Previous posts have discussed Johnny Cash’s new album, Out Among the Stars, a collection of twelve previously unreleased tracks found by Cash’s son John Carter Cash. Johnny Cash recorded the songs on the new album during sessions in 1981 and 1984. Now, there is an animated lyrics video for the title track.
“Out Among the Stars” tells the story of a kid who robs a Texas liquor store. The robbery leads to a confrontation with police, and the boy’s father watches the news on television.
What do you think of Johnny Cash’s “new” song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On May 7, 1901, Frank James Cooper was born in Helena, Montana. After some work as a salesman and promoter, he started working as an actor in 1925, changing his first name to Gary when he signed a contract with Paramount. Reportedly, a casting director suggested the new name after her tough hometown of Gary, Indiana.
Gary Cooper went on to star in many memorable films including Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Pride of the Yankees (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), and The Fountainhead (1949). Cooper was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar and lost for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Pride of the Yankees, and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Cooper’s First Best Actor Oscar
He received the Best Actor Oscar twice. First, he won the honor in 1942 for Sergeant York (1941).
Sergeant York features a terrific performance, even if some note that Hollywood may have been motivated to honor the World War I film about a pacifist becoming a soldier to encourage Americans to sign up to fight in the new war. Below is the trailer.
Cooper’s Second Oscar & The Meaning of High Noon
More than a decade later, he won the Best Actor Oscar for High Noon (1952), the last time he was nominated for Best Actor. It is hard to pick a favorite Gary Cooper movie, but I am not sure anything tops High Noon (1952).
We liked Cooper as a hero.
At the 25th Academy Awards in 1953, Cooper was filming another movie in Mexico and was ill. So, John Wayne accepted the award for him.
Below, actress Janet Gaynor announces Cooper’s win, and Wayne accepts the statue.
Interestingly despite Wayne’s joke wondering why he did not get the High Noon role, Wayne reportedly did not like the movie. There are various theories about why, but Garry Wills in John Wayne’s America explained that Wayne thought the movie ended on a note of disrespect for the law when Cooper dropped his badge in the dirt at the end. Finally, it has been commonly reported that Wayne and director Howard Hawks made Rio Bravo (1959), about an American community coming together to fight evil, as a direct response to portrayal of a town abandoning the sheriff in High Noon. (I still question the extent the Duke originally disliked High Noon when I watch Wayne accept the Oscar for Cooper.)
Like Wayne, a number of people found political messages in High Noon. Some suspected High Noon had a “leftist” message. By contrast, though, others believed the script, written by Carl Foreman, who would later be blacklisted, was not sending a left-wing message but exploring the way people had cowered to the bully Sen. Joe McCarthy.
Other viewers find in High Noon a conservative message about how one man has to stand up when the justice system breaks down. Or they find an allegory about the Cold War. In Bright Lights Film Journal, Prof. Manfred Weidhorn summed up the contrasting theories about the movie, saying “High Noon, bristling with ambiguity, is a veritable Rorschach test.”
But High Noon is deep down a great movie, however you want to interpret any messages about the man (and his wife) standing up to the bad guys. As hard as it is to see for modern viewers, High Noonrevolutionized the Western at the time, replacing the traditional black-and-white morality and masculinity with a conflicted lead character. And maybe the possibility of so many interpretations adds to its American character.
Many years ago when I was in college in the pre-Internet days and had some friends visiting from Sweden, I took them to a revival theater to see High Noon. I thought it was a wonderful example of an American movie, or at least of an example regarding how Americans see themselves.
Another former actor, Ronald Reagan, recognized how the movie remained in America’s consciousness decades later. He invokes the movie in this clip, discussing what it was like for a Republican to be in Democratic territory.
What makes the movie so memorable and impactful on American culture and movies? Well, a lot of that had to do with Cooper’s ability as an actor to show vulnerability and strength at the same time.
Cooper’s Third Oscar
Nearly a decade after High Noon, Cooper would be awarded a third and final Oscar. In April 1961, the Academy gave Cooper a Lifetime Achievement Oscar for his great career.
Cooper again could not accept the award. But this time, unknown to many, it was because of a serious illness.
When viewers saw Cooper’s friend Jimmy Stewart give an emotional speech at the Oscars, though, they realized Cooper was not well. The news soon came out that Cooper was suffering from prostate cancer. He died one month later on May 13, 1961, leaving behind a collection of great films that would be the envy of any actor.
The Library and Archives Canada and the Dawson City Museum in Yukon, Canada has made available newly discovered film of the famous 1919 World Series. As featured in Eight Men Out (1988), many of the White Sox players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, were banned from baseball for allegedly throwing the series to the Cincinnati Reds.
The more than four minutes of baseball footage is probably the best quality video of the most infamous World Series in baseball history. British Canadian Pathé News filmed the scenes, and the film was stored in an old swimming pool-hockey rink before being found again in the Canadian archive in January.
The segment includes scenes from the first and third games of the series (starting with some clips of the third game). Among the scenes, at around the 3:06 mark there is a short clip of what legend reports as a bungled double-play ball by Swede Risberg after Eddie Cicotte made a great play in stopping the ball. For more descriptions of what is on the film, check out the story from the Society for American Baseball Research. To watch the film, check it out below.
Thanks to Sonja for telling me about the fascinating video.
Do you think the White Sox players should have been banned forever? Leave your two cents in the comments.
CollegeHumor has released a video of tryouts for the Cantina Band from Star Wars. The segment takes place on the actual Star Wars cantina set thanks to Disney and Lucasfilm.
The video features Chris Daughtry, Ben Folds, Liz Phair, Reggie Watts, Mark McGrath, Jordin Sparks, Rick Springfield, Weird Al Yankovic, Lisa Loeb, and mc chris. And everyone’s favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett makes an appearance too. Make sure to look closely at Lisa Loeb’s famous glasses. Check it out.
If the video leaves you wanting more, CollegeHumor has some bonus footage on its website. Who would you like to see in the Star Wars Cantina Band? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Chimesfreedom has discussed country singer Marty Brown’s 1990’s career and post-success struggles, and we have been following his new successes aided by his appearances on America’s Got Talent. Most recent interviews have focused on his new music and new career, but Marty Brown recently took the opportunity to reflect on his early struggles as a young artist.
In this video, he sits on a brick wall in an alley in Nashville. And he explains how when he went to Nashville from Kentucky as a young man, he used to sleep in that alley next to the wall. Near the end (around the 9:30 mark) he sings a little of his song, “I’m From the Country.” Check it out.
While we have written a lot about Brown’s vast and under-appreciated talents, his stories in the video provide some insight into how hard he has worked to get to where he is today.
explained that Wayne thought the movie ended on a note of disrespect for the law when Cooper dropped his badge in the dirt at the end. Finally, it has been 
(1988), many of the White Sox players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, were banned from baseball for allegedly throwing the series to the Cincinnati Reds.
