Monday, March 05, 2012

Your Favorite Gary Cooper Movie

Check out a new website and publishing venture: Prologue. Hundreds of older genre books are being converted to ebooks by Prologue. Plus it will function as a website with articles and information about forgotten books and authors. More than 250 books are currently being made available for e-readers.

"I envision Prologue Books not simply an e-book publisher for out-of-print titles, but as a living record of the crime, science fiction, and fantasy genres,” said Ben LeRoy, publisher of Tyrus Books who is spearheading the project along with Greg Shepard.
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Cooper has to be one of the most versatile actors Hollywood produced. He was credible in comedies, westerns, romances and serious dramas. If Cary Grant is my favorite golden era actor, Cooper comes in a close second.

I choose BALL OF FIRE as my favorite Cooper movie. In BALL OF FIRE, Cooper plays one of seven professors studying how common people speak. They hire Barabara Stanwyck for the job. She becomes a Snow White to the seven men. Just charming and directed by Howard Hawkes. Which Cooper film do you like best. IMDB has the whole list.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Patti - Mine? High Noon. Soooo iconic!

sandra seamans said...

We're big Gary Cooper fans at our house and picking just one is nearly impossible. I'd go with "Friendly Persuasion" and "Along Came Jones".

pattinase (abbott) said...

Just wathed FRIENDLY a few months ago and it made me cry yet another time. And HIGH NOON-amazing although I heard Elmore Leonard last week and he claimed a shoot out in the middle of town was absurd. He said you have to knock off your adversaries in the town saloon--everyone knew that. HA!

Paul D Brazill said...

Mr Deeds Goes To Town.

Anonymous said...

He had an innate dignity that I see only in Tom Hanks these days. His father was a Montana supreme court justice and the family's gingerbread Victorian is carefully preserved in Helena. If you treasure him, find Maria Cooper Janis's pictorial book, Gary Cooper Off Camera. She is the wife of pianist Byron Janis, and has done her father great honor with her sensitive remembrance of him. To return to your question: The Friendly Persuasion.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I will look for the book and maybe someday get to Helena. If you husband could figure out a research project to do there, we might visit.
Mr. Deeds is a great one. As is Meet John Doe.

George said...

I haven't seen all of Cooper's movies, but of the dozen or so I have seen, I'll pick VERA CRUZ (1954). It has one of Cooper's strongest, understated performances.

le0pard13 said...

I'll go with 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', but 'Ball of Fire' and 'Vera Cruz are right up there.

Anonymous said...

I've always found HIGH NOON to be overrated. Not that I have anything against Cooper's performance, you understand.

As to the question, several named are among my favorites: FRIENDLY PERSUASION, MR. DEEDS, GARDEN OF EVIL, VERA CRUZ.

Jeff M.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I don't think I have seen VERA CRUZ. I will see if my library has it.

Gerard said...

My selections are limited to whatever I may have caught on cable tv when growing up. Ball of Fire and Friendly Persuasion for me. Sergeant York was a favorite as well.

Naomi Johnson said...

Ball of Fire is my fave Cooper movie, too. But there an awful lot of terrific runners-up.

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Agree with you and Sandra. I liked Gary Cooper in MEET JOHN DOE and only recently saw FRIENDLY PERSUASION on TCM. I haven't seen many Cooper films and it's time I did.

Deb said...

I almost hate to say it, since it was universally panned and based on a dreadful (is there any other kind?) Ayn Rand novel, but regardless I just love THE FOUNTAINHEAD and watch it whenever it's on TV. I think it's the palpable passion between Cooper and Patricia Neal that makes it so watchable. (Cooper & Neal did, indeed, become lovers during the making of the film.)

pattinase (abbott) said...

I know exactly what you mean. They just brought believability to the book and had powerful chemistry. She radiated intelligence.

Cap'n Bob said...

High Noon and They Came to Cordura jump to mind.

Todd Mason said...

Prologue has put a Whole Lot of Meaker/Kerr/Packer into ebook form, I see...

James Reasoner said...

MEET JOHN DOE would be my favorite. I'm not a fan of HIGH NOON, but it annoyed Howard Hawks into making RIO BRAVO, so I have to give it credit for that.

Linda McLaughlin said...

Loved Ball of Fire, but I have to go with For Whom The Bell Tolls as my favorite Gary Cooper movie. He was one of the great ones.

Kathleen A. Ryan said...

Sergeant York! Love Gary Cooper! Ironically, he is buried at the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary Cemetery in Southampton, NY. (he was relocated from another resting spot). The victim in my true crime memoir is buried at the same cemetery.