MovieChat Forums > Design for Living (1933) Discussion > Cooper had an odd career in 'odd ball' r...

Cooper had an odd career in 'odd ball' roles

posted 16 years ago by metajohn
5 replies | jump to latest

>>Gary Cooper does not fit to me. He's a sort of amazing good looking ... Nothing more. He just doesn't look comfortable in acting ... He doesn't work to me.<<

Well he has the "key" role of the man who "gets" the girl! Gary Cooper made quite a few "oddball" and "madcap" Hollywood comedies, just as Jimmy Stewart, and Clark Gable did as well. The picture biz in the 1930's saw itself as responsible for the nation's "morale", a task hinted at by FDR's administration.
People went to the movies two or three times a week back then, if they could afford it - no TV, radio was good, but pictures Moved on the Silver Screen. After "talkies" arrived in 1928, they became the most compelling medium on the planet.
Cooper did comedy: as a "contract actor" working under the old Studio System, he had little choice in the matter. You can tell the ones he liked by the performances he gave. He performed "Design for Living", but he acted "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town!" There is quite a difference in the two roles on the screen.
Cooper is best remembered for his western persona, esp Marshall Will Kane in "HIGH NOON!" But he was also the eponoymous Casanova Brown, stared opposite Barbara Stanwyck in "Ball of Fire"

Overall I like his serious persona: For Whom the Bell Tolls, High Noon, Pride of the Yankees, Beau Geste, The Westerner, Sergeant York, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, The Fountainhead, etc. Those roles set Gary Cooper above all others.

[–] nutsberryfarm 9 years ago

his oddball roles were always intriguing.

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[–] mdonln 9 years ago

According to TCM this was Gary Cooper's first comedic role. It was well received so he got the opportunity to do a lot more. I happen to like Gary Cooper and think I've enjoyed every movie I've seen him in so far. He's one of those actors, and there are many others about whom I feel the same way; if I see his name in the cast, I will definitely, without question, watch the movie.

Most of those actors were from the early days of Hollywood. In those days, for the most part, the studios picked the actors' projects. Actors were groomed by the studios to be stars and if they clicked with the public, they repeatedly got cast into the better movies.

Today's actors can have a hit then fade away or have a flop immediately after a sleeper hit and that hit may have involved little to no acting just a lot of chase scenes that appeal to audiences. It's so much harder to tell who is actually good as opposed to who has a following because they're in a lot of serial or sequel type movies.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

[–] Merrida 9 years ago

I've never been a fan of Cooper at all. Somehow, he just doesn't 'click' for me in movies. The exceptions are only this particular movie, (the chemistry he has with March is brilliant), and I really liked him in Fountainhead. That movie in and of itself was provocative.
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[–] texastreasure517 8 years ago

I feel that way about Henry Fonda. He always seems like he's "phoning it in" to me.

[–] texastreasure517 8 years ago

Corrrection: Gary Cooper played Professor Bertram "Potsy" Potts opposite Barbara Stanwyck in "Ball of Fire"