Product Details

• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Mpi Home Video
• VHS Release Date: June 20, 2000
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• ASIN: 0788601954
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #611,734 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

America's strong and silent cowboy hero, Gary Cooper, is accorded a fitting tribute in this documentary that portrays how Cooper's movie persona was rooted in reality. Growing up in Montana, Cooper heard tales of the Old West from the people who had lived them, allowing him to bring a sense of realism to his screen portrayals. After breaking into silent films and making a successful transition to talkies, his heroic portrayals as a leading man made him an American icon.

Interviews with his daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, provide a backbone to this video, which also features insights from biographer Jeffrey Meyers and fellow actors George C. Scott, Charlton Heston, and Patricia Neal. Clips from some of Cooper's classic films, including Sergeant York, The Plainsman, Pride of the Yankees, and For Whom the Bell Tolls amply demonstrate the stature the two-time Oscar winner brought to the big screen. Though a Hollywood star, he was an unaffected man, and this documentary shines when rare home movies of Cooper on family vacations and hunting trips (with friends such as Ernest Hemingway) provide insight into the actor's genuine personality. --Robert J. McNamara