Not long after the first nickel was paid to go to the movies, Hollywood came to know the power of pure beauty on the screen. In fact, before "talkies" came along, that "va,va voom" of an actress or actor was all that really mattered. Most certainly residing in the eyes- sultry yet innocent, a pleasing shape to the face and having an almost Greek statute physique didn't hurt either and no one did it better then Gary Cooper, even with the addition of face powder and eye liner, like he needed it.
Copper smoldering portrayal of a World War 1 pilot....
who crashes and burns in the silent film WINGS 1927, the winner of the very first Oscar for Best Picture.
cemented him as a silent film hottie. He was probably on screen for less then five minutes.
When sound came to movies, many a Silent Film star faded away, their voices no match for their physique, the Greek God like ones, but not Cooper. Raised on a ranch in Montana, rugged and strong, he had the voice to go along with the looks and the rest is Hollywood History, which includes such accolades as he is rumored to have had a "tryst" with Every leading lady he starred with and was the reason behind a few female cat fights in Tinsel Town. I like my propagandized view of Cooper, apparently he kept the Studio "spin doctors" busy, but if you want to read more about it, below are two good biographies.
Coming full circle in Oscar history from a bit part in the first ever Best Picture winner, Cooper won his own Oscar for his portrayal of Sergeant York in 1941....
The above biography from hairpin.com does an excellent job discussing what an Oscar is really rewarding...
I am beginning to wonder if that might be the answer to the question I asked on my first entry to this years Oscar Blogathon, What do you want....Awards or Iconic?
How can we as a society or the Academy not be influenced by what is happening in our world, in any given year? Giving an Oscar nod to a film, highlighting the greatness of a soldier, who at heart, doesn't want to kill, but goes to do his duty and does it very, very well, only three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor is not that surprising.
The fact that Gary Cooper beat out Orson Welles for CITIZEN KANE to do it ...
I find interesting as that the Best Picture Awards that year went to...
HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY, a wonderful nostalgic movie about a way of life disappearing, but no CITIZEN KANE, considered on of the most Iconic movies of all times.
But back to smoldering Gary....
In 1941, the months leading up to the war, if we needed to put a face to the soldier hero that was going to win back our freedom and put tyranny in it's place, Cooper provide that image for many of the young man thinking of enlisting and I'm sure many a young girl or old lady were also inspired by his rugged wonderfulness.
Exhibit A...
Yeah, it's the whole hand, face thing... and the perfect jaw, the dewy eyes, the innocent demeanor. Can you say "Smolder"?
Time is not usually kind to "Smolder", but at age 50 ish, the same age Pitt is now, Gary Cooper redefined himself, as he had from silent to talkies and won another Oscar for the very Iconic HIGH NOON (1952)...
If you're curious, the smoldering Brad Pitt has been nominated twice for Best Actor. For 12 MONKEYS in 1995 losing to Kevin Spacey for UNUSUAL SUSPECTS and then in 2008 for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON....
losing to Sean Penn in MILK....
If you, like me, are scratching your head and saying "huhhhh?", I refer you to the above quote by hairpin.com, I'll even cut and paste it here, so you don't have to scroll...
Brad Pitt's performance was well pretty dam good, as a man aging backwards. Anybody re-watch MILK lately?
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"Recall that most Academy Awards do not, necessarily,
go to the best performance; rather, they often go to
performances that best embody an ideological moment."
From Scandals of Classic Hollywood: That Divine Gary CooperI am beginning to wonder if that might be the answer to the question I asked on my first entry to this years Oscar Blogathon, What do you want....Awards or Iconic?
How can we as a society or the Academy not be influenced by what is happening in our world, in any given year? Giving an Oscar nod to a film, highlighting the greatness of a soldier, who at heart, doesn't want to kill, but goes to do his duty and does it very, very well, only three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor is not that surprising.
The fact that Gary Cooper beat out Orson Welles for CITIZEN KANE to do it ...
I find interesting as that the Best Picture Awards that year went to...
But back to smoldering Gary....
Exhibit A...
Yeah, it's the whole hand, face thing... and the perfect jaw, the dewy eyes, the innocent demeanor. Can you say "Smolder"?
Time is not usually kind to "Smolder", but at age 50 ish, the same age Pitt is now, Gary Cooper redefined himself, as he had from silent to talkies and won another Oscar for the very Iconic HIGH NOON (1952)...
losing to Sean Penn in MILK....
"Recall that most Academy Awards do not, necessarily,
go to the best performance; rather, they often go to
performances that best embody an ideological moment."
performances that best embody an ideological moment."
Brad Pitt's performance was well pretty dam good, as a man aging backwards. Anybody re-watch MILK lately?
My rant brings up another aspect of Iconic, I think, be it in movies or literature, or art. Those things, no matter their age, that we still have on our nightstands....
penned in 1960
smack on our walls...
painted in 1889
or watch over and over again...
1994
are what is truly great, awards and accolades or not.
By the way, the name Tristan had an uptick of popularity for a boys names after LEGENDS OF THE FALL came out and well before Gary Copper, Gary was the name of a city in Indiana, which Coopers agent was from and thought it had a rugged sound to it, better then Frank, Coopers given name. How many Garys do you know now?
FRIENDLY PERSUASION...
has to be one of my favorite Cooper movies, though he was not even nominated for an Academy Award and there is only a little "smoldering" hinted towards when he and Dorthy McGuire "make u"p in their barn. But, oh, what a wonderful movie, packed with all things I love about Old Hollywood-drama, romance, humor, a strong moral lesson and McGuire beating a Confederate with a broom, over a pet goose.
And supporting my rant, the screenwriter of FRIENDLY PERSUASIONS, Michael Wilson, was blacklisted from the Academy Awards that year for being a not so Friendly witness in the McCarthy trials, interrogations or what you want to call them.
But back to Gary Cooper... again and the art of the Smolder, which he did beautiful over so many films like MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN and MEET JOHN DOE, that really beckon for a second post on the Origins of Smolder.
For now, I leave you with this very sweet trio of pictures, that illustrates just how ageless Cooper was, playing with the wonderful Shirley Temple that the world just lost this week at the age of 85...
from a great smoldering website....Gary Cooper Scrapbook
For more on all things Oscar be sure to visit the 31 Days of Oscars Blogathon host...
for more great posts this week on the topic of "The Actors", next week it is on to the "Directors" and then right before this years winner are reviled, "The Movies"
Hi Kelly, interesting post. I always enjoy seeing parallels between Old Hollywood and today's stars. I had a suspicion that Pitt would have done well in Old Hollywood since OCEAN'S ELEVEN, but I've been sure of it since MR & MRS SMITH, but I missed all these similarities that you noted. Sorry for delay in posting your link and thanks for participating in the blogathon!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post - I'd never really thought about Mr Pitt within a classic movie framework before, but he certainly has the Cooper smoulder. I wonder what other stars would survive a trip back in time?
ReplyDelete