Any Gary Cooper Fans?

[Brando4ever]

Did he ever meet Marlon Brando, John Barrymore, John Gilbert, Kirk Douglas, Tyrone Power, Glenn Ford, Montgomery Clift, William Holden, Paul Newman, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum?

[Brando4ever]

Did he ever meet Marlon Brando, John Barrymore, John Gilbert, Kirk Douglas, Tyrone Power, Glenn Ford, Montgomery Clift, William Holden, Paul Newman, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum?

[MissGoddess]

Angie that is so marvelous that you got to see those costumes when you went to the movie!!! What a remarkable opportunity---I'd give anything to have been there.

 

GWTW is a must to see on the big screen---when those opening credits literally sweep across to the swelling Max Steiner score, you don't get half the impact on a smaller television screen. I get goose bumps just writing about it.

 

I never realized how tiny actresses were in general until I went to several auctions to see their wardrobe. Even ones that people tend to think of as taller and voluptuous were really much smaller than the screen made them seem, including Marilyn Monroe. Her waist was very small and overall she was smaller than she seems.

 

I think also the way they appear to us on screen "magnifies" them a bit in our minds, so we forget they are human, ha!

[coopsgirl]

I knew you'd like the *GWTW* stuff and I wish you could have been there too. I was totally surprised that they had the costumes there and was not expecting that. Watching it on my tv (even though it's big) just won't be the same now. It was so cool too b/c I'm sure it played at the Paramount originally and it's just such a neat feeling to know that somebody sat in the same seat as me and saw all those old movies when they were new.

[MissGoddess]

>>>I'm sure it played at the Paramount originally and it's just such a neat feeling to know that somebody sat in the same seat as me and saw all those old movies when they were new<<<

 

I never thought of that before but you're right! I saw a movie at the Egyptian once in L.A., and I can't even remember which one it was, but that was the only time I was in a theater which has shown first-run movies since the old days.

 

The Film Forum in New York is one of the best places in terms of the amount of old movies they show, but the theater itself is very dingy and badly in need of restoring. I actually prefer the modern, but soul-less Museum of Modern Art screening rooms which are at least cleaner. There is no old time movie palace in the city that I know of. Not a fabulous looking one, anyway.

[coopsgirl]

I'm really surprised that in a city like New York they don't have some nice, old movie houses still operating. There are actually three in Austin. There's the Paramount (1915) and The State (mid-'30s) and The Ritz (20's). Unfortunately the State theater is kinda stuck in the middle of a clean-up project. It's right next door to the Paramount and then right next to the State some people built some condos but they didn't seal part of their work properly and the State now has a serious mold problem. They've run out of money and are suing the condo people but that's stuck in legal limbo which is really a shame.

 

The Ritz however is getting a complete makeover and will soon be a working theater again. There's a group of movie theaters in Austin and couple in Houston called the Alamo Drafthouse and they bought the Ritz. It's a really neat place b/c they have a restaurant inside each theater and you can eat while you watch the movies. In front of each row of seats is a long thing kinda like a bar where you can put your food and it gives you lots of leg room too. Three of their Austin locations show first run films but the one downtown (this one is relocating into the Ritz which is also downtown) shows all sorts of different stuff. They have theme nights too like Weird Wednesday and Terror Thursday. They mostly show older movies but they rarely go back past the 50's. The Ritz will have two screens and I think one will be for first run films and the other for their regular, older stuff.

[spencerl964]

Kudos to person that wrote this on what is unfortunately with each passing year & of his

contemporaries>*"The King: Clark Gable"-(1901-1960)/ *"The Great: Spencer Tracy"-(1900-67)/ *Humphrey Bogart-(1899-1957) I'd usually of course include: *Jimmy Stewart-(1908-97) & *"John Wayne-(1907-79) However, as you can see, they were almost a full decade younger than the previous "HEROES OF HOLLYWOODLANDS GLORIOUS GOLDEN AGE & STUDIO-SYSTEM!"-(something we are sorely lacking today. Role Models, Heroes on that "Siver-Screen")

& the legendary>*Henry Fonda-(1905-82) But, he shattered that image-(though brilliantly!)

When in 1969-(& perfecto timing for that era!) Playing a killer & of children. In Leone's Western

masterpiece "0nce Upon a time in the West" Most 4-get to mention the yr before, where he played another villian "Firecreek" (l968) (***-a good, not great 1 though) & VS. pal since early 1930's *J. Stewart! (TRIVIA: *Jimmy's A #1 Horse since 1950's "Winchester 73" (***1/2) was "Pie" & *Hank painted a beautiful painiting of his horse. He rode it in most of hose Anthony Mann westerns. Closest *Coop-(Ranked #11th by AFI in '99) came to a villian 1958's "Man of the West" (***) But, as i said His status is not holding-up in history, as much as previous heavywgts?

It's strange & if you visit Hollywood *Bogie, is everywhere. & he took home 2 competitive Best Actor OSCARS("Sergeant York" 1941 & his most legendary role "High Noon 1952 TRIVIA/FAX: Actually filmed at Paramount's very large Western set!) Plus the 1 famous honorary 1 that *Stewart accepted on his behalf in 1961 Where he broke-down wee-bit & let fans know the condition of *Cooper. Spinal CANCER, was cause of his early demise.

My own fav. of his & believe it or not Most say the role closest to the actual man 1941's "Ball of Fire" He was a very studios man & read a ton. & named daughter>Maria, in tribute to 1943's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (Par.) Most on here aware it's>*I. Bergman's name in that beautiflly shot epic-("ROBBED,' of Color-Cinematography by he way!) & when he saw his face, kissing the angelic looking>*Audrey Hepburn(1929-93) in "Love in the Afternoon" (***1/2-out of 4) it's said he had a minor face-lift. Most seem to neglect *Wild Bill Wellman's powerful war drama: "Beau Geste" I've long rated it among Hollywoods ten best Adventures (Brian Donlevy, superb & it's only major nom.)

 

*Gary Cooper, was also Ernert Hemingway's-(1899-1961) ideal movie actor! & the not so easy to please/be impressed>*Kate Hepburn-(1907-2003) admired him as well. Though, not as much of course as "Her Spenca" But, she'd mention him & Garbo as "The Real Greats" When she was getting praised. Even tv's Tony Soprano-(James Gandolfini) often mentions "The Strong & Silent Type,' like *G. Cooper & hs done so over it's 9yrs on the air. Obviously his HERO!

 

On a final note & in case you didn't know in "Films of Golden Age Mag" fans were curious as to exactly where *Cooper was laid to rest An apparent mysery, even to editor> Bob King Then, an elderly couple just happened to cross a little street, to a very humble graveyard "Sacred Heart, cem" in Long Island & happened across a small grave of 1 of Hollywoods biggest stars of all-time!

They took a photo & sent it into the magazine.

It's foggy as to just how many pictures he appeared in though

Given, he started as an extra in silent era

But, officially, it's said to be>73

 

"Essential *Cooper"

"High Noon"

"Ball of Fire"

"Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"-(NOTE: *Capra wanted him for what was meant to be a sequel, in '39's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" Obviously, he decined)

"For Whom the Bell Tolls"

& "Sergeant York"-(NOTE: On the way into the OSCAR ceremonies *Ford, told Hawks-(his sole BD nom?) He really deserved to win & his bio over his own epic>*"How Green was My Valley")

 

Thank You & hope this posts'???

[butterscotchgreer]

angie, i so agree with you there. when i saw first went to the paramount theater to see Top Hat i was soo amazed and excited and when i sat in my seat i knew that others in the past had sit in the same one and every time i go there now, i always think of what they thought of watching these brilliant movies back then. i always feel like i really want to know how everything happened back then and what everyone really thought of every one of these movies.

[coopsgirl]

Yeah it's definitely neat to sit in those same red velvet seats in that gorgeous theater and see the same movies that showed there when they were new. I get tickled sometimes though thinking how different we look as an audience today than way back then. Nobody wears hats any more and we just wear shorts and t-shirts mostly.

[butterscotchgreer]

i know it, that is why i wear skirts everywhere i go. heehee!and you know i do...except to your house. heehee. could you imagine me showing up at your house all fancied up and you in your house clothes? heehee! how funny would that be.....i seriously wish that women at least would wear hats just anywhere. i mean it isnt like there is a certain fashion in this generation. that is the advantage we all have right now. we could walk out on the street wearing a cute thirties hat with a little thirties dress and heels and we would probably get nice comments on how pretty our clothes are. heehee! plus the fashions are really leaning toward the vintage ages anyway.

[MissGoddess]

Since this thread was in danger of, Gasp!, falling to the second page, I thought I'd share this article which is about a new UCLA Film & TV Archive retrospective focusing on screwball screenwriters, in particular, *Robert Riskin, who wrote Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Meet John Doe for Capra* :

 

From the L.A. Times Caldendar:

 

*By Susan King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer*

 

 

It's the dialogue, stupid.

 

Sure, the directors and actors in the classic screwball comedies were terrific, but without some fantastic scripts all that talent would have gone to waste.

 

 

UCLA Film and Television Archive's latest program, which opens Friday, gives these legendary scribes the respect they deserve. "Nothing Sacred: Hollywood Comedy's Writers in the Age of Screwball, 1933-1944" examines the major contributions made by former journalists and playwrights who came to Hollywood and created the wacky characters and snappy dialogue in such classic comedies as "It Happened One Night," "Nothing Sacred," "Easy Living" and "Theodora Goes Wild," all of which screen during the festival.

 

Among the writers represented in the 14-film series are Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, Robert Riskin, Jo Swerling, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, Preston Sturges, Sidney Buchman, Claude Binyon, Norman Krasna, Jules Furthman and John Lee Mahin. Several of the writers, including Sturges and Wilder, went on to more acclaim as directors.

 

"The series began as a challenge, in a way," says UCLA programmer David Pendleton. "Screwball comedy is so often talked about as a director's genre or as a genre that showcased performers. But we felt that a lot of these films draw their energy from the dialogue."

 

The frenetic, romantic, crazy and sophisticated screwball genre was born in 1934 when the Production Code put an end to sex and innuendo. With the bedroom farce history, Hollywood created the screwball comedy.

 

 

 

"One reason why some of the behavior and characters seem a little shrill in screwball comedies," says Pendleton, "is because there is a certain amount of romantic energy that gets amped up to replace some of the sexual energy in pre-Code films. Because there are a lot of things you can't show or imply, you have much more colorful dialogue, which makes for more memorable characters."

 

Perhaps the greatest collaboration between a writer and director during the screwball era was Riskin and director Frank Capra. Their 1934 romantic comedy "It Happened One Night," which swept the Oscars, is considered the first screwball comedy. The film stars Claudette Colbert as a spoiled rich girl and runaway bride and Clark Gable as the hungry reporter who meets her on a bus and smells a big story. Though the Code meant eroticism was taboo, there were many sexy scenes in "Night," including Gable's famous demonstration of the order in which he takes off his clothes before going to bed. Colbert stops him after he reveals he's not wearing an undershirt. "One Night" screens Sunday with 1935's "The Whole Town's Talking," a comedy Riskin wrote with Swerling for director John Ford.

 

Riskin and Capra, who worked at Columbia for studio head Harry Cohn, collaborated on several more films, including 1936's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," 1937's fantasy "Lost Horizon," the 1938 Oscar winner "You Can't Take It With You" and the 1941 political fable "Meet John Doe."

 

"They had a remarkable partnership," says his daughter, screenwriter Victoria Riskin. "They enhanced each other's strengths. I think Capra had a wonderful cinematic sense, and my father had an extraordinary sense of humor and story. . . . He was above all a great humanitarian. He loves people, and it comes through in his writing because his characters, even the small characters, had wonderful idiosyncratic qualities that he liked to emphasize in his pictures. He was a great observer of human foibles, but with a human eye."

 

Riskin says Cohn went out of his way to hire playwrights and journalists. "He knew his success depended on having very strong writers," she says. "The way my dad came to Hollywood is a play he had written was optioned [by Columbia]. He was truly penniless. I think he probably had a nickel in his pocket when the agent representing the studio said, 'We'll give you $3,000 for that project.' He said, 'Really?' But he didn't say 'thank you.' So they said, 'We'll give you $5,000.' And he said 'hmmmm.' They said, '$10,000, but that's tops.' So he went from having a nickel to having $10,000 overnight."

[coopsgirl]

Great article!! I was looking at their website yesterday and I didn't see the article but I saw all the movies they were showing. I love screwball comedies and they are showing some of my faves. They're also showing *Bluebeards's Eighth Wife*. I swear if I had money to burn I would just fly around watching Gary's movies where ever they're shown

 

Robert Riskin is one of my favorite screenwriters and I think his collaborations with Capra brought out the best in each other. That's a wonderful story from Riskin's daughter about how all he had was a nickel to his name and then all of the sudden he's got $10,000!!! That's really something and it's so nice when good things happen to good people.

 

It's seems so strange to think now that a comedy could win so many Oscars like *It Happened One Night*, which is one of my very favorite (non-Gary) films. I think that of all the movie genres, comedies have gotten the worst in recent years. I mean can you imagine a movie like *Balls of Fury* that's out now and is about ping-pong or something sweeping the Oscars next year?! I don't mind silly movies (like *Deuce Bigalow* which is one of my guilty pleasures) but you certainly don't look at them like real pieces of quality cinematic work.

 

It doesn't matter how many times I watch *It Happened One Night* there are certain scenes that just crack me up every time. My very favorite is when Clark and Claudette are trying to hitch-hike and he's explaining to her all the different ways you can use your thumb. Of course when he goes to try it, none of his techniques work and they only get a car to stop when she flashes some leg. I just get absolutely tickled as he just wildly flails his arms trying to get cars to stop and Claudette is just trying not to laugh at him.

[coopsgirl]

I love the song 'On a Slow Boat to China' and when I was listening to it the other day it hit me that I had a lot of pics of Gary on boats and he did some movies on boats too so I had to use it to make another slideshow.

 

[MissGoddess]

>>> I think that of all the movie genres, comedies have gotten the worst in recent years. <<<

 

Amen to that. They all seem to be of the juvenile male variety or so off-beat they are un-funny.

 

By the way, that was a very nice montage, Angie.

[Brando4ever]

Was Mr. Cooper mentioned in any songs?

[MissGoddess]

He is mentioned promininently in "Puttin' on the Ritz" -

 

Have you seen the well-to-do

Up and down Park Avenue

On that famous thoroughfare

With their noses in the air

 

High hats and narrow collars

White spats and lots of dollars

Spending every dime

For a wonderful time

 

Now, if you're blue

And you don't know where to go to

Why don't you go where fashion sits

Puttin' on the Ritz

Different types who wear a daycoat

Pants with stripes and cutaway coat

Perfect fits

Puttin' on the Ritz

 

*Dressed up like a million dollar trooper

Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper

Super-duper*

 

Come, let's mix where Rockefellers

Walk with sticks or "umberellas"

In their mitts

Puttin' on the Ritz

[MissGoddess]

Frequent Gary Cooper leading lady *Fay Wray* will be the subject of a new documentary as well as a special screening of her first starring role, Eric Von Stroheim's The Wedding March (1927), here in New York at the Film Forum in honor of what would have been her 100th birthday. Here is an article about the documentary (I wonder if she said anything about Gary?):

 

http://baltimore.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=21279

 

And the filmforum link, which in turn has links to other articles at the bottom:

 

http://www.filmforum.org/films/faywray.html

 

P.S. Fay Wray was married to screenwriter Robert Riskin, who we just discussed.

[coopsgirl]

Gary was 6'3" with dark hair and blue eyes and Gehrig was 6' with dark hair and blue eyes and they have a similar smile so I can see why physically Gary was cast as Lou. Also Gary perfectly captured the wonderful, sweet man Lou Gehrig was. I've got lots of pic of Lou and no joke, he's smiling in nearly every single one of them. It seems like he was a very happy person who basically had no vices. One of the guys he played with (can't remember his name) told a funny story about Lou. He said one time after a game Lou asked him if he wanted to go raise some hell. Of course Lou's idea of 'raising hell' was to go to the bar down the street and have one beer and then go home - ha!. Here's my fave pic of Lou.

 

[butterscotchgreer]

oh im saving this one!!

[MissGoddess]

He really does look like a sweet guy. Which brings up another point (sorry to keep carping on 3:10 to Yuma) that I disliked about that movie....everyone, with the sole exception of Christian Bale's character and his family were portrayed as, at best, venal and generally criminal, vicious, psychotic, and dangerous. I mean entire towns were portrayed this way---mine workers, farmer, Indians, townfolk, Everyone! Basically, the director is saying everyone out west in those days was absolute trash who'd shoot you down for a quarter. That is rubbish---what about all the decent, honest, hardworking people who just wanted a new start in life---I think they vastly outnumbered the scavengers and it bothers me that "revisionist" ideas in westerns for the past 30 years try to paint everyone who settled the west as a vicious outcast. That is simply untrue and frankly, not very interesting from a storytelling point of view.

 

Look at how High Noon, for instance, presents a similar circumstance: supposedly only one man is standing up for what is right. But that doesn't mean that everyone in the town was ready to sell out to Frank Miller and gun down Marshall Kane, does it? That is how they would show it today. They were scared, they had gotten soft and comfortable but it would be unrealistic to show them all suddenly turning into murderers. That's what they did in Yuma. It was like the west suddenly became Sodom and Gomorrah....

 

We really need to send these directors to school, to John Ford, Howard Hawks, Delmer Daves, and Anthony Mann 101.

[coopsgirl]

*you know you're a hard case when you get excited about seeing a guy's wife in a 10 second bit part! Hee!*

 

You're cracking me up!!!

 

I really like Christian Bale (my fave modern actor and usually he's very good) but I don't really like non-Gary westerns so I won't be seeing *3:10 to Yuma* and from what you said it doesn't sound like I'm missing anything. It sounds too like they are taking modern characteristics (like the young son cussing in front of his mother) and putting them into a period movie. I guess maybe that always happens to a certain extent but I don't like it.

[butterscotchgreer]

i know angie,i hate that they do that. why do they remake a good old movie, when it doesnt need to be remade and put down, and making a bigger deal out of something stupid in the movie like cussing, or sometimes they will put nudity in a remake. why?

[MissGoddess]

I think they were trying hard to pander to a teenage male audience---there are virtually no real love scenes (thank heavens no nudity) but I haven't even mentioned to you ladies how much blood and gore there was---it made Gladiator look tame. It was so unnecessary too---like one scene where the animal vet operates on a Pinkerton agent that Russell shot in the stomach---they show EVERYTHING, all the gore and I had my face averted for about 1/4 of the film due to scenes like that. Totally gratuitous and in the most juvenile fashion.

[butterscotchgreer]

well then im glad i am not watching that for sure. i cant watch movies with too much blood and gore. and trust me i have watched my share in my lifetime unfortunately. once i watched kill bill 1 and 2 and i am NEVER gonna watch those again in my whole life. they were so disgusting and they freaked me out too much.

[coopsgirl]

Excellent comparison between *Yuma* and *High Noon*. I always get mad at the people in *High Noon* for not helping Gary but their reasoning does make sense. One man who was Gary's friend gives probably the most well thought out reason for not helping him when he explains that businesses back in the east want to set up shop in their town and if they hear about shoot outs in the street they may not want to come which would hurt the town economically. Also like you said they have gotten complacent b/c it has been a peaceful town for a long time. This doesn't make them bad people however.

 

I very much dislike revisionist history as well and it's a shame when people twist history b/c it's either politically incorrect and they're afraid to show how things really were or they just twist it around to be what they think will be more entertaining.