Cute romantic comedy about a bored young rich woman who poses as a maid, meets a rugged cowboy, gets married, and then must reveal to the cowboy who she really is. Complicating this already complicated scenario is the fact that she's the daughter of a presidential candidate who's on the cusp of getting the nomination from his party and doesn't want anything, like bad press, to interfere.
I always like Gary Cooper more when he's doing comedy than when he's doing drama, as I think he was somewhat limited as an actor and can't always pull off dramatic roles. But he's extremely engaging here. I haven't seen Merle Oberon in that much, but she's adorable in this, and she and Cooper have a lot of chemistry together. Recognizable character actors like Walter Brennan, Patsy Kelly, and Harry Davenport provide much of the film's comedy.
"The Cowboy and the Lady" is one of those Depression-era movies about how bad a job American politicians are doing looking out for the interests of everyday working Americans, and about how politics is just a lot of rich fat cats looking out for one another. Which sadly makes it pretty relevant today.
Winner of the 1938 Academy Award for Best Sound Recording (puzzling) and nominated for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, for the title song "The Cowboy and the Lady," though I had to look the song up on YouTube to hear it, because it's not featured prominently in the film.
Grade: B+
I always like Gary Cooper more when he's doing comedy than when he's doing drama, as I think he was somewhat limited as an actor and can't always pull off dramatic roles. But he's extremely engaging here. I haven't seen Merle Oberon in that much, but she's adorable in this, and she and Cooper have a lot of chemistry together. Recognizable character actors like Walter Brennan, Patsy Kelly, and Harry Davenport provide much of the film's comedy.
"The Cowboy and the Lady" is one of those Depression-era movies about how bad a job American politicians are doing looking out for the interests of everyday working Americans, and about how politics is just a lot of rich fat cats looking out for one another. Which sadly makes it pretty relevant today.
Winner of the 1938 Academy Award for Best Sound Recording (puzzling) and nominated for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, for the title song "The Cowboy and the Lady," though I had to look the song up on YouTube to hear it, because it's not featured prominently in the film.
Grade: B+