The Cowboy and the Lady

This film has about as far-fetched of a plot as you can find: a Presidential candidate's wily daughter goes on holiday, takes company with a brooding young cowboy and eventually marries him. Without a doubt, this film is a curio, but is still watchable for the performances of two of my favorite actors, Oscar-winner Gary Cooper and Oscar-nominee Merle Oberon. Won the Academy Award for Best Sound.

Definitely the most somber 30s rom com I can recall thanks to Greg Toland's camera which seems most at home in fog enshrouded Gulf steamers and shadowy, dark Palm Beaches of the mind. And since the film is not very funny, with endless variations on the tiresome Capra-esque trope of urban=bad while rural=good, you tend to remember the cinematography way too much. C plus.

The film opens with a dinner scene, where we learn that someone is running for office; cut to the two brothers Hannibal (Harry Davenport, always played the kindly uncle or judge) and Horace Smith (Henry Kolker), lamenting about the antics of Horace's daughter Mary ( Merle Oberon ). There's the setup of the movie, and being filmed in the prime of the Hayes Code, we know there will be comical, but innocent , simple, misunderstandings. Love the symbolism of Mary knocking over the "house of cards" she has built on the coffee table. Great scene where she talks about the rules of dating with the maids (the hilarious Patsy Kellly & Mabel Todd). Enter Gary Cooper as the polite cowboy "Stretch Willoughby". Say no more. Just watch for the ups and downs as sidekick Walter Brennan makes wisecracks to help the plot along, along with some slapstick physical comedy. Also check out the cast of thousands in the writer category, which includes greats Anita Loos, Dorothy Parker. Directed by Henry Potter, who would make THREE movies with Cary Grant! Fun, but probably would have been more hilarious if it had been filmed prior to the production code.

"The Cowboy and the Lady" starring Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon was written after Sam Goldwyn thought up the title - so it's the reverse of the usual process. It's a 1938 film about a wealthy, sheltered young woman (Oberon) whose father is about to announce his candidacy for President. One night, she slips out for a night of fun with her uncle (Harry Davenport). When her name is discovered on a list of people who were in attendance at a club during a raid, she is sent out of town so her father can say she wasn't in town at the time. Since her name is Mary Smith, it could easily be another person.

While on her vacation, Mary meets a tall, gorgeous hunk of man - a cowboy named Stretch Willoughby (Gary Cooper). As any red-blooded woman would do, she falls for him. It's young Gary Cooper. He's a hottie. To put them in the same class, she says she's a maid. Before she knows it, she's married to him.

The stars are very good in the film, as is Harry Davenport as the uncle with a twinkle in his eye. Cooper and Oberon are darling together - he's so tall and broad-shouldered and she's beautiful and petite, and they have a nice chemistry. When she first asks him about himself, Stretch answers with Cooper's famous "Yep" several times. Parts of the film are a little slow but it's a nice romance. I realize some people think it's a preposterous love story but I can see any woman, rich or poor, flipping out for Gary Cooper and any guy falling for Merle Oberon. They were, after all, two of Hollywood's great beauties.

Very enjoyable.

A thin comedy which has a few amusing moments but isn't as funny or charming as it clearly believes itself to be. Oberon looks stunning, which, after seeing her in The Divorce of Lady X, shows the importance of the cinematographer to a leading lady.