From May 9 through 11, join the Southampton Playhouse for a special weekend celebrating two-time Academy Award-winning screen legend Gary Cooper and his lasting connection to Southampton, where he spent cherished time and now rests at Southampton Cemetery.
The Southampton Playhouse presents the first “Gary Cooper Festival,” featuring screenings of Cooper’s iconic performances in “The Pride of the Yankees” (1942), “Ball of Fire” (1941) and “High Noon” (1952).
The festival also will feature a conversation with Maria Cooper Janis, Gary Cooper’s daughter, accompanied by a signing of her book “Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers,” and a post-screening book signing and talk with Richard Sandomir, author of “The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic.”
The actor spent his summers with his family in Southampton and was often spotted at the Playhouse. After his death in 1961, he was laid to rest at the Southampton Cemetery a few minutes from the theater. In the years since, his legacy has grown more impactful, as individual films provide snapshots of American identity during pivotal moments.
“Cooper’s filmography provides a template, not only for first-rate screen acting, but the enduring power of the movies themselves,” said Eric Kohn, the Playhouse’s artistic director. “Cinema is a portal to learn more about the world around us, and Gary Cooper’s rich filmography will provide us with an annual opportunity to benefit from the rich themes at the root of his work.”
The “Gary Cooper Festival” takes place on the actor’s birthday week, celebrating Cooper’s history in Southampton and the lasting value of his artistry. Each screening will provide a starting point for conversations as family and experts on Cooper’s work share details about his life and discuss the themes at the root of his career.
Southampton Playhouse is at 43 Hill Street in Southampton. For tickets, visit southamptonplayhouse.com.
“The Pride of the Yankees” (1942), Directed by Sam Wood — Screening: Sunday, May 11, at 3 and 6:30 p.m.
“Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” So said baseball legend Lou Gherig in his farewell speech from Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939. Three years later, that speech would provide the tear-jerking culmination of The Pride of the Yankees, with Cooper giving one of his most treasured performances as the famed player just one year after his death from the disease that would soon bear his name.
More than a tribute to Gherig’s heartbreaking story, though, Pride of the Yankees is a celebration of the energy and excitement at the center of the ultimate great American pastime. Featuring Babe Ruth and several other real-life Yankee legends as themselves, director Sam Wood’s heartfelt story doubles as a document of baseball culture in all of its intricacies, from rookie season hazing rituals to Gherig’s rousing home-run sensations. Teresa Wright’s poignant performance as Gherig’s lifelong love, Eleanor Twitchell Gherig, adds additional depth to a movie rich with affection for its subject and the legacy of his impact that lasts to this day.
The 3 p.m. screening will be followed by a conversation with New York Times journalist Richard Sandomir, author of “The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic.”
“Ball of Fire” (1941), Directed by Howard Hawks — Friday, May 9, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 11, at Noon
Barbara Stanwyck delivers a domineering performance in Howard Hawks’ delectable romcom, but Cooper provides the innocent sounding board for her screwball antics. A loose (very loose!) adaptation of “Snow White,” the movie follows Stanwyck’s memorably-named Sugarpuss O’Shea, a cabaret singer who seeks refuge with the mob on her tail. She finds it with a group of geeky professors working on a sprawling encyclopedia project, with Cooper’s Professor Bertram researching American slang.
While Sugarpuss brings some spice to the professors’ existence, Bertram’s brainy, good-natured ways ultimately rub off on the troublemaking performer and lead her to rethink her old life. Cooper’s performance as sweet, lovable bookworm is among his most endearing turns.
“High Noon” (1952), Directed by Fred Zinnemann — Saturday, May 10, at Noon and 3 p.m. Book Signing Between Screenings at 2 p.m.
Fred Zinnemann’s taut Western is allegorical storytelling at its finest. Cooper’s Oscar-winning performance, which doubled as an indictment of the Hollywood blacklist, stands alongside more contemporary action stars as a truly electrifying big-screen achievement.
Marshal Will Kane is on the verge of retirement when he learns that the murderous outlaw he put in prison will return to town on the noon train. Shrugging off his wife’s insistence that they get out of town, the marshal insists he must confront his foe, but struggles to wind up a posse willing to help out. The result is a riveting one-man-army showdown that doubles as a powerful statement on the need for collective action against adversarial forces. Set to Tex Ritter’s country ballad (“You have forsaken me, oh my darling…), “High Noon” transforms Western tropes into a treatise on the nature of American identity itself. As a result, it helped usher in a new chapter for the genre that revitalized its appeal. Cooper maintained a close friendship with Zinnemann throughout their lives, and this vital work is a clear reflection of that bond.
Both screenings will feature a talk by Cooper’s daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, along with a signing of her book “Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers.”
Staff Writer on May 2, 2025