The Cowboy and the Lady

Boy, was Gary Cooper lovable in this one! All tall, handsome and bashful. And few can deny Merle Oberon's beauty. So we had the pretty people being cute with some fine comic support from a bunch of people like Harry Davenport, Walter Brennan and Patsy Kelly. This is a corny romance movie. It tries to be too. So a success. The movie is perhaps limited in conflict and it's almost too sweet..... but what a throw! Even I fell in love with Copper when he just tossed the beauty in the pool!

A fun light weight and light hearted fluff piece that falls apart a bit towards the end and the wrap up was a little too quick.

This should be called 'The Lady and the Cowboy' for it's Merle Oberon pursuing Gary Cooper and not the other way around. There is a lot to like about both their performances, in particular the physicality of Oberon's portrayal of Mary (she is very funny in parts). While Gary Cooper is, well, Gary Cooper. The scene in which Strech plays house is rather odd and drags on far too long, but the rest of the film is well paced and makes for a sufficiently entertaining story.

Everything intended to make this story cute & endearing amplifies its Atwoodian horror. It’s like the director thought The Hours was a romcom.