Gary Cooper Off Camera

Rating:
Summary: An Appealing Memoir
Review: Smack in the middle of these cynical, jaded times comes this warm and appealing memoir by Maria Cooer Janis of her father, acting legend Gary Cooper. How wonderful! Maria Cooper Janis's open love for her father is there for all to see on every page. This alone makes the book worth owning. We've come to expect the negative, the cynical, in books of this type. But Ms. Janis has put together an extened love letter to her father and mother. And good for her!

Rating:
Summary: Daddy's Girl
Review: The cover photograph, of Gary Cooper spoon-feeding ice-cream to his daughter on the streets of "Hadleyville," is a poignant clue to what follows. Maria Cooper was a girl who lived a very rarified life, and she lets us take a delicious peek at it.


Rating:
Summary: A Warm, Loving Bouquet From Daughter to Father
Review: This warm and loving tribute from Maria Cooper Janis to her father, screen legend Gary Cooper, is a delicious book. Filled with fabulous photographs of "Coop" off camera, out of the public eye, Maria Janis reveals the man behind the legend. For all Cooper's well-documented affairs with women throughout his life, this book reveals that he was nonetheless a devoted and caring family man. Some of the photos of Cooper, wife Rocky and daughter Maria are quite moving. As is the written memoir from Maria herself. It is indeed refreshing to see a daughter extolling her celebrity parent rather thna trashing.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Pictures Captures Public Image
Review: Well, let me start with what beautiful tribute this book is to her father. Maria Cooper's book is beautiful, but too many of the pictures look posed (Hollywood style). And the pictures that are actually not posed say more in body language about a family that clearly protects the Cooper family image. These people are beautiful, but they are too perfect: clothes, hair, makeup, you know it's all there. One picture I found fascinating, is of the three of them on a beach facing the ocean. Maria and her mom on the left, and further away is Gary Cooper and his body language is quite clear. Hmmm, that definitely was a candid shot. And if anyone is really looking, the beautiful Maria seems to be the glue that kept that family together. There is a gorgeous shot of the three of them in their ski clothes in an old house. Rocky with little makeup is quite beautiful, but Maria and her Dad are the ones in sync in this picture. I don't know, but these pictures show a definite strain in the family relationship far more than I ever realized. With friends, the pictures are happier. I am a fan of Gary Cooper's and always will be. And the fact, that he adored his beloved daughter and she adored him is clearly seen in this book. Maria Cooper shows us a Gary Cooper I have already seen in other pictures other people have taken of him. There really isn't a lot of hugging, and touching, and birthday parties, water fights, and family occasions, events, like most people and other stars have of their lives while children are growing up. I would love to have seen a picture of Mr. Cooper in his overalls in his garden (he was an avid gardener), teaching Maria to do things, showing her how to ride a horse, acting goofy.. Maria Cooper is quite lovely, and this book is wonderful to look at, but I don't really feel anything but a little sadness that she didn't show us more candid and "real" photographs about of her Dad and the family. There was a great deal more to this man than meets the eye. I didn't get too much of a glimpse into that.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Pictures Captures Public Image
Review: Well, let me start with what beautiful tribute this book is to her father. Maria Cooper's book is beautiful, but too many of the pictures look posed (Hollywood style). And the pictures that are actually not posed say more in body language about a family that clearly protects the Cooper family image. These people are beautiful, but they are too perfect: clothes, hair, makeup, you know it's all there. One picture I found fascinating, is of the three of them on a beach facing the ocean. Maria and her mom on the left, and further away is Gary Cooper and his body language is quite clear. Hmmm, that definitely was a candid shot. And if anyone is really looking, the beautiful Maria seems to be the glue that kept that family together. There is a gorgeous shot of the three of them in their ski clothes in an old house. Rocky with little makeup is quite beautiful, but Maria and her Dad are the ones in sync in this picture. I don't know, but these pictures show a definite strain in the family relationship far more than I ever realized. With friends, the pictures are happier. I am a fan of Gary Cooper's and always will be. And the fact, that he adored his beloved daughter and she adored him is clearly seen in this book. Maria Cooper shows us a Gary Cooper I have already seen in other pictures other people have taken of him. There really isn't a lot of hugging, and touching, and birthday parties, water fights, and family occasions, events, like most people and other stars have of their lives while children are growing up. I would love to have seen a picture of Mr. Cooper in his overalls in his garden (he was an avid gardener), teaching Maria to do things, showing her how to ride a horse, acting goofy.. Maria Cooper is quite lovely, and this book is wonderful to look at, but I don't really feel anything but a little sadness that she didn't show us more candid and "real" photographs about of her Dad and the family. There was a great deal more to this man than meets the eye. I didn't get too much of a glimpse into that.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Refreshing Pictorial Memoir
Review: What a delightful, refreshing book! Imagine, a book by the child of a celebrity which actually extols the father. Maria Janis, daughter of Gary Cooper, one of the half-dozen greatest film stars of the century, has put together a photographic tribute to Gary Cooper, father, husband and private citizen. And what a tribute! Extraordinary photographs, showing the human being behind the celebrity icon. This is a beautiful book.