Any Gary Cooper Fans?

[coopsgirl]

Those are great pics Vera and I definitely agree with you that he is the only man who looks attractive in makeup :x.

 

Good article too and you're doing a fine job posting them .

[coopsgirl]

I knew Gary and Anita had a fling but didn?t know much about it. Now I?ll be daydreaming all day about spending a weekend with him at the beach :x. It?s so funny that the author of that article seemed to be amazed that at 52 he still had plenty of ?it? ? ha! He?s in his 40s or 50s in the majority of my dreams about him (especially the really romantic ones ).

 

Speaking of dreams, I had another one about him last night. He looked like he did at the beginning of *Distant Drums* - yummy!! We were on an island with about 25 other people and we weren?t stranded there but it?s like we had fled there to get away from something. We were a couple (of course ) and everybody was looking to him to take charge so he was helping everybody get organized and trying to get together food and water and stuff like that. There was a real cute little girl who was probably about 6 or 7 and somehow she had gotten separated from her parents and they weren?t on the island so me and Gary were taking care of her. It?s so funny b/c in reality, I don?t know what to do with kids but in my dreams stuff happens like that sometimes where I find a baby or little kid and end up taking care of them. Anyway, me and Gary didn?t really interact in the dream b/c he was busy helping everybody and I was sitting under a palm tree with the little girl trying to keep her occupied so she wouldn?t be upset but I could see him from where I was and I just kept looking over at him and thinking how proud I was to be his girl and what a good job he was doing.

[coopsgirl]

Here's another article I found from the NY Times.

 

*Gary Cooper Gets The Third Degree ? March 3, 1935*

 

The record shows that Gary Cooper is 6 feet 4 inches tall. He attempts to cut that down a bit by stooping when he walks. The fact remains that one?particularly a one who is just a fraction over 5 feet 9?is likely to get a crick in his neck if he attempts to do a standing or walking interview with Mr. Cooper.

 

Mr. Cooper, for the record, was found late one afternoon last week in the Samuel Goldwyn offices at 729 Seventh Avenue. At the moment he was seated, although that hardly seems to be the right verb. The chair, designed for ordinary mortals, was built fairly close to the floor. Mr. Cooper, rather than sit with his knees level with his chin, had thrust his legs straight out. He seemed comfortable, but had to keep one eye on the door, lest an unsuspecting visitor enter and trip over the two mooring masts.

 

And was it true, or a press agent?s dream, that he had spent his last dime for a loaf of bread just before he got his first movie job?

 

?That story?s garbled considerably,? he remarked. ?I already had my first movie job. Time I spent my last dime it was for a bed.?

 

A few more silly questions like these and Mr. Cooper had surrendered. In self-defense he shouldered the burden of conversation, which was just what he wanted. He told the story of his first flight into pictures.

 

The year was 1925. Mr. Cooper wanted to try his hand at pictures.

 

Ambitious, certainly, but without much hope of becoming an actor. He checked his chaps, sombrero and high boots at a middling hotel and walked around, ?trying to look arty, like I figured an actor should.? He heard about a call for extras for a Tom Mix picture and hurried over to the casting office. There were about 200 other persons waiting, but the casting director singled out the lean young man who was standing on the outskirts of the mob.

 

?I asked him should I get my chaps, but he just handed me a slip with some words on it?archer, Tom Mix and the set number. I went to one room and got a pair of green tights and a leather cap and jerkin. At another door they gave me a bow and arrow. I got into the costume and wandered down to the set.?

 

?There were a lot of other archers walking around and pretty soon Billie Dove was brought in on one of those chariot things that they carry around. Four big blacks were carrying it. And Tom Mix came riding in, all laces and wearing one of those cavalier hats with a plume. It was a Western, all right, but this was a dream sequence or something.?

 

After his debut in green tights, he worked as an extra for about eleven months. He had several screen tests?three for Universal, one for Fox, one for Samuel Goldwyn. It was Mr. Goldwyn who gave him his first contract.

?For $50 a week. I asked for $100 but they gave me the argument that it was a pretty expensive picture anyway and they couldn?t afford to spend much on salaries. They still use the same argument. Anyhow I was glad to get the chance.?

 

Mr. Cooper hauled himself ****, snapped down the brim of his hat and stalked down the corridor. Even the stenographers of the Goldwyn office, who are fairly accustomed to seeing screen personalities, joined in a cooing, oh-ing chorus. It followed him down the elevator to the street and trotted at his heels as he hurried through Times Square to the Paramount Building.

 

 

 

It's so funny that sometimes he's listed as 6'4" or even 6'2", the consensus seems to be 6'3". Anyway you slice it, he was one tall drink of water .

 

I've been trying to figure out which movie it was where he was wearing the tights and now that I know Billie Dove was in it too, I'll look into it a little more and see what I can dig up. I gotta see him in those tights !!

[Senta]

Hi Angie, Thank you for the article. It seems interesting.

Anyway it doesn't seem lucky to see a picture of him in this tights. I think it was never made. I hope I mistaken.

[coopsgirl]

*The Lucky Horseshoe* (1925) is the one with the dream sequence with him in tights. I knew he was in that one but didn?t know it was the tights movie. I found some info about it on a Tom Mix fan site. They said that nearly all of Mix?s films survive in archives in Czechoslavakia. That seems reasonable because one of Colleen Moore?s ?lost fims?, *Her Wild Oat* was found in Prague a couple years ago and was restored and has been shown at a few silent film festivals here in the U.S. Now, we may never see it, but it?s possible it still exists so there?s always hope I guess.

[Senta]

Oh if I wasn't so old and lazy!

I guess that it may be something in our archives, because some German archives came here after the war as a trophey. So if one makes a good search he must found something.

One of this archives I even knew myself.

 

By the way haven't you seen the Eagle where Gary was also an extra? I'm interested to see this movie because it's after one Russian novel.

[coopsgirl]

That?s the cool thing about silents, they could be sent all over the world b/c you could easily change the title cards to whatever language matched the country they were being shown in. So quite often films turn up in countries other than where they were made. *Metropolis* is another good example of this. It was a German film but a complete print of it was recently found in an archive in Argentina.

 

I don?t have *The Eagle* but I?ll probably get it someday. Gary is wearing a mask and a fake beard so you can?t really see him . I have a pic of it in a book and I?ll see if I can find it and scan it when I get home. I was looking for it on the internet but couldn?t find it. I did find this though. It?s the *High Noon* movie poster that the Polish people used in ?89 to get people inspired to get out and vote. Here?s part of the article about it too.

 

 

 

*Poland and the American West*

*by Frank Fox*

 

In Indedpendence, Missouri, On March 12, 1999, Bronislaw Geremek, the Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs, concluded a speech celebrating Poland's entry into NATO by saying: "We have brought from Poland some records of history of our road to freedom, among them -- the poster of the 1989 elections with a picture of Gary Cooper from the film High Noon. It helped us to win. For the people of Poland, high noon comes today."

 

Tomasz Sarnecki had transformed a publicity still of Cooper striding down the street in the famous film into a campaign poster designed for the crucial 1989 elections, which had helped to bring the outlawed Solidarity and its leader, Lech Walesa, to power. Significantly in the new version, Cooper clutches in his right hand a folded ballot and sports the Solidarnosc logo above his sheriff's badge. The logo is also emblazoned in red across the poster behind Cooper's head. The message at the bottom is short and to the point: W Samo Poludnie, 4 Czerwca 1989 "It's High Noon, June 4, 1989."

 

On the eve of balloting, the Sarnecki poster was displayed all over Poland. There was hardly a polling place that did not have it -- although now it is almost impossible to find a copy since it has become a valued memento. Another poster that summoned people to vote for Solidarity in that crucial election featured a clock, the hands fixed on the approaching noon hour. It was clearly related to High Noon for it was in that film that a clock's inexorable movement became the driving force for the confrontation. In some polling places a poster displayed an alarm clock with a reminder: "Don't sleep because they will outvote you."

 

High Noon, first released in Poland seven years after its American premiere, was shown several times since 1959. Although different posters were designed for the film, (Marian Stachurski designed the original poster in 1959, followed by Grzegorz Marszalek in 1987), all of them displayed the heroic figure of the sheriff. Obviously there was something in this one man's act of courage and sense of honor that appealed to Polish people. A population frightened and cowed into submission identified with someone who overcame fear and fought against all odds. In its long analysis of that crucial election Rzeczpospolita concluded: "Solidarity's list of virtues had in it something of a Western." Indeed, an American Western was an apt symbol for a political duel that was the beginning of the end for Communism in Eastern Europe. Gary Cooper would have approved.

[Senta]

I saw his photo wering mask and fake beard in the Eagle too. But anyway it would be interesting to see it.

 

It is interesting find this Polish poster. Thanks for posting it, very interesting and I think too that Gary's figure suited their purpose quite well.

I found interesting French poster shop, which I'm planning to visit this time.

www.cine-images.com They have some Gary Cooper posters (mighty expensive unfortunatly but I think it would be interesting visit anyway.

Some of their posters

[Jennythenipper]

"Almost invariably, Cooper's films deprived him of mystery and menace: two basic ingredients of the movie's most successful male sex symbols. Yet his exceptional good looks and his suggestion of repressed eroticism saved him from becoming the shy comic fool."

 

That's a great quote. It really sums up Coop's appeal.

 

Those skiing pictures are great. Something about old time skiing always cracks me up. I especially love rear-projection skiing scenes in movies, like the ones in Spellbound.

 

That polish Solidarity poster is really cool. I had no idea that image was an important part of an election campaign. It makes sense though since the movie is about the failure of traditional insitutions and Solidarity was a revolutionary movement. Also I'd vote for anyone who put up a picture of Coop. Well almost.

[CoopfanDan]

"I wanted to post this photo here from Legion of Condemned. haven't seen it before."

 

That was a very nice picture from this movie. Don't get your hopes up on seeing this movie as it is considered a lost film and there are no known prints of it still in existence.

 

Imdb lists it as:

 

"This movie is presumed lost. Please check your attic."

[Jennythenipper]

please check attic. Funny.

[Senta]

A whole bunch of Saratoga Trank stills appered on e-bay today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Senta]

But I like Cloak and Dagger stills even more.

 

 

[Senta]

This is very funny article that I would like to post. Unfortunatly there is no headline or clear beginning and the scan is bad (sorry I knew I shoud tape it, but really I have no time for that - I'm leaving in 2 days) But I thought that this way is better then nothing.

[coopsgirl]

If anyone could steal a woman away from a prince, it would be Gary :x. Here?s a pic of them together in Cannes.

 

 

Loved the other pics too. The auction for the Hollywood memorabilia starts tomorrow and I?m so nervous :0. I put in an absentee bid for the lot I want in case I get busy at work or am away from my desk when it starts and two other people have already done the same thing. I?ve never participated in a live auction and I?m afraid the people actually there in person will see those beautiful pics of him in those tights pants and outbid me ? ha!

[Senta]

The pic with Gizelle is real nice, thanks.

I'm leaving for the Paris tomorrow night so I wouldn't be able to see how it will go (I mean Live Auctions) and with what results will end. I'm truly hope that you win and tell as about your experience (If I not find Internet while travelling I shall read all about it after returning).

[coopsgirl]

Have a great time on your trip !

 

Here's a beautiful pic I found from *Love in the Afternoon*. I hadn't seen one tinted like this from the movie before and I've got this one up on my computer :x.

 

 

[Senta]

Really nice pic I agree. I haven't seen it before either. But I recently won one from the same scene along with 3 others. You know - I always looking for more Love in Afternoon, because it is very personal movie to me. But I haven't received them yet.

 

[MissGoddess]

Here's a review of that previously mentioned screening of Gary and Clara's silent movie, *Children of Divorce* (from TCM Morlocks):

 

http://moviemorlocks.com/2008/07/28/like-a-trip-back-in-time/#more-1997

[Senta]

Thank you April for posting this link. I enjoyed the review - very well written. And I'm truly hope to see this movie someday. They restore it so long ago why they are screening it only now? And why they didn't print in on DVD. This situation makes me wish some bootleg copy of this film to appeare on e-bay.

 

This photo from another never seen movie show up there today.

[coopsgirl]

It was neat to read about someone who got to see *CofD*. I got tickled when she just kept mentioning how good looking Gary was . I think it really surprises a lot of people (me included) when they see how stunningly beautiful he was in his 20s/early 30s since so many people are more familiar with his later films of the 40s and 50s. Which isn?t to say he wasn?t gorgeous then (b/c he definitely was) but most people just aren?t used to seeing him so young. I know my mom was shocked to see Barbara Stanwyck looking so young in films from the 30s b/c she really only knew her from her show *The Big Valley* which was on in the 60s when my mom was a kid/early teens. We get tickled about that b/c it shocks me to see her when she was older b/c I first saw her in *Meet John Doe* when she would have been around 34.

 

*CofD* is still owned by Paramount which means it may never really see the light of day. I?m not sure who paid for its restoration, but I know it wasn?t Paramount so if it was up to them all their silent films would just rot away I guess. Occasionally it gets screened somewhere but that seems to be pretty rare. Like the person said in the write up about it, it has never been shown on TV or released in any format so unfortunately, there don?t seem to be any bootleg copies of it anywhere. I think hoping for a dvd release may be futile, but maybe one day they will let TCM air it.

 

I was telling John Muhlholland about the auction coming up today and that I was going to bid on the pics from *The Texan* and he said he remembered seeing that movie about 20 years and that it was in good shape and was a really beautifully filmed movie. He said it looked very authentic as a period piece (clothes, sets, etc?). That?s a beautiful pic you found from it Vera and I hadn?t seen it either. I tell you, I?m just amazed at how many pictures there are of him out there.

[MissGoddess]

It can be a surprise to see a star in their youth if you've gotten used to him one way. I

was convinced as a child that the young Frank Sinatra and the older one just had to be

two different people. No way was that the same guy.

 

That is a nice still photo from *The Texan* because it seems to capture a moment in a scene,

not just a pose.

 

Let's hold a good thought for the future dvd release of BOTH of those films!

[coopsgirl]

Well, the lot of pics from *The Texan* I was bidding on just went for $1,100 and needless to say, I was not the winner . I?ve been watching it during the day and so far, the majority of the lots which have been movie stills, are going for between 3 and 7 times what they estimated. One lot of 200 pics from *Beau Geste* went for $4,250 and they had an estimate of $200-$300. Gary?s stuff has been going far above the estimates up into the 4 figure range. I?m hoping some of these will turn up on ebay as individual items and then maybe we?ll actually have a shot at them.

[MissGoddess]

Word has gotten around that old movie stills are collector's items. I do hope they

become available one way or another.

[CoopfanDan]

My view now days is if Universial ever decides to release a Vol 2 box set for Gary Cooper that they should include at the very least the three never seen before movies on Gary Cooper:

 

1) The Texan (1930)

2) The Spoilers (1930)

3) I Take This Woman (1931)

 

I have heard that all three of the above movies are in very good shape.

 

For the final two I would chose the best surviving prints of any of the below five movies that we have very bad copies of over movies that have been released on VHS in very good condition such as Souls at Sea, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife and Desire such as any two of the following:

 

1) Seven Days Leave (1930)

2) Only the Brave (1930)

3) A Man From Wyoming (1930)

4) City Streets (1931)

5) His Woman (1931)

 

Anyone know what the Universial contact email address is? I went to their web site and got the below page but am still clueless on it:

 

http://www.universalstudios.com/contact_us_links.php