Let's Spam About Gary Cooper - The TCMR Edition

[moira finnie]

Thanks for the heads up, Cinemaven. Cooper is very touching in this John O'Hara story, but Geraldine Fitzgerald really had a helluva good time as his Machiavellian wife. She should have had more breaks like this part!

[mrsl]

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Cinemaven:

Well, I did what you suggested and I just finished watching 10 North Frederick. It's amazing how your values and ideals change in 20 years. It's been about that long since I saw this one, and at that time, I thought it was a fairly good movie. That was before I started watching with a minimally trained eye.

Moirafinnie:

You're right about Geraldine Fitzgerald, she really had a field day with that character. Lovely Diane Varsi, who did Peyton Place and a few other movies, then disappeared forever, was the one who held all my sympathies. She was sweet, tender, thoughtful, and encouraging in all the right places and made you like her. Gary . . . . well, you might have found him touching, I found him a wimp. Suzy Parker finally brought out the man in him, but a little late in the day, I would say. Again, we have the age thing, but Suzy looks more worldly than Audrey Hepburn did, so the age difference didn't bother me so much. Right now, with the physical problems I've had, I've gained weight, and don't keep my hair color up often enough, so, -- I'm no prize, but until I had my stroke at 55, I was quite a looker, but Coop at 57 in real life but in this movie playing a guy at 50, I wouldn't have turned my head to look at him twice. I know he was playing a hen-pecked husband, so maybe they purposely made him look pale and wan (he looked lots better 2 years later in They Came to Cordura), but he did not look attractive at all, and for a young beautiful girl like Suzy to fall for him (her roommates' father, on top of it), I'm afraid he would have to have a lot more going for him that he showed her.

However, I'm a person who loves movies with flashbacks, and flash-forwards, so a lot of the movie really appealed to me. Actually, the whole movie appealed to me, I just think they could have done better with a different leading man. Don't let my comments sour you on watching it, I'm sure 9 out of 10 people would like it and say I'm wrong.
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[moira finnie]

I went to the post office today and what should greet me as I stumble through the door with my packages and letters, but a poster about the size of the one below? I got my sheet of Gary Coopers. Have you?



As it turns out, Mr. Cooper's beautiful daughter Maria (seen above in front of a blow up of the stamp), is making a documentary about her father and his friendship with Ernest Hemingway. The musical score is expected to be composed by Maria Cooper Janis' gifted husband, concert pianist Byron Janis.

According to the USPS press release, the Hurrell photo that inspired Kazuhiko Sano’s beautiful painting of the actor was the inspiration for this stamp. Art director Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA, designed the Gary Cooper stamp using a portrait by artist Kazuhiko Sano of Mill Valley, CA. A scholarship for Osage Indians to study filmmaking at USC was announced in Gary Cooper's name at the same time as the unveiling of the stamp.

“My father would have been very flattered by this honor, but he was always very self deprecating,” said Cooper’s daughter. “If he were here today, he’d probably say, ‘See, look what you get for falling off a horse.’”

When reminiscing about his life Janis said there were “a lot of surface differences in his relationship to Hemingway, but underneath they were somewhat kindred spirits. My father was the only person who could drop in unannounced and be greeted with great delight and open arms. Papa Hemingway often referred to him as the ‘True Gen,’ for true gentleman. Both men respected each other’s silences — there was no need to fill it with constant chatter.”

[MissGoddess]

Oh, I got my sheets the second day it came out!

P.S. Interesting quotes there by Mr. Bickford!

[moira finnie]

P.S. Interesting quotes there by Mr. Bickford!

Those are some of the milder whoppers Bickford liked to tell the studio hacks when they were annoying him. If you can find a copy on the internet, the actor's blustering and occasionally quietly observant 1965 autobiography, Bulls, Balls, Bicycles, and Actors was the source for these remarks.

Mr. B. did not suffer fools gladly.

[MissGoddess]

Mr. B. did not suffer fools gladly.

Ha! Sounds like my kind of guy. Thank you for that info on his autobiography.

[charliechaplinfan]

Somebody send me a letter please

[knitwit45]

I will go to the post office tomorrow, dear friend!!!!

[GaryCooper]

[GaryCooper]

[GaryCooper]

[GaryCooper]

[GaryCooper]