HIGH NOON

Gary Cooper is a very well known actor who will always be remembered by his role in High Noon. But many years ago famous Hollywood columnist, James Bacon the man who rubbed shoulders with the most talented people of that time, sat on Garry Cooper´s living room. The actor felt quite distressed because the first cut of the film had been a disaster. The director had a crush on Grace Kelly and he was so intense on her close-ups that he lost the plot. So the whole movie had to reedited and the song High Moon was actually written so audiences would understand the storyline. That particular day, MR Cooper was playing with his dogs- He felt very close to his pets until the day he passed away- The house has new owners now but back then it welcomes the lives of Hemingway, James Stewart and Clark Gable. Among his walls there are many secrets like the one I am about to share with you.

During the shooting of the movie, Cooper had an ulcer and the pain he felt was to intense that he could not stay still. Somehow the studio managed to cut his close ups so well that he looked a very frighten man because, in fact, he was about to get killed by some desperados. When Cooper won the Oscar for High Noon, he left these lines for posterity: “It’s the first time ever that ulcer has won an Oscar”.

When Gary Cooper died in 1961 of cancer just 6 days after his birthday, all Hollywood turned out for his funeral. But it was an eerie moment before the ceremony that haunted James Bacon until the day he died; a whole army of photographers, reporters and radio people were standing outside of the house. All of a sudden, the dogs came to the gate and three of them started howling and moaning, making weird sounds like a bunch of Banshees. Bacon looked at his watch; it was 12:27.  Later  that day, he was told that it was the exact time Cooper left this world.

 An old Irish folk-tale says that a dog knows when his master soul leaves the earth. So in his final hour Gary Cooper died at High Noon. What a beautiful and mysterious ending for one of the most legendary figures in Hollywood.  Don´t you think?

Sergio Calle Llorens