Gary Cooper was an American actor known for his natural, authentic, and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, as well as receiving an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements in 1961. 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 No. 11 on its list of the 25 greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Cooper’s career spanned 36 years, from 1925 to 1961, and included leading roles in 84 feature films. He was a big movie star from the end of the silent film era through to the end of the golden age of Classical Hollywood.
Here are the few best movies of Gary Cooper:
1. High Noon (1952)
Cooper plays a newlywed town marshal whose sense of honor compels to face a gang despite his wife’s pacifism. The townspeople refuse to help Kane, forcing him to confront the killers alone. The film takes place close to real-time, adding to the sense of urgency.
2. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936)
Cooper’s Mr. Deeds inherits $20 million during the Great Depression. His benefactor’s attorney schemes to get the fortune for himself by having Deeds mentally incompetent. A reporter who gets her way into Deeds’ life indirectly helps the attorney by publishing several articles mocking Mr. Deeds.
3. Ball of Fire (1941)
Ball of Fire is a comedy directed by Howard Hawks and written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. It stars Cooper as a professor researching American slang for an encyclopedia. He enlists the help of a nightclub performer played by Barbara Stanwyck and eventually falls in love with her.
4. Seargent York (1941)
Sergeant York is one of Cooper’s many screen appearances as a real-life American hero. He plays World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York. The film covers his time in World War I, beginning with his religious awakening in 1916 and including his time in boot camp and his famous bravery during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
5. Meet John Doe (1941)
Cooper plays the titular character, a man who is paid by a newspaper columnist to perform as the John Doe she writes about in a newspaper column. John Doe’s philosophy starts as a political movement that has consequences when the story comes out.
