Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Merle Oberon, Patsy Kelly, Walter Brennan, Fuzzy Knight
Release Year: 1938
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
After an eccentric young woman (Merle Oberon) is left on her father's estate to keep her from spoiling his Presidential bid, she attends a rodeo and falls in love with a cowboy (Gary Cooper). They marry soon after, and must confront the furious father. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
Review
A middling little comedy Western, The Cowboy and the Lady is probably more well known for how it came to be -- Leo McCarey's performance during a pitch story was so convincing and entertaining that it was only after the property was bought that producer Samuel Goldwyn realized he had purchased little more than a title. Certainly, it's not because it's a great movie. As a matter of fact, the clumsy, often unbelievable screenplay reveals its slapdash origins and the fact that scads of writers tried their hand at making McCarey's pitch into something filmable. But despite their best efforts, the screenplay is flat and predictable, with bits and pieces lifted shamelessly from other, better pictures. Gary Cooper's big "you're all snobs" monologue is positively painful; it shows what happens when someone tries to write a Frank Capra-styled "all men are equal" speech without Capra's conviction -- and without setting it up properly. Fortunately, Cowboy has Cooper and the incredibly lovely Merle Oberon on hand. They're not turning in their greatest performances, but they work well together and their star-power carries the film over its many weak parts. They get fine assistance from the likes of Patsy Kelly, Walter Brennan, and especially Harry Davenport, but it's the stars that manage to give The Cowboy and the Lady some luster. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
James Basevi - Art Director, Richard Day - Art Director, Omar Kiam - Costume Designer, Edmond F. Bernoudy - First Assistant Director, H.C. Potter - Director, Sherman Todd - Editor, Alfred Newman - Composer (Music Score), Lionel Newman - Composer (Music Score), L. Wolfe Gilbert - Songwriter, Lionel Newman - Songwriter, Arthur Quenzer - Songwriter, Gregg Toland - Cinematographer, Samuel Goldwyn - Producer, Julia Heron - Set Designer, Paul Neal - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank R. Adams - Screen Story, S.N. Behrmann - Screenwriter, Sonya Levien - Screenwriter
It won an Academy Award for Sound, Recording (Thomas Moulton) and was nominated for two others, Original Score (Alfred Newman) and Original Song ("The Cowboy and the Lady", Lionel Newman and Arthur Quenzer).
