The Day Gary Cooper Liberated Poland
by Joe LimaFor some strange reason, the image of Gary Cooper on that famous Solidarity poster popped into my head today. So I Googled it and was surprised to see that today is in fact the twentieth anniversary of the elections, and the successful Solidarity candidacy in those elections, that the poster promoted. The poster is doubly iconic, both because of its historical significance and because the image of Cooper from 1952’s “High Noon” was already iconic when the poster was produced. If you haven’t seen “High Noon,” by the way, go see it. Right now. And shame on you.
This being that anniversary, it’s a good day to recollect how much passion, honor, and gritty philosophy went into those old Westerns, how much they can still teach us today, and how much good the American Western has done not just for America, but for the world: the image of Cooper walking alone down that dusty black and white street is a reminder that sometimes when you do good, you have to do it alone.
So God Bless all those brave Polish souls who twenty years ago dared to defy their communist overlords and do the right thing, setting in motion a chain of events that liberated millions, and will yet liberate millions more. And God Bless America, and God Bless Gary Cooper. And damn, what a great hat.
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32 Comments
"Liberty is not only a right, but also our common responsibility and duty."
– Lech Walesa
Tell that to the left.
With out liberty there is no freedom. Poland has a long history of both. It was fitting that when the Soviet Block would go, the first cracks showed up in Poland. And as for Gary Cooper and High Noon, one of the best Westerns ever made its one of the few movies I would stay up late at night to watch, the others are The Searchers, The Man who Shot Liberty Valance and Stalag 17. For some reason they don't make them like they use to. Then again they don't have the Actors like Cooper and Wayne either.
Joe Lima…telling it like it is…short, sweet, to the point.
I'm right with you, my friend…God bless the people of Poland and the United States of America.
And thanks for the very cool poster. Gary Cooper is perfection.
You know, maybe it's time to bring back that hat. It stands for so much that is good and right in America. The morals, the ideals, the gallantry, the chivalry, the will to actually fight for what is right. The code of the cowboy.
Wouldn't it be nice if, when you saw a man wearing that hat, you knew he was one of the good guys? He'd lift his hat when he passed by any woman and say, with a smile, "Good day ma'am". He'd say please and thank you, often, and mean it everytime. He'd keep his word because his word was the mark of his character. And you'd know his word was always good. Better than a contract. He'd come to the aid of his neighbor simply because it was the right thing to do. I wonder where I can get a hat like that? I'm sure it wouldn't fit right off the bat but maybe I could grow into it.
I was watching an old episode of CHEYENNE on the Encore Western channel the other night. Clint Walker as Cheyenne Bodie pulled out a Bible from his belongings and told a boy he read "all of it." Those were the values you used to see in TV protagonists. Can't imagine Jack Bauer quoting scripture. Thanks Joe for the article
And guess which President is now leaving Poland to face their own High Noon against Russia? No, it is not any of the past presidents, still need a hint?
When and how did the hat go out of style exactly? I'm only 26 so the "hat age" can seem like ancient history to someone like me. But it's something I always notice in the old movies.
Wonderful poster. If only they hadn't airbrushed out Coop's pistol …
[...] The Day Gary Cooper Liberated Poland by Joe Lima [...]
They had to airbrush the gun otherwise Russians will shoot them dead for suggesting to the voters they can pick up arms against them.
Thank you for this welcome reminder that we once had self-worth – and were viewed by foreigners as a chance for real hope.
I love that movie. I suspect liberals don't though. I love how his pacifist wife takes a stand finally and shoots the bad guy. As someone who is 38% Polish, I love the story of the Poles. Long the brunt of jokes, they were were the first to stand up to the Soviets and win. My employee's dad is a refugee from communist Poland. He gets it. He has no desire to see this country go down the road of the left. Great to find that poster. I think I need it for my office.
I was a refugee from Communist Poland, albeit 2 years old at the time. My father wrote for an underground newspaper promoting free market ideas, while my uncle was the vice president for Solidarity in the Silesia region. Needless to say, the commies found out who my dad was, he went to prison, then with the help of Pope John Paul II, and with America's open arms, we came to the US. This was 1984. My father was no longer a Polish citizen during the 1989 elections, however, with the fall of the reds in Poland, he has since regained his citizenship. I find it admirable people remember the plight of us humble Polaks.
I was a roadie for a rock band touring Europe in '83. I had one of those Solidarnosc tees, and it was like a magnet whenever I wore it. Polish women, especially, would walk up and start to speak Polish to me. I developed a standard line, "Forgive me, but I'm an American." It worked!
One time, I was wearing it in Stockholm. I was reading something in a square in the old historic area of town, and this Polish girl came up to me, very excited, and rattled off about a million words in four or five seconds. I used the line, and she first put her fists on her hips in disbelief – mouth agape – and then doubled over in uncontrollable laughter. That ended up being a very, very good day.
Well, it WAS election day, after all. It's when you can't use ballots that you need to bring out the bullets!
A shirt like that along with Reagan Revolution Ts are the anthesis of those stupid "Che" shirts.
JFK has sometimes been credited with killing the hat; he didn't wear one and thus millions of American men followed suit.
A lot of conservatives have actually decried High Noon for many reasons over the years, among then for being an allegory of the Blacklist/McCarthyism, and hating the idea that the town would abandon the sheriff so completely. I suspect a lot of liberals love it for those same exact reasons, but most people love it just because it's such a brilliant movie. John Wayne hated it with a passion, though, and he and Howard Hawks made "Rio Bravo" as a response, where the sheriff is aided by a lovable band of misfits.
With President Reagan looming large, I think of this poster as a way to evoke Reagan and all he stood for. What character does Pres 0bama evoke to the Polish today? Caledon 'Cal' Hockley, aka Billy Zane character in Titanic, maybe.
It's strange how these movies that the Left calls "jingoistic" actually elicit admiration in other parts of the world.
Damn shame in my opinion. I like hats. These days, wearing anything fancier than a knit toque or a baseball cap gets you weird looks.
I had a Polish friend in college. Just hearing her speak was enough to send my heart rate up.
Thank God for the bravery of the Poles then and now!
It depends. Newsboy caps, Kangols & those little fedoras some guys are wearing are very much still legitimate (casual) accessories, and a lot of women still sport hats pretty regularly. The beret has never really gone away. But the hat as a regular part of formal business wear is pretty extinct. I'm not sure what it would take to bring it back. Fedoras are awesome but very few men can pull them off without looking like they're in costume. Drudge just looks like a tool in his. (one of the many reasons "Mad Men" stands out, in addition to the smoking & drinking is the hats on everyone) Personally, I feel that cowboy hats should only be worn by actual, working cowboys. It takes a real man (or woman) to rock a cowboy hat.
I think (please don't laugh when I say that) that the symbolisim of the poster is that of one man, standing up against tyranny. And in Poland in 1989, it is one man, one vote standing up against the biggest tyranny of them all. After all, Cooper's carring a ballot in his hand. We're going to need that poster in '10 and '12
Where can I get one of those posters?
I'm teaching my son about great classic movies and the actors in them, I showed him Rio Bravo which he liked so I moved on to The man who shot Liberty Valance, then the Alamo. Now my NetFlixs queue is full of John Wayne movies. Now I think I'll introduce him to Gary Cooper
For relentless valor nothing (on either side) during WWII compares to the Polish Home Army's fight during the Warsaw Rising.
http://www.1944.pl/?lang=en
I agree it's a great movie, but it seems many people are not aware of its Communist sympathies. See below:
http://www.bluecollarprof.com/
Yeah, and the types of women who you meet when wearing a Reagan Revolution tee are going to end up being light-years cooler than the ones attracted by a Che shirt. That Polish girl was amazing. Not gorgeous, but cute (Raven hair, milk-white skin, steel-gray eyes), and she had an absolutely awesome sense of humor. Oh, and a super-sexy accent (And I was in Sweden, the land of super-sexy accents!). Her English was better than many US high school grads, which really flipped me out.
"Winchester '73" y'all. Don't forget that one!
You couldn't be more right. Stalin must sure have hated Poland to be so bloody treacherous. How could one man hate Poland simply cause he was beaten in the early 20s? Not to mention the west's fear of Russia was so great, that we failed to fight for Poland during the uprising and altogether totally let them down during Yalta and the aftermath of the war. Truly not the wests shining moments.
I worked with a couple from Poland for a few years. She was the daughter of one of the last communist foreign ministers, he was a Solidarity bigshot and as a result PNG during the last years of communism. Quite a pair. A book could be written……
Back in the 80's an old friend was an exchange teacher at Lodz University in Poland. She met some family members of one of her teaching colleagues. When one of the grandfathers found she was from Texas, he grinned broadly and kept saying something that my friend couldn't understand. Someone told her he was saying "coopoys" which was as close as he could get to "cowboys."
They watched our movies and knew that cowboys were the good guys. Maybe it inspired them a few years later when they took on the Russians. I hope so.
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