children of Divorce* screening. Man, I would sooooo love to go as that is the movie I want to see the most of both Gary?s and Clara?s that I haven?t seen yet. But I already splurged on that trip to New York so I better hang onto what is left in my savings .

 

I just don?t think there are enough decent people left in the entertainment industry as a whole anymore to know how to write those kinds of characters. Now that isn?t to say that the people who ran Hollywood in the good old days were all perfect gentleman, but there were still enough good people out there to know how to do it right.

 

The more old movies I watch, the more I realize I love the ones from the period when Gary was working the best (1925-1961). After that it gets pretty scanty for me. There are some great films that came out after that like *My Fair Lady*, *The Sound of Music*, many of the live action Disney films, and Hammer horror films, but for the most part I don?t like a lot of 60s or 70s movies.

[butterscotchgreer]

oh man!!! april, we didnt get the reaction i hoped for from angie. banana oil! heehee! jeff had to go spoil it. heehee!

 

would i ever love to go see that on the big screen. it doesnt even have to be on the big screen, ill tek it on the tiniest DVD player please. heehee! jsut so long as i can see it. SIGHS! i think all of us cooper trooper sisters should all take a trip together and see it!

[Senta]

Hi,

I'm glad the board is back, I thought that it is something wrong with my comp, but today I saw that there wasn't any other replyes in other threads - so I felt better that it is not my problem and it would be solved. I became pretty used to this place.

When it all went down I wanted to post some Gary's portraits here.

 

And here are two stills from the movies - Desire and General died at Dawn.

 

 

More to come.

[MissGoddess]

Hi T! As you say, "banana oil!" I wish we all could go, too. Like Ange, I'm busted after

my last trip (taken at the same time!)

 

Vera Gorgeous! Just gorgeous. I bought my very first photograph of Gary online today.

I will post a scan when I get it. I bought the frame, too. It's from a picture I hadn't seen

before, and though it isn't the one I want (the ciggie pic) it will do.

 

Angie: What you said about the kind of people running Hollywood today made me

think back to the biography of Louis B. Mayer I just finished reading. He believed

sincerely and passionately in making movies that were morally upright and that were

beautiful. He used to get so upset when he saw how the trend in the 1950s started to

go more and more toward showing criminal behavior, ugliness, et al. It's so cute, really

how he used to react. Poor thing, even then he was in the minority and people have

generally thought he was reactionary. Well, he reacted his way into building the biggest

and most famous movie studio in history, so I think that shows if you have those values

and stick to them you can be a success. Still, it would be really going against the grain

today more than ever.

[Senta]

Ms G,

Congratulations! What photo have you bought? It would be very interesting to see.

I hope you don't think that I'm just crazy (even if in this sure exists some truth) because I'm collecting all these photos?

Right now on e-bay there is some great pics like these - you know.

 

They are pretty lucky at Chicago. I wish I can be there - but it is great news that a good copy of this movie do exists and may be some copies of it would appere soon.

[butterscotchgreer]

*As you say, "banana oil!" I wish we all could go, too. Like Ange, I'm busted after*

*my last trip (taken at the same time!)*

 

you cant blame a girl for trying. heehee!

 

dahlink, i have to get that louis b. mayer bio you were telling me about yesterday.

i found the name of the other bio i read on him. this is it.

 

Merchant Of Dreams

http://www.amazon.com/Merchant-Dreams-M-G-M-Secret-Hollywood/dp/1556113455

[Senta]

You are right about heroic caracters in the old movies. Whic now we didn't see. That's why I very rare go to the modern movies. Even a talented ones lacks something true importaint to me.

Today I received two pick which I won on e-bay a while ago from Seargant York - one of my favorite movies, which is very close to my beliefs. You know I fell for Gary (is it right to say so) not after Vera Cruz (the first movie which I saw with him) and not even after High Noon (great second movie which I saw and immideatly bought collector DVD)

but after two Seargant York and Love in the Afternoon. They both influenced me in different way but after that true love begin.

[MissGoddess]

> {quote:title=Senta wrote:}{quote}

> Ms G,

> Congratulations! What photo have you bought? It would be very interesting to see.

> I hope you don't think that I'm just crazy (even if in this sure exists some truth) because I'm collecting all these photos?

 

NO, I'm envious you guys have such wonderful collections of photos (LOVE those from For Whom

the Bell Tolls; that's what I call Gary's "beauty movie" because I find him his most attractive in it )

I just don't have the room so I don't want to start buying a bunch of pictures I can't display.

I bought one of Gary and one of Pappy (John Ford) and I want to get one of Vivien eventually,

and that will be it.

 

I will replace this one of Gary as soon as I can get a hold of a quality print of the "cigarette"

photo by Clarence Bull. But here it is, the one I just ordered:

 

[Senta]

Hi Ms G

Thank you for posting the link to the article about movie heroes. It is mighty interesting and deals with not only Cooper movies but with some favorites with John Wayne.

Unfortunatly I haven't seen these modern westerns which he analisis.

[Senta]

You bought very nice portrait.

 

These 2 pics from For Whom the Bell Tolls are not in my posession - they are right now on e-bay listing. I mention that in the post.

the only one I have from this movie is rather well known and I did purchased it to be framed and placed on the wall - but right now it is in the album where the most of my photos are.

 

But you are right about the beauty of Gary in this movie - it really shines. I love him in this period, but in others too.

 

I too love Ford's movies. Unfortunatly haven't got 2 latest collection of his masterpieces. Too costly you know.

I have 2 books on him, one with great photos.

I'm worrying sometimes that he never directed Gary it's a pity. On the other way can Gary ever stand his cruelty to actors? I doubt that.

[MissGoddess]

I too love Ford's movies. Unfortunatly haven't got 2 latest collection of his masterpieces. Too costly you know.

I have 2 books on him, one with great photos.

I'm worrying sometimes that he never directed Gary it's a pity. On the other way can Gary ever stand his cruelty to actors? I doubt that.

 

I've always regretted they didn't work together. No, I can't see Gary standing for any

nonsense, but then, Ford was foxy, if you expected him to be tough, he'd be easy

as a kitten. He picked and chose who he put "in the barrel" and I have a feeling he

wouldn't have tried it with Gary, I think he respected him too much. Hathaway was

notoriously tough on actors, too, but judicious and Gary apparently had no problems.

Those guys were very similar and I think they knew who to act that way with (Wayne)

and who not to. Ford didn't mess with Gable, Lee Marvin or Robert Montgomery either.

 

I'd love to have a portrait from For Whom the Bell Tolls, but just of Gary---not with Ingrid.

[coopsgirl]

You're definitely not weird for buying so many pics . I'm totally hooked on old magazines. So far I have 13 and I actually have one more on the way and I'm watching another one on ebay right now. I just got the one today from '32 with Irene Dunne on the cover. It's got a really good article about Gary called "I'm tired of being bossed!" and I'll have to type it up when I get a chance and post it. Here are a couple pics.

 

 

I didn't know this one of Clara was in it so that was a nice surprise!

 

[coopsgirl]

That's a really neat pic April! I'm glad you got it. You better be careful though, it can be addictive .

[coopsgirl]

Here's an article I found on the New York Times archive site from 1948.

 

*Average Guy*

 

*Gary Cooper Reflects on Twenty Years in Films*

 

Gary Cooper, Hollywood?s strong, silent man, both on and off screen, was celebrating his twentieth anniversary as a movie star by speaking freely for an interview. Cooper, who has never been noted for his loquacity, recently acquired a public relations counsel and the Hollywood press contingent has been amazed by his unaccustomed volubility.

 

Cooper was attired in the uniform of a Navy lieutenant. He had just come off the ?Task Force? set on the Warner Brothers back lot and was resting between camera set-ups in his dressing room. ?Task Force?, which has to with the history of naval aviation, is said to be Cooper?s fifty-eight starring vehicle. One of his big pictures, ?Wings,? made approximately two decades ago, also found him in the role of an aviator, although he played a supporting part to Richard Arlen and Buddy Rogers.

 

A good many changes have taken place since then, among them the screen?s acquisition of a speaking voice, but Cooper, at the age of 47, is still going strong without any visible let-up. He was recently voted third in popularity in a poll of the nation?s movie editors, with only Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman placing ahead of him. He earned $300 a week when he made ?Wings.? Today he commands $275,000 per picture.

 

*Success Story*

 

To what did Mr. Cooper attribute this success story?

 

?Shucks,? replied the tall, lanky actor, speaking in the same patois as his screen characters, ?I guess I?ve just been lucky. I always try to stick pretty much to the type of stuff in which people are accustomed to seeing me?typical, average-guy roles like Mr. Deeds, Sergeant York and Dr. Wassell?people from the middle of the U.S.A. Once in a while I like a good Western?gives me a chance to shoot off guns.?

 

?My taste in art and literature is real ordinary. I don?t try to pretend I know anything. I don?t place myself above other people. I?m the average guy in taste and intelligence. If there?s any reason for what you would call my success, that?s it.?

 

Cooper had recently returned from an arduous five-week location trip on board the naval carrier Antietam, during which director Delmar Daves and company had filmed scenes for ?Task Force? along the Pacific Coast, from San Diego to San Francisco. Cooper recalled that his first starring vehicle, ?Wings?, was also made largely on location at Kelly Field in Texas. ?Wings? is still remembered as the first and one of the best of the big aviation epics.

 

Since the days of ?Wings,? Cooper has appeared in an impressive line-up of pictures ranging from ?The Virginian? and ?A Farewell to Arms? to ?Lives of a Bengal Lancer? and ?Saratoga Trunk.? Cooper selects his pictures himself and he holds that actors have just as good a sense of judgment as producers and directors.

 

?Despite all their alleged mistakes, actors know what?s good for them,? Cooper said. ?Most actors who have had something to say about the selection of their material have come out better. I remember when I first came to Hollywood that Gloria Swanson turned down a salary of $20,000 a week to produce her own pictures. After one or two of these, she was deader than a doornail. But actors and actresses today have a different perspective on the whole thing. They study their material, they think more and they are more hep to what goes on. There are quite a few actors who participate in producer deals now and do well.?

 

*Actor by Accident*

 

When Cooper isn?t making movies, he likes to go off on extended hunting and fishing trips. He recently purchased a thirty-acre ranch in Colorado. Cooper?s predilection for the wide open spaces dates back to his formative years in Montana. He became an actor by accident.

 

?I had no idea of going into theatrics,? he says. ?I was in a play or two in high school and I sort of majored in English and debate and stuff like that. I wanted to be an artist, but after a while I dropped it cold. I?m terrible at it. I became an advertising salesman.?

 

?I was sidetracked when I came to Hollywood and found myself working in the movies. To make ends meet, I did extra work and pony riding jobs. On my third picture, a Tom Mix Western, I saw Mix act and was told that he got $17,500 a week. I figured I could do that kind of acting, too. People told me: ?You?re an average looking guy. You don?t have to be handsome or anything like that to become a success in movies.??

 

?I gave up the ad business and gave myself a year to try to make the grade in Hollywood. I figured that if nothing happened after a year, I?d leave town. I had a screen test made myself for $65 and it circulated around. After eleven months, I got a call from Sam Goldwyn. The part called for riding a horse. That was my first real part?in ?The Winning of Barbara Worth.?

 

?Then Paramount put me under contract. I?ve been sort of drifting along ever since.?

 

 

How much y'all want to bet, the person who told him he was "average looking" was some guy about 5'6" who was kinda homely and just jealous of Gary's beauty . I mean, in what world is Gary Cooper average looking?!? Can you imagine what the good looking guys would look like there? It would be too much for us to take .

[JackFavell]

I think he was prescient- talking about the actors who get in on production deals.... sounds like the precursor of Hollywood today.....

[coopsgirl]

Yeah, he was one of the first actors to do that in '44 with International Pictures. Then after a couple of profitable films (Cassanova Brown and Along Came Jones) he and the other couple of men who started it sold it to Universal for a tidy profit. That's why Universal became Universal International. Now everytime I see one of their films with the UI label I mumble to myself 'that was Gary's production company' .

[Senta]

iT IS VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE, THANK YOU.

I like Task Forse, but it is not amoung my top favorites. What interests me, why part of the movie was shoot in color and part black and white to show time passing?

Another question, may be smebody know about original versions of Dallas and Hanging Tree. Were they widescreen or not. Because Warners released both on dvd not in widescreen.

Here is stills from the Blowing Wild and Now and Forever. the last shows rather unusial scene, it wasn't in the actual movie.

 

[MissGoddess]

> {quote:title=coopsgirl wrote:}{quote}

> That's a really neat pic April! I'm glad you got it. You better be careful though, it can be addictive .

 

You're telling me? I previously wrote I was just going to get a picture of Vivien

and that would be that. Well, last night I decided I had to have one of Clark, too,

so now I'm afraid a whole new can of worms has been opened.

 

And thanks for typing out that article, it's always a pleasure to read his own words.

 

Message was edited by: MissGoddess

[coopsgirl]

*Task Force* changes to color b/c they had color stock footage from the actual battles during WWII that they wanted to use in the movie. It was too expensive to do the whole thing in color so they just filmed the end part in color to match the stock footage they wanted to use.

 

*Dallas* wasn?t filmed in widescreen; *Garden of Evil* was his first widescreen movie. According to the technical specifications I found on *The Hanging Tree*, it was filmed in widescreen (1.85:1 aspect ratio). I guess the version that we have that came from a ?93 VHS release was put out in full screen ratio. I don?t think people have been as picky about stuff like that until the last several years and then more films began to be released on home video in both full or widescreen options. Hopefully, if that one ever gets a dvd release, we?ll see the widescreen version.

 

I haven?t seen that pic from *Now and Forever*, I have it as my desktop. He looks so nice in that white suit :x. I love finding pics too that aren?t in the movies or that are from different camera angles or something like that.

[coopsgirl]

April, you better watch out b/c before you know it you?ll have a house full of stuff from ebay and no place to put all of it ? ha!

 

Here?s the article from the Oct 1932 issue of Photoplay I got yesterday. It?s very good. I thought it was neat too that he was the same age then as I am now. I have also learned some of these same lessons .

 

*?I?m through being bossed,? says Gary Cooper. There?s a wallop in his words that makes the studio and his women friends open their eyes*.

 

By: Marion Leslie

 

When Gary Cooper returned to Hollywood from his amazing trip to Europe and points East, with his Bond Street clothes, his decidedly Continental manner and his debonair attitude, Hollywood gasped a couple of times and then did what Hollywood always does?began asking itself questions.

 

What?s happened to Gary? What is this strange change that has come over the strong, silent lad from Montana?

 

And when Gary, the affable, kicked up a bit of a row at the studio over playing ?Devil and the Deep,? because he said it was a woman?s picture and wouldn?t give him a fair chance and was only persuaded to act in the film when he was definitely promised ?A Farewell to Arms??well, Hollywood?s eyes stood out on stems. Why, Gary had never acted like that before. Gary had always done exactly what he was told?without saying a word!

 

Which is just the point. Gary has stopped doing what he is told. He is a new Gary Cooper.

 

Gone is the gaunt, melancholy, forlorn lad over whom women languished and cooed, ?He looks as if he has suffered.? And in the boy?s place stands an assured, poised, grown-up man who thinks for himself and meets the world upon its own terms. He has even lost his gauntness. His face has filled out and his figure straightened. Eleven months away from Hollywood has wrought the change.

 

?I was licked when I left Hollywood,? he told me. ?Sunk. Washed up. I was ill. I had been working day and night. I was unhappy about the way things were going at the studio. My private affairs had reached a crisis?I had an attack of jaundice, which is a terribly depressing thing, anyhow. And with all these other things on my mind?well, it was pretty awful!"

 

?I shall never get into such a state, mentally, again. Life can never do anything like that to me again. I have learned something. In the first place, I shall never be dominated by other people again as I had allowed myself to be until that time. I had drifted, taken advice, let people get at me through my emotions, my sympathy, my affections. Perhaps, through a sort of apathy, too, because I was not well. You don?t realize the hold you are letting people get on you until you find yourself enmeshed and entangled and helpless. You have to shake yourself free and begin all over again. It isn?t easy! But I am my own man now!?

 

?You say that my attitude toward my work has changed. You are right. It?s isn?t as important to me as it used to be. And, therefore, I shall do better at it. I shall have a perspective on it. I can examine my problems reasonably and in a detached manner because I am no longer blinded by the glamour of pictures. (I have learned that it is no use to have ideas unless you express them.) And that no one will have any respect for your ideas unless you are willing to fight for them. The initial plunge into expressing them and fighting for them is the hardest!"

 

?When I returned to New York after my trip abroad, they told me that things would be different for me out here. That things would be arranged to my advantage. Well?when I came back, things weren?t different. I had been meek for so long, had done just what I was told for so long, that no one could believe that I wouldn?t continue to do it. They took me for granted. That is bad?very bad?for you in a career, in your relations with your family?or in love. Never let anyone take your amiability and your pliability for granted!?

 

Did I tell you that Gary had grown up? It hasn?t been easy for the slow, easy-going, inarticulate Gary to learn that lesson of self-assertion. He was as dreamy, as impractical, as amiable a chap as you would imagine. He was a quiet child and his sweet, dignified, conservative parents adored him and gave him all their anxious, clinging attention.

 

The women in his life have dominated him. Clara Bow. Evelyn Brent. Then the redoubtable Lupe. When that fiery little Mexican swooped upon his heart, there began a stormy time for Gary. The worshipping mother?deeply concerned about the results of this impetuous romance?and the primitive child-woman who enthralled him could never have reached a glimmering of mutual understanding or sympathy.

 

Although I think they both tried at first. Gary loved them both and their feminine tug-of-war over the mastery of his affections must have torn him nearly to ribbons!

 

He tried to please everybody. His producers, Evelyn Brent, Clara Bow, Lupe Velez, his mother and his father?who was forever investing his money for him. He tried to please even those friends who were continually advising him.

And when he didn?t please he was baffled rather than disillusioned. Like a small boy who has been spanked for something he cannot understand.

His first step toward a new independence, when he returned from abroad, was to take a house by himself. Bachelor?s quarters! To live alone, to order his own life, to decide things for himself. One can only guess a little of what that to Gary. Not that he cares for his family less?I think that he will love them more wisely and more tolerantly if he lives apart from them.

 

I lunched with him in ?the dump? as he calls it, a few days after he moved in. ?It?s not very big he said, as I followed him obediently on an enthusiastic tour of inspection, ?but it?s mine. It?s what I want. Nobody decides what to do about things in it but me.? He was as smug about it as a small boy who has been given a shack on the vacant lot next door for his very own. He was full of plans for the disposition of his trophies from his African trip. Heads, skins, antlers and what-not to bedeck walls and couches and fireplaces. ?Maybe it will like a museum, but I want them.?

 

That was the first thing. Then there was that little tilt with the studio over his part in his first picture he made upon his return. He considered the part an unsympathetic one. And he astounded Paramount executives by walking into their offices and saying so! Gary! The dawdling, good-tempered, Gary speaking his mind!

 

Well! He didn?t get upset over the thing. He didn?t tear his hair or beat his breast or indulge in a commonplace, ?tempermental? outburst. He stated his case, reasonably, and indicated his firm intention of taking a stand and staying put.

 

He says he hasn?t had any trouble since. ?It?s amazing how easy it is, once you learn to discover what you want and then go after it. Once you convince people that you aren?t just a puppet or an unreasonable child. They want to be fair and they will listen to reason?if you give it to them. Things are swell?now!? He loves his role in ?A Farewell to Arms.? He loves working with Helen Hayes, whom he admires intensely, both as an actress and as a person. He admires Frank Borzage, who is directing this piece to Gary?s complete satisfaction.

 

?The thing works out in the same way in your life,? he told me. ?You have to know what you want and then you have to be smart enough not to want it too much! That?s what licks you. You have to hold back something of yourself?a little part of your ego or whatever you call it. You mustn?t give everything in any human relationship. Especially in love. The person who falls in love?all the way?is bound to lose. He loses control of himself and of the whole situation. He ceases to be a whole person. You have to keep a part of yourself detached so as to get a perspective on things and to know what is happening to you! I ought to know.?

 

In addition to this strength and this new assurance that he has gained, Gary has acquired a new and very engaging sophistication. He fences nimbly with words. He makes adroit and audacious bon mots. He has?this shy boy from Montana?acquired a little of the Continental manner.

 

Of course, there are the Count and Countess diFrasso. That friendship which sprang up while Gary was abroad, and which led to the distinguished pair coming to Hollywood to take a house almost next door to his own, probably accounts for much of this new and interesting polish. Hollywood has been pretty agog over that situation. Well there it is. The Count and Countess are among us. They spend a part of every day with Gary. The trio are inseparable.

 

And the elder couple are intelligent, sophisticated, worldly people. No disadvantage at all to a young man!

 

Talking with him recently, I recalled the Christmas Eve before he went away. He came to spend the afternoon with me. His mother called me two or three times before he finally appeared.

 

?Please tell Gary he had better bring his suitcase in the house with him,? she directed me worriedly. ?He has his new evening clothes in it and it would be a shame if they were stolen out of his car.?

 

The second time, she wanted to know whether he had arrived. ?Maybe you?d better watch for him and call to him when he appears. You know, he?s just as likely as not to forget where he is going and drive right past your house in that vague way of his.?

 

Good gosh! Wasn?t that man able to drive a few blocks from his house to mine, by himself, I wondered? What had come over Gary?

 

He arrived eventually, without our having to call out the police, and strolled in?as limp, as wan, as miserable a human being as you ever saw. That day, in addition to his other troubles, he had a cold in his head. He helped me trim my Christmas tree but it wasn?t a very gala occasion. Gary was so depressed that he could hardly speak.

 

He didn?t talk about his troubles very much. Gary has never been a complainer. But one knew. One knew of the rift between Gary and Lupe (and there was real grief in that parting). He talked a little about his worries over his work. But he didn?t seem to think that anything could be done about anything.

 

He was hurt and ill and silent. He was a man who had given up.

 

I believe Gary?s mother came to Hollywood to save her son from the tangled web of Hollywood. It has been said that Gary?s mother caused the break between Lupe and Gary. Let?s think of that mother for a moment.

A typical Middle-Western, old-fashioned woman, she had nourished the thought that Gary might someday become great.

 

She read the publicity about him and Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Lupe Velez. What more natural than for her to come to Hollywood to save him from what, to her, were ?those women??

 

Lupe once said that everytime Gary didn?t do as his mother wanted him to, she became ill. ?She is just trying to hold him by sickness,? Lupe sobbed. I can easily imagine his mother saying, ?These women are trying to take my boy from me with their appeal.?

 

Each woman behaved according to her own lights; her own background.

But the Gary of today is different. This one is sure that he has mastered himself and his destiny. At least, he will put up a fight and the other Gary wouldn?t have.

 

This Gary is self-sufficient. ?I shall always live alone,? he said. ?No one to tell me what to do?or when--. No one to make scenes or cry or have hurt feelings. I am my own man?now!?

 

I doubt whether Gary will always live alone! He will marry one day almost surely. But no one will ever dominate him, wholly again. I think he is right about that. Gary has learned a great deal in the past year.

[JackFavell]

I haven?t seen that pic from Now and Forever, I have it as my desktop. He looks so nice in that white suit :x.

 

He looks all glowy in that white hat! like a knight in shining armor....

 

GREAT article. I had no idea Gary had been "dominated" by his mother, or anyone else, for that matter.