Gary Cooper was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as an Academy Honorary Award in 1961 for his career achievements. He was one of the top-10 film personalities for 23 consecutive years and one of the top money-making stars for 18 years. The American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Cooper at number 11 on its list of the 50 greatest screen legends.
The following is an overview of 1928 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Although some films released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent. This year is notable for the introduction of the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey Mouse, in the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first film to include a soundtrack completely created in post production.
Beau Geste is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a relative. Published in 1924, the novel is set in the period before World War I. It has been adapted for the screen several times.
John Waters was an American film director, second unit director and, initially, an assistant director. His career began in the early days of silent film and culminated in two consecutive Academy Award nominations in the newly instituted category of Best Assistant Director. He won on his second nomination, for MGM's Viva Villa!, and received a certificate of merit; the certificate was replaced with an Oscar statuette in 1965.
The Last Remake of Beau Geste is a 1977 British historical comedy film directed, co-written and starring Marty Feldman. It is a satire loosely based on the 1924 novel Beau Geste, a frequently-filmed story of brothers and their adventures in the French Foreign Legion. The humor is based heavily upon wordplay and absurdity. Feldman plays Digby Geste, the awkward and clumsy "identical twin" brother of Michael York's Beau, the dignified, aristocratic swashbuckler.
Beau Geste is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Herbert Brenon and based on the 1924 novel Beau Geste by P. C. Wren. Ronald Colman stars as the title character.
Beau Geste is a 1939 American adventure film starring Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, and Susan Hayward. Directed and produced by William A. Wellman, the screenplay was adapted by Robert Carson, based on the 1924 novel of the same title by P. C. Wren. The music score was by Alfred Newman and cinematography was by Theodor Sparkuhl and Archie Stout.
Beau Geste is a BBC television serial, based on the 1924 novel by P. C. Wren. The series aired on BBC1 from 31 October to 19 December 1982 and starred Benedict Taylor, Anthony Calf and Jonathon Morris as the three brothers.
The Mating Call is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by James Cruze about a soldier who returns home from World War I to find his marriage has been annulled and his wife has remarried. Due to the public apathy towards silent films, a sound version was also prepared. While the sound version has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film was produced by Howard Hughes for his Caddo Corporation, and was originally released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the novel of the same name by Rex Beach. Renée Adorée has a brief nude scene in the film.
The Legion of the Condemned is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Jesse L. Lasky, Wellman, and Adolph Zukor and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Written by former World War I flight instructor John Monk Saunders and Jean de Limur, with intertitles by George Marion, Jr., the film stars Fay Wray and Gary Cooper.
Paramount on Parade is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Frank Tuttle, and Victor Schertzinger—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter Elsie Janis.
American actor Gary Cooper started his career in 1925 as a film extra and stuntman. He made his official cinematic debut in 1926 in the Samuel Goldwyn production The Winning of Barbara Worth. He went on to become a contract player with Paramount Pictures where he established himself as a popular leading man prior to the end of the silent film era.
Interference is a 1928 American pre-Code drama film directed by Lothar Mendes, as Paramount Pictures' first feature-length all-talking motion picture. It stars Clive Brook, William Powell, Evelyn Brent, and Doris Kenyon, all making their sound film debuts. In England, when a first husband turns out not to be dead, blackmail leads to murder.
Beau Ideal is a 1931 American pre-Code adventure film directed by Herbert Brenon and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was based on the 1927 adventure novel Beau Ideal by P. C. Wren, the third novel in a series of five novels based around the same characters. Brenon had directed the first in the series, Beau Geste, which was a very successful silent film in 1926. The screenplay was adapted from Wren's novel by Paul Schofield, who had also written the screenplay for the 1926 Beau Geste, with contributions from Elizabeth Meehan and Marie Halvey.
The Shopworn Angel is a 1928 American part-talking sound romantic drama film directed by Richard Wallace starring Nancy Carroll and Gary Cooper. The film was released by Paramount Pictures using the Western Electric sound-on-film system. Like the majority of films in the early sound era, a silent version was made for theatres who hadn't converted to sound yet by trimming down the portions of the film that featured talking or singing.
Beau Ideal is a 1927 novel by P. C. Wren. It was the second sequel to his 1924 novel Beau Geste.
Beau Sabreur is a 1926 novel by P. C. Wren. It was the first sequel to his 1924 novel Beau Geste and was turned into a film in 1928.
Peer Gynt is a surviving 1915 American fantasy silent film directed by Oscar Apfel and Raoul Walsh and adapted from the Henrik Ibsen play by Oscar Apfel. The film stars Cyril Maude, Myrtle Stedman, Fanny Stockbridge, Mary Reubens, Mary Ruby and Winifred Bryson. The film was released on September 16, 1915, by Paramount Pictures.
The Sunset Legion is a lost 1928 American silent Western film directed by Lloyd Ingraham and Alfred L. Werker, written by Garrett Graham and Frances Marion, and starring Fred Thomson, Edna Murphy, William Courtright, and Harry Woods. It was released on April 21, 1928, by Paramount Pictures.
The Foreign Legion is a 1928 American silent adventure film directed by Edward Sloman and starring Norman Kerry, Lewis Stone, and Mary Nolan. The film is based on the 1913 novel The Red Mirage by I.A.R. Wylie. It was one of several Foreign Legion-themed films produced in the wake of the successful 1926 film Beau Geste. The production cost around $250,000, but was the subject of diplomatic protests from French authorities due to its depiction of brutality.
