When Gary Cooper made his first released sound film The Virginian it was plain that this man from Montana had a career in talkies. His voice certainly reflected his upbringing on his English born father's cattle ranch in that state. Coop did many kinds of films, but always returned to the west. So identified with the genre that it was his voice chosen to narrate The Real West.
So point by point with 19th Century photographs of the hard working ordinary people who tamed the land, the ordinary and some of the legendary. Coop's Montana drawl perfectly suits the story. It was also obvious that the man was dying.
I remember seeing this on television when it was broadcast and weeks later the news of Gary Cooper's death was deemed worthy of notice by our new president John F. Kennedy. Coop seemed to have closed the circle by demythologizing the American West a place whose legend helped earn him a considerable living.
Montana is still a rugged place to make a living a Coop as a kid saw the cattle ranchers, the miners, the small farmers, and even the tragic American Indians living on subsistence on reservations as he grew up. His voice is mixed with pride, regret, and courage.
I was lucky to see this again on YouTube. The Real West is a wonderful coda to the career of Gary Cooper.
So point by point with 19th Century photographs of the hard working ordinary people who tamed the land, the ordinary and some of the legendary. Coop's Montana drawl perfectly suits the story. It was also obvious that the man was dying.
I remember seeing this on television when it was broadcast and weeks later the news of Gary Cooper's death was deemed worthy of notice by our new president John F. Kennedy. Coop seemed to have closed the circle by demythologizing the American West a place whose legend helped earn him a considerable living.
Montana is still a rugged place to make a living a Coop as a kid saw the cattle ranchers, the miners, the small farmers, and even the tragic American Indians living on subsistence on reservations as he grew up. His voice is mixed with pride, regret, and courage.
I was lucky to see this again on YouTube. The Real West is a wonderful coda to the career of Gary Cooper.