Gary Cooper Movies

Want to know the best Gary Cooper movies?  How about the worst Gary Cooper movies?  Curious about Gary Cooper box office grosses or which Gary Cooper movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Gary Cooper movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Gary Cooper (1901–1961) was an American film actor who appeared in over 100 movies from 1923-1961. Unfortunately many of Cooper’s silent movies have been lost forever. So this page will only look at his movie career from his first “talkie” The Virginian (1929), to his last movie, The Naked Edge (1961) which was released a month after his death in 1961.  Just a few quick notes on Gary Cooper’s silent movie career. From 1923 to 1929, Cooper appeared in over 40 movies. Most of his roles, were either bit or uncredited parts. He did however appear in some very popular movies during this time period. He played a Roman guard in the original version of Ben-Hur (1925), he had one scene in the first movie to ever win the Oscar® for Best Picture….Wings (1927), and he was in the 1927 box office hit Children of Divorce.

In 1929, he became a major star with his first sound picture, The Virginian. He followed The Virginian with the blockbuster hit Morocco (1931), co-starring Marlene Dietrich in her first American film. Over the next thirty years, Cooper would appear in over 60 movies, earning 5 Oscar® nominations, two Oscar® wins (1941’s Sergeant York and 1952’s High Noon) and numerous blockbuster hits. Two of his movies, Sergeant York and 1943’s For Whom The Bell Tolls are still ranked in the Top 100 box office hits of all-time when you look at adjusted domestic box office numbers.

His IMDb page shows 118 acting credits from 1923-1961. This page will rank Gary Cooper movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and many of his silent movies were not included in the page.

Gary Cooper in 1952's High Noon.
Gary Cooper in 1952’s High Noon.

Gary Cooper Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Gary Cooper Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Gary Cooper movies by his co-stats
  • Sort Gary Cooper movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost.
  • Sort Gary Cooper movies by co-stars of yearly box office rank or trivia if rank not available
  • Sort Gary Cooper movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Gary Cooper movie received.
  • Sort Gary Cooper movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
 
Gary Cooper as Longfellow Deeds in 1936's Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
Gary Cooper as Longfellow Deeds in 1936’s Mr. Deeds Goes To Town

Possibly Interesting Facts About Gary Cooper

#1 After failing as an editorial cartoonist and a salesman of electronic signs in his early 20s, Gary Cooper moved from Montana to Los Angeles with his parents. His thinking on the move…”would rather starve where it was warm, than to starve and freeze too.”

#2 The American Film Institute named Gary Cooper as the 11th best male actor of the Classic Hollywood cinema period.

#3 Gary Cooper married Veronica “Rocky” Balfe in 1933. Despite being separated from between 1951 and 1954, she was with Cooper when he passed away in 1961. They had one daughter together, Maria Cooper. Here you go mom….personal information about him.

#4 Gary Cooper made four movies with legendary director Cecil B. DeMille. Those movies were The Plainsman(1936), North West Mounted Police (1940), The Story of Doctor Wassell (1944) and Unconquered (1947).

#5 During the filming of The Plainsman, Cecil B. DeMille wanted to fire a very young Mexican actor who was playing an indian. Gary Cooper talked DeMille out of firing the actor. The actor? Anthony Quinn who would go on to win two Oscars®.

#6 Cooper was the first choice for the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. When Cooper turned down the role, he was passionately against it. He is quoted as saying, “Gone With The Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I’m glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling flat on his nose, not me”

#7 Alfred Hitchcock wanted Gary Cooper to star in 1940’s Foreign Correspondent and 1942’s Sabotuer. Cooper later admitted he had made a “mistake” in turning down the director.

#8 Gary Cooper’s reputation as the “strong silent type” goes back to one of his first talking pictures, The Virginian, in which his character had little to say but definitely commanded the respect of those around him. The strong silent type/Gary Cooper was mentioned numerous times in the great HBO series The Sopranos.

#9 Cooper was given a Honorary Oscar® in April 1961, his close friend James Stewart, accepted the award on his behalf. Stewart’s emotional speech hinted that something was seriously wrong, and the next day newspapers ran the headline, “Gary Cooper has cancer.” One month later, on May 13, 1961, six days after his 60th birthday, Cooper died.

#10 Check out Gary Cooper‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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154 thoughts on “Gary Cooper Movies”

  1. what about the great alan ladd,dead at 50,robert shaw 51,bill holden 63,Richard boone 63,these guys were kinda cheated,primarily due to their great success .Richard burton left liz at 58

    Reply

    1. Hey Eugene…..I have done a page on William Holden….Robert Shaw and Alan Ladd would make good subjects. As would Burton….not thinking Boone as he got more fame from his tv show versus his many supporting parts he played…..thanks for the suggestions.

      Reply

  2. Bruce, on my forum I would get the occasional trolling post in my long-running thread but I didn’t have the means to hide or remove it. Luckily I was friendly with the management and they would dispose of it, but not before I responded with some carefully chosen expletives. 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hey Steve….well you talked me into it…at first I was going to let it stay…but I just deleted Chuck’s not so nice comment….I think that is only the third comment I have ever deleted….and the other two were links to ads that had nothing to do with my movie page….now all I have to do is go back and delete all the comments that rip my Movie Score system….lol.

      Reply

      1. well, some of my comments were spam and had nothing to do with the topic. What am I to do with a comment that talks about my choice of a photograph of a pen in a hub about an author. just leave it if it is one time. But when the person leaves ten of them? I leave comments up where the person disagrees with me. But trolls are a different mater.

        Reply

        1. Hey Flora….well the person that left the comment was not even a hubpage member…but I would have left the comment up but Steve’s comments got me to change my mind. I do not believe in censorship….so it was actually hard to delete the comment. I think one comment about a photo of pen should stay…ten seems to be nine too many.

          Reply

  3. Hey chuck…not sure I agree with you about him being a talentless idiot but he was a movie star…thanks for stopping by. ****Chuck’s not so nice comment was deleted.

    Reply

  4. Excellent. I’m almost fraid to add those million to get the final number. 🙂 In which pockets did they enter?

    I love his Depression-era characters.

    My question: are your box-office numbers for the US market only? I’m asking this because I live in a former communist country, and can tell you that his movies were very much appreciated and loved here, because of their decency and humanity.

    Reply

    1. Hey xxx….well I can look at my greatest actor table and tell you if you looked at his movies in what they would earn in 2011 dollars…..just over 9 billion…that is billion with a B….wow that is a lot of money.

      All the numbers in all my hubs are North America numbers only….I have yet to find a great source of worldwide box office information for any movie made before 1980…so I have to use the North America box office numbers for my formula.

      I think it is awesome that his stories could reach a former communist country…I never underestimate the power of movies…..I greatly appreciate you finding and commenting on my Gary Cooper page.

      Reply

      1. The thing is, his movies didn’t reach my former communist country post factum — I’m sorry if my English conveyed that impression. In truth, they were shown in my country at the same time they were shown, say, in France.

        This means, his movies, among others, kept the ideas flowing from West to East, in spite of the Iron Curtain falling over us, in the East.

        So my point was that his movies could be shown here because they were decent and humane, and devoided of the US’s most right-wing ideology.

        Thanks for your reply.

        Reply

        1. Hey xxx…thanks I understand your point….I think your English was perfect…I just misread what I thought you were saying…..but I am glad that his movies were able to reach you….thanks for checking back in…it is greatly appreciated.

          Reply

  5. I have seen 52 movies of Gary Cooper, and have all the DVDs. Saratoga Trunk, with Ingrid Bergman, is one underrated movie. My favorites:1) High Noon; 2) For whom the bells toll; 3) Meet John Doe; 4) Unconquered; 5) Beau Geste. But they are so many other movies

    Reply

    1. Hey Eric Lamy….52 movies is an impressive number….you are 100% correct Saratoga Trunk is very underrated…I feel I am a huge movie person…but I have no idea what the movie is about….and I have never seen the movie anywhere for sale or for rent. You have a very solid Top 5 for him…I have seen all of them except for Unconquered. I appreciate you checking out my Gary Cooper page.

      Reply

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