Celebrate a Local Legend at the First Annual Gary Cooper Festival

Heartthrob. Gunslinger. Athletic iconic. Gary Cooper’s Hollywood stardom took many forms, spanning from the end of the silent era all the way through postwar America. Unlike other major screen figures of his generation, Cooper’s work was so far-reaching that, decades after his death, it defies simple categorization. Yet one chapter of his life remains clear: Cooper was a Southampton legend.

The actor spent his summers with his family and was often spotted at the Playhouse. After his death in 1961, he was laid to rest at the Southampton Cemetery a few minutes from our doors. In the years since then, his legacy has only grown more powerful, as individual films provide snapshots of American identity during pivotal moments of its existence. In many ways, Cooper’s filmography provide a template not only for first-rate screen acting, but the enduring power of the movies themselves.

The first annual Gary Cooper Festival takes place on the actor’s birthday week, celebrating Cooper’s history in Southampton and the lasting value of his work today. Each screening will provide a starting point for conversations and audience interactivity. We will be joined by family and experts on Cooper’s work to learn more about his life and discuss the lasting themes at the root of his work.

Ball of Fire

Barbara Stanwyck delivers a domineering performance in Howard Hawks’ delectable romcom, but Cooper provides the innocent sounding board for her screwball antics. A loose (very loose!) adaptation of Snow White, the movie follows Stanwyck’s memorably-named Sugarpuss O’Shea, a cabaret singer who seeks refuge with the mob on her tail. She finds it with a group of geeky professors working on a sprawling encyclopedia project, with Cooper’s Professor Bertram researching American slang.

While Sugarpuss brings some spice to the professors’ existence, Bertram’s brainy, good-natured ways ultimately rub off on the troublemaking performer and lead her to rethink her old life. Cooper’s performance as sweet, lovable bookworm is among his most endearing turns.

Friday, May 9

7pm

High Noon

Fred Zinnemann’s taut Western is allegorical storytelling at its finest. Cooper’s Oscar-winning performance, which doubled as an indictment of the Hollywood blacklist, stands alongside more contemporary action stars as a truly electrifying big-screen achievement.

Marshal Will Kane is on the verge of retirement when he learns that the murderous outlaw he put in prison will return to town on the noon train. Shrugging off his wife’s insistence that they get out of town, the marshal insists he must confront his foe, but struggles to wind up a posse willing to help out. The result is a riveting one-man-army showdown that doubles as a powerful statement on the need for collective action against adversarial forces. Set to Tex Ritter’s infectious country ballad (“You have forsaken me, oh my darling…), High Noon transforms Western tropes into a treatise on the nature of American identity itself. As a result, it helped usher in a new chapter for the genre that revitalized its appeal. Cooper maintained a close friendship with Zinneman throughout their lives, and this vital work is a clear reflection of that bond. Both screenings will feature a talk by Cooper’s daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, along with a signing of her book Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers.

Saturday, May 10

12pm, 3pm

The Pride of the Yankees

“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” So said baseball legend Lou Gherig in his farewell speech from Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939. Three years later, that speech would provide the tearjerking culmination of The Pride of the Yankees, with Cooper giving one of his most treasured performances as the famed player just one year after his death from the disease that would soon bear his name.

More than a tribute to Gherig’s heartbreaking story, though, Pride of the Yankees is a celebration of the energy and excitement at the center of the ultimate great American pastime. Featuring Babe Ruth and several other real-life Yankee legends as themselves, director Sam Wood’s heartfelt story doubles as a document of baseball culture in all of its intricacies, from rookie season hazing rituals to Gherig’s rousing home-run sensations. Teresa Wright’s poignant performance as Gherig’s lifelong love, Eleanor Twitchell Gherig, adds additional depth to a movie rich with affection for its subject and the legacy of his impact that lasts to this day.

Saturday’s screening will be followed by a conversation with New York Times journalist Richard Sandomir, author of The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic.

Sunday, May 11

3pm, 6:30pm