Only the Brave (1930) Film Review - Gary Cooper

Plot Summary - Civil War drama starring Gary Cooper as a Union captain who risks getting caught for desertion by leaving camp for 24 hours to visit his beloved, only to find her in the arms of another man. Bummed out on his return (and caught, by the way, though his punishment is not out-there harsh), he offers himself up to take a pal's place as a Union spy, which involves getting caught on purpose carrying fake dispatch papers, which will likely lead to sure execution by the Confederate army. Soon he's arrived at a Southern plantation full of Belles and Confederate soldiers indulging in dancing and the punch bowl. He makes efforts to get caught as a spy, but everything he tries - dropping his Union medal, refusing to participate in a toast, attempting to get caught in an office rifling through papers - fails! And meanwhile, plantation daughter Barbara (Mary Brian) - an ultra-flirtatious Scarlett O'Hara type Southern belle who's never been kissed - has been busy from his arrival trying to seduce him with her wiles. He ends up in her room at one point, where Barbara realizes he's a spy - but she's fallen for the handsome fellow and while he's doing his utmost to get caught by the officers, she's doing her best to keep him from getting caught! Eventually, he is caught and held prisoner despite her efforts, guarded by a grubby Confederate sentry who rambles on about what terrible creatures women are - when his guard leaves him alone to fetch himself some brandy, Barbara arrives and is caught kissing him. Will anyone be able to save the day for our man before he ends up facing the firing squad?

Review - I thought this was a pretty decent film - I normally enjoy Civil War era films, this one has a touch of humor in it to help spice it up. I liked the performance that Mary Brian gives here, with her cute Southern drawl. Gary Cooper is his tall, handsome, softly spoken self - always good. I actually didn't really think this film was as funny as some in the theater screening at Cinecon 45 seemed to think - I was quite amused by the loquacious sentry though. Not completely related to this particular film - - but hmm, I know people say that it's better to see films that are funny with a live audience - and it's true that sometimes I laugh more with an audience than a movie at home alone - but when I see a film and an audience is laughing hysterically at something that I don't find all so funny, it can just be annoying. A case in point, some action film with Eddie Murphy I saw in the early 80s (back when I saw ALL the new movies in a theater) and the audience was howling over car crash scenes and I was just left cold wondering why they thought it was funny. Excuse the ramble. Rating - 7.5 to 8/10 stars

One Sunday Afternoon (1933) Film Review - Gary Cooper

Plot Summary - Pre-code film starring Gary Cooper. On a Sunday afternoon, former rival Hugo Barnstead arrives at dentist Biff Grimes (Cooper) dental office to have a tooth pulled and Biff has ideas about "getting even" with Hugo (um - by gassing him to death!), who Biff believes once stole his girl. In flashback the story of the rivalry is revealed. The two men meet two gal pals in the park one day, Virginia (Fay Wray) and Amy. Both men are after Virginia, who seems a bit more flashy of the two women - - but cute and sweet Amy once had a childhood crush on Biff and still carries the torch for him. Amy chases after Biff (who is sort of a show-off, lanky bumpkin type - but cute) while Biff and Hugo chase after Virginia - but Hugo (the more successful of the two men) gets Virginia, as they get married by surprise and ride off for their honeymoon. On a lark, Biff asks Amy to marry him that same night (in a sort of warped way of getting even with Virginia, you might say). Marriage and hard feelings to follow.

Review - The film is based on a stage play and helped along by nice outdoor scenes in a quiet-looking, turn-of-the-century small town locale. This film was later remade into a film I have seen and enjoyed quite a few times, "The Strawberry Blonde (1941)" starring Rita Hayworth, Olivia de Havilland and James Cagney. This earlier version is also an excellent film, I very much enjoyed the performance of Frances Fuller as sweet and ever-loving Amy - she sure puts up with a lot from that Biff! Jane Darwell appears fairly briefly as Amy's mother - the print shown on TCM appeared to be edited as the character of Virginia's mother is credited in the titles, yet did not appear in the film (I thought there appeared to be something missing just before the sudden marriage of Hugo and Virginia). Good film. Rating - 9/10 stars

The Texan (1930) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - Early talkie western starring Gary Cooper as the Llano Kid, wanted dead or alive. On a train headed for Texas, he steals a passenger's ticket, then pretends he is a Mexican who speaks no English when confronted by the passenger and train conductor. Well, that passenger decides our man is the perfect candidate to help him with an evil scheme he's been brewing up. He knows of a very wealthy lady in Mexico who is offering a $1,000 reward for the return of her beloved son who she hasn't seen since he ran away from home at the age of ten after getting a scold from mama over the new mermaid tattoo he got on his arm. The son would be twenty-five years old now - the same age as the Llano Kid! And it's not just the reward he's after - apparently the old lady has saved a stash of gold to give to her son on his return. So - the Llano Kid is brought to her home and pretends he's the long, lost son, and well - the old lady falls for the scam hook, line, and sinker (gosh, you would think she would recognize her own son, after all he was ten not an infant when he left home). She pampers him, cooks him what she hopes to be a meal of standard American dishes - apple pie, doughnuts, and pickles - and gives him constant love, hugs and kisses. The Llano Kid is a sort of quiet lone wolf and not used to all this bother - but yes, she does give him the key to her secret locked cabinet hidden behind a painting, where rests a chest filled to the brim with sacks of gold. After a few months our man begins to like his new life on her fancy ranch - and sparking with his pretty "cousin" Consuelo (Fay Wray) who also lives there doesn't hurt one bit. Soon he begins to change his mind about going through with the idea of running away with the loot, which he is meant to share with the man from the train - and won't he be mad if he doesn't get his gold!

Review - A pretty good film, this moved fast with interesting plotline and well done acting - the print looked nice. Gary Cooper looks oh so young and handsome in this, though he is seriously long-legged and thin. Rating - 7/10 stars

Man of the West (1958) Film Review - Cinecon 44 Screening

Plot Summary - In which rawhide-vested, black cowboy-hatted Link Jones (Gary Cooper) - the strong, silent type - gets mixed up with a gang of seriously rotten men out in the Old West. Riding a train to Fort Worth, his long legs barely fitting into his seat, with plans to use his bag of gold (donated by his small western town) to hire a schoolmarm to bring back to the town. But when bad men try to rob the train while all the "able-bodied" men are off board and loading up lumber (hey, shouldn't these guys have gotten a comped ticket since they had to work?!), three of them - Link, a friendly gambler, and a pretty singer (Julie London) - get left behind when the train breaks away. A hundred miles to the next town, looks like they'll have to walk - but wait, Link knows of a secret farmhouse hidden nearby. They go there only to find the train robbers and Link's aging, crazed in the head, uncle (Lee J. Cobb) there - a very bad man who steals, murders, and the like with his band of three desperadoes. In his younger years, under the tutelage of Uncle, Link was once part of that no-law world of bandits - but he set off on his own to seek a new life, and now lives in happiness with home, wife and kids. Uncle corrals him back into the gang, and let's put it this way - these guys are a real bunch of slimy, dirty cretins. Link fakes cooperation to protect his new pals from the train - but there's little he can do other than uncomfortably sit and watch as one of the men (Jack Lord) forces the girl to undress in stripper style (first the shoes, then the stockings, then the jacket, etc.) as he prompts the poor, distressed woman on brusquely shouting "take off your clothes!" while the bunch of men all sit and stare. Meanwhile, this lonely gal begins to fall for Link - but he's a strong-willed man with family values now. Lots of fights, gun battles, killings, and grave-digging at gunpoint to follow.

Review - Screened on the opening night of Cinecon 44, this entertaining western, directed by Anthony Mann, was a treat to see in very widescreen, CinemaScope splendor. The cinematography is visually interesting and included nice looking color, many of the scenes are actually quite dark, night scenes. The plot is compelling - Lee J. Cobb does a good job playing the grizzled and whacked older uncle to Cooper (Cobb was in reality ten years younger than Cooper!). Of course, Gary Cooper is weathered, yet still very handsome in this; Jack Lord, of Hawaii Five-O, is real good as perhaps the baddest of the bad men - - of course, it did seem like one of the main reasons they put in the stripping scene was to show off Julie London's body - I'm sure the men watching appreciated this (don't get too excited, she's still wearing lots of 1800's undergarments). Quite a good film. Rating - 8/10 stars