Any Gary Cooper Fans?

[coopsgirl]

*If I had a 70s van, I would totally airbrush that on the side with some cheezy title like "The Love Wagon."*

 

This made me laugh out loud!! Thankfully, I don't think any of my fellow cubicle dwellers heard me . That reminds me of what me and my best friend in high school used to call her dad's pickup truck. It was a beautiful brand new red truck and he'd let us drive it around on the weekends and we always had lots of guys drooling over it so we called it 'the honey wagon'.

 

I love the Seinfeld reference about cleavage!! That's is one of my absolute favorite shows. It does not seem like it's been 10 years since that show ended. I still watch it in reruns everyday, it just never gets old.

 

Speaking of "unobtainable films", there are four of his movies that we know the prints survive but no one has been able to find copies of them.

 

*Children of Divorce* (1927): There is a restored copy in the Library of Congress

 

*The Texan* (1930)

 

*The Spoilers* (1930)

 

*I Take This Woman* (1931)

 

You have to be careful when searching for *Spoilers* and *Woman* b/c there are other films out there with the same titles. There are a couple other films he had cameos in like *Hollywood Boulevard* (1936) and *Starlift* (1951) that we don?t have but I?m not sure if they have survived or not. Practically all of his early films (pre-'34) that we have are less than stellar quality but at least we have them.

[Senta]

Hi April,

My favorite photo from the Desire is this one. It is well known image I have only a copy but a good one.

 

This movie is my favorite Gary's comedy. I'd like to have more stills from there but they always are rather expencive on e-bay.

The thing is that it is always strong tension between them in the movie. marleine is rather static and misterios and Gary is all desire and fall upon her.

I like her singing too.

This one is from e-bay.

I've read memories of Marlene daughter about an affair her mother had during filming. And she writes that Marlene thought that Gary had something childish in him - he liked ice-cream for example and she always had it for him in her dressing room.

 

I understand about waiting a lot, because I always had to wait 3 or more weeks.

For original photos I think it is no good to be on the walls, because they faded, but right now I keep two newly obtained photos before me on the wall (telling myself that it is only for a week - not more).

[coopsgirl]

Vera,

I love that pic from *The Plainsman* especially since it has two of my faves. I love that first pic you posted of them from *Desire*. That?s cute about her keeping ice cream around for him. I think he always had a boyish quality about him and I like that in people. Sometimes adults can be too serious and ?grown-up?. I like people who have a lighter attitude and like to do silly things sometimes. I don?t think I?ll ever grow up completely and that?s fine with me. I mean, what?s wrong with putting your cool 1930s hat on your old Miss Piggy doll and snapping her pic .

 

 

 

April,

That is too funny that you have bought a few pics now. It?s hard to stop once you get started!!! I found a cool wire magazine rack that spin around and hold 36 mags and I?m gonna buy it so I can display all the old movie mags I have. That means I still have room for 22 more .

[Senta]

Speaking of Lombard and never seen movies here is the photo from the set I take THis Woman which shows how much we are missing.

 

To add to the four movies which is as known exist somewhere there is a lot whic isn't known survive they or not.

Arizona Bound

 

Beau Sabruer

 

Half a Bride

 

The First Kiss

 

The Shopworn Angel

 

Wolf Song

 

Betrayal

 

The Legion of Condemned.

At the LIve auction catalog it was said that the last one is lost.

But it often happenes that lost films founded somewhere. So good luck in your reseach.

[coopsgirl]

I think that pic of Gary and Carole is from *Now and Forever* (1934). Carole looks older here than in other pics I've seen from *I Take This Woman*. That one is available in a two movie set of Shirley Temple's. It's not one of my faves though b/c it's kinda sad . It has some cute moments though.

 

I have hope that one day some of his lost silents will turn up somewhere. It actually happens every now and then so we have no way of knowing what's really lost or not.

[Senta]

Ang, I want to share my secret with you: I haven't grown-up in some things myself even if I had grown-up son.

Can you tell me - is One Sunday Afternoon available?

Unfortunatly this photo from Plainsman is the only one I have from this movie. I bid on another one I really like but missed it today.

 

These two images are expecially for you. The first is one of my favorite Gary's portraits. Unfortunatly they are not the very best quality.

[coopsgirl]

It?s always good to your inner child alive . I have *One Sunday Afternoon*, did I not send that one to you? If not, I can send it. I love both those pics too. One day Kim posted that bottom one of him and Maria and I was so flustered I actually messed something up that I was doing at work. I fixed it though before anyone noticed .

 

FYI Jenny, Kim (Mrs. Cooper) and Theresa (butterscotchgreer) are regulars here at Gary Cooper Central (ha!) too but sometimes they have troubles logging on and I don?t think they?ve been on in a few days. Theresa?s fave is *Along Came Jones* too and I think she might fight you for him .

[Senta]

May be I'm wrong, and this is the photo from Now and Forever. By the way I have mixed impression about this movie too, because of it sad ending (but at least Gary didn't die how it was supposed to be on the first place).

I think that it is from ITake This Woman not only because Gary is younger when he is in Now and Forever, but because of the ring he is wearing. He wear this one in 1931-1932 (because it can be seen in Farewell to Arms too). It is customary made ring and I always though that it was given to him by one of his women. Now and Forewer was shot at 1934 and Gary was wearing his wedding ring this time.

[Jennythenipper]

Children of Divorce makes me wonder just what the Library of Congress is doing with their restorations? I know they screen them publicly, occasionally, but that is hardly enough. I can't fly to DC every time I want to see one of their movies.

 

I will take that list on the rounds.

 

 

Inspired by:

 

http://www.dakotasurfer.com/Van.jpg

 

Message was edited by: Jennythenipper

[coopsgirl]

I think you?re right and that one is from *I Take This Woman*. It?s funny, b/c I?ve always been unsure as to which one of their films that particular pic was from. I went back and looked at some of my pics from *Now and Forever* and he?s not wearing that ring in any of them (of course I have all my Gary pics on both my home and work computers ? ha!). Good eye for noticing that about the ring!

 

Jenny ? okay you?re trying to get me fired . It was all I could do not to crack up over ?the love wagon?. I thought I was gonna have to get up and go to the bathroom but I was able to get myself under control.

 

Many places who do restoration like the LOC don?t have the rights to release those films so unfortunately they get all cleaned and spiffed up and go right back in the vault. That one is still owned by Paramount (and Universal owns the other three) and they are extremely reluctant to release their classic films, especially the really old ones.

[Senta]

You haven't send me One Sunday Afternoon. I'd like to have it. But wait a little - I want to finish my scanning, you will send me the list - you want. I can have copies at the end of August after 20, because I'm going away until then.

[Senta]

I know it is hard to surprise you by images - most of them are well known to you. I only post better copies.

Here is the French press-book of They Came to Cordura. Speaking about Gary's endearing parts to any of us one of the best for me is from this movie. But the most images I bid on - I missed. So I haven't much on that one unfortunatly.

[MissGoddess]

_Vera_ - Desire and The Cowboy and the Lady are my two favorite Gary comedies with Love

in the Afternoon a close third. And great pix!

 

_Angie_ - "Oink! Oink!"

[Senta]

I almost forget that Love in The Afternoon also at the comedy list. Can it be that all three are on the first favorite place?

Here is two images from They Came to Cordura

[MissGoddess]

I almost forget that Love in The Afternoon also at the comedy list. Can it be that all three are on the first favorite place?

 

Mais, bien sur!

 

I love those Codura pictures. I am also an admirer of Rita Hayworth and think they both

gave excellent performances. It's very tough to watch Gary put himself through all that

torture, especially near the end. But such an interesting movie! Underrated, I feel.

[Senta]

His last one and last for today - Naked Edge. I like this movie.

 

 

 

[Jennythenipper]

I think they show One Saturday Afternoon on Turner. I've seen it, so I'm sure they do.

 

I really didn't like that movie at all until the last five minutes. It's amazing how he turns it around in one scene at the end. I guess his character always has the potential to reform, once he puts aside his absurd obsession.

 

Talking of Gary's childishness, that is one movie in which his boyishness is not attractive. I hadn't heard that about the ice cream thing.

[Senta]

I'm too like their performances and pairing. The book was even worse concerning the torture, they even killed him and it was so dissapointing ending, so they did it much better in the movie.

[MissGoddess]

The Naked Edge is a movie that I like better and better each time I see it.

 

You can really see how Gary was continually maturing as an actor, his

"bag of tricks" never stopped expanding and here he was venturing into

suspenseful, noirish territory. Had he lived, perhaps a Hitchcock film

would have been in the offing?

[coopsgirl]

I know Vera had trouble getting the link to work and I don't know if anyone else was able to read it either so I just copied and pasted the movie review for *Shopworn Angel* that I found from the New York Times.

 

 

*The Shopworn Angel (1928)*

 

January 1, 1929

 

THE SCREEN; Blissful Ignorance.

 

By MORDAUNT HALL

 

Published: January 1, 1929

 

An unusually fine and convincing motion picture study, called "The Shopworn Angel," is now on view at the Paramount. It is an exceptionally well-told story, based on one written by Dana Burnet, and Richard Wallace, the director, does marvels with his camera, both in avoiding subtitles where he can and also in giving a comprehensive conception of the passage of time. Yet, with all these alluring qualities, the producers have seen fit to tag on to the end a talking chapter, which, while it does not actually hurt the picture, at least unlocks the tongues of people who have been silent for most of the time. Moreover, this audible stretch would have been far better if words had been left to the imagination.

 

Few examples of motion picture work have possessed the brilliancy of this new Paramount offering. Mr. Wallace not only guides his scenes with restraint but he has steered clear of the conventional final fadeout.

 

During the screening of this tale of a man's blissful ignorance and the sophisticated amour of a girl, one is impelled to hark back to Perceval Gibbons's unforgettable story, "The Icon." The spirit of this fable is much the same as Mr. Gibbons's short classic, but here we have a romance, a clodhopper's adoration that conquered the heart of a gold-digger.

 

This picture opens with a flash of President Wilson. The war is on. and William Tyler, played by Gary Cooper. is one of Uncle Sam's millions. He encounters Daisy Heath, a chorus girl with gleaming slave bracelets. To the doughboy, Daisy is just a bit higher than a lady, or as near an angel as mortal can get. To him she is also a lily. A hint to the reverse means a hornet-like jab from the lean Texan's fist.

 

Yes, Tyler thinks she's a lady. A fraction of a second later the camera discloses Daisy in one of her periods of abandon. Tyler is happy in the fact that he has obtained a photograph of the Lady. He puts the picture at the foot of his cot and frames it with his big feet, which, it is known to him, occasionally have irritated the Lady when dancing.

 

It was a whim of the lady to notice the lean Westerner. It was a heaven-sent blessing to Tyler that such a creature could deign to speak to him. In his great State he had never seen anybody like her. She glistened, she smiled, she could dance, she attracted every eye when she entered a room.

 

Soon comes the time for Tyler to embark for France. This war is interfering with the most important thing in his life! No matter what be the consequences, Tyler is resolved to see Daisy once again before leaving for the fighting zone. No officer could understand this adoration! Hence Private Tyler risks the penalty and is A. W. O. L. He and Daisy go to Coney Island, Daisy, it is explained, is also A. W. O. L. from the effete gentleman who showers her with worldly goods.

 

Mr. Wallace revels in his Coney Island sequence. It is cleverly accomplished. Somehow or other it affects the gold-digging Daisy. Such love as Tyler's, the Lady had never dreamed of.

There is an impressive ending, for which one feels thankful, for it takes but little to spoil any story, no matter how finely it may be filmed.

 

Gary Cooper gives a wonderfully sensitive performance as the love-smitten doughboy. Nancy Carroll's acting shows a nice appreciation for Daisy's moods. Miss Carroll's contribution is indeed admirable. Paul Lukas is excellent as the buyer of beauty. Several minor r?les are nicely played by men not mentioned on the program.

 

Blissful Ignorance.

THE SHOPWORN ANGEL, with Gary Cooper, Nancy Carroll, Paul Lukas and others, based on a story by Dana Burnet. Directed by Richard Wallace, "Happy New Year," an orchestral production; Jesse Crawford's organists; "The Perfect Girl," C. A. Niggemeyer's stage production. At the Paramount Theatre.

[MissGoddess]

I'd love to see this version, having only seen the one with Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart.

[coopsgirl]

I would love to see it too since it was the first time Gary had any dialogue, even though it wasn't much. I would imagine though the sound was recorded on disc and that can be more easily lost than the film sometimes, so even if the film turns up one day, the sound disc may truly be lost forever .

[Senta]

Hi Angie,

Thanks a lot for putting this article here. It is very interesting and I hope that this movie is not lost completly, if I would be possible to see only image without sound it would be great!

Here is the image I got today from the first real sound Gary's film.

[Jennythenipper]

OMG! Senta, is he wearing leather pants?!

 

Hey, I did a piece on the Westerner and being a classic film fanatic for my blog.

 

Thought you might enjoy:

 

http://cinemaocd.blogspot.com/2008/07/westerner-if-only-judge-bean-had-blog.html

[coopsgirl]

It does look like he's wearing leather pants and he is (at least in my mind )!! I don't know how I missed that, I loooove leather pants.

 

Great artlicle about *The Westerner*. It really is a fun movie and I love Bean's obsession with Lilly; it does remind me of my obsession with a certain actor who shall remain nameless .