Gary Cooper was an American actor known for his strong, quiet 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 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
Skippy is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film about the scrappy boy portrayed in the popular comic strip and novel Skippy by Percy Crosby. The screenplay was by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Don Marquis, Norman Z. McLeod, and Sam Mintz.
The Champ is a 1931 American pre-Code film starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper and directed by King Vidor from a screenplay by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock. The picture tells the story of a washed-up alcoholic boxer (Beery) attempting to put his life back together for the sake of his young son (Cooper).
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens, then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a 1904 West End "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland.
Lionel Belmore was an English character actor and director on stage for more than a quarter of a century.
Beryl Mercer was a Spanish-born American actress of stage and screen who was based in the United States.
A Farewell to Arms is a 1932 American pre-Code romance drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper, and Adolphe Menjou. Based on the 1929 semi-autobiographical novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, with a screenplay by Oliver H. P. Garrett and Benjamin Glazer, the film is about a tragic romantic love affair between an American ambulance driver and an English nurse in Italy during World War I. The film received Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound, and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Art Direction.
The Little Minister is a 1934 American historical drama film starring Katharine Hepburn and directed by Richard Wallace. The screenplay by Jane Murfin, Sarah Y. Mason, and Victor Heerman is based on the 1891 novel and subsequent 1897 play of the same title by J.M. Barrie. The picture was the fifth film adaptation of the works, following four silent film versions. The original novel was the third of the three "Thrums" novels, which first brought Barrie to fame.
Outward Bound is a 1923 play written by Sutton Vane.
The Legion of the Condemned is a 1928 American silent 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.
Jane Eyre is a 1934 American romantic drama film directed by Christy Cabanne, starring Virginia Bruce and Colin Clive. It is based on the 1847 novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and is the first adaptation to use sound.
Design for Living is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch from a screenplay by Ben Hecht, based on the 1932 play of the same name by Noël Coward. Starring Fredric March, Gary Cooper, and Miriam Hopkins, the film is about a woman who cannot decide between two men who love her, and the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.
The Old Lady Shows Her Medals is a play by J. M. Barrie. It was first published in his collection Echoes of the War in 1918, which also included the stories The New Word, Barbara's Wedding and A Well-Remembered Voice. It is set on the home front of World War I.
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.
Born to Love is a 1931 American pre-Code melodrama film, directed by Paul L. Stein from an original screenplay by Ernest Pascal. It starred Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea and Paul Cavanagh in a lovers' triangle set in London during World War I. It was only the second film produced by RKO Pathé after the merger of the two studios, and according to RKO records, it made a profit of $90,000.
Bab's Burglar was a 1917 American silent romantic comedy film directed by J. Searle Dawley and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film followed Bab's Diary, released on October 17, 1917, and was the second in the trilogy of Babs films that starred Marguerite Clark.
The Texan is a 1930 American Western film directed by John Cromwell and starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray. Based on the short story "The Double-Dyed Deceiver" by O. Henry, the film is about a daring bandit called the Llano Kid who shoots a young gambler in self-defense and is forced to hide from the law. He is helped by a corrupt lawyer who involves the bandit in a scheme to swindle a Mexican aristocrat whose son turns out to be the young gambler killed by the Llano Kid. The screenplay was written by Daniel Nathan Rubin, and the story was adapted for the screen by Oliver H.P. Garrett and Victor Milner. Produced by Hector Turnbull for Paramount Pictures, The Texan was released in the United States on May 10, 1930. The film received positive reviews upon its theatrical release.
Doomsday is a 1928 American romance drama silent film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Florence Vidor and Gary Cooper. Written by Julian Johnson, Donald W. Lee, and Doris Anderson, based on the 1927 novel Doomsday by Warwick Deeping, the film is about a woman who marries a wealthy landowner to escape her life of poverty, leaving behind the handsome farmer she truly loves. Produced by Jesse L. Lasky, Rowland V. Lee, Hector Turnbull, and Adolph Zukor for Paramount Pictures, Doomsday was released on February 18, 1928 in the United States.
Alias French Gertie is an American pre-Code crime film directed by George Archainbaud from a screenplay by Wallace Smith, based upon the unproduced play The Chatterbox by Bayard Veiller. The film stars Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, who were making their first on-screen appearance together. A copy of this film survives in the Library of Congress.
Daisy Belmore was an English stage and film actress. Born in England, Belmore moved to the United States in 1910 where she settled, achieving citizenship in 1939 and fame as a leading stage actress, as well as on film. Her career started at the age of 8 and following a break to complete her education, she returned to stage aged 15, touring the world with the Wilson Barrett company to countries including America, Australia and India. Her godmother was Ellen Terry, who was among the most famous actresses of her time.
