It was my first picture with Gary Cooper ... When I first heard him mumble through his part in Wedding Night, I wondered how he could have carried his great success into the talkies. He could never get through a scene without forgetting some of the words. I determined that I must do something about my friend's diction, memory, and delivery. But Cooper was Cooper; no wheedling on my part could bring about the slightest change. Imagine my amazement when I watched our first day's work on the screen and observed and heard a performance that overflowed with charm and personality. I learned an indelible lesson ... This psychoanalytic power of the camera can prove either beneficial or detrimental to a performer. In Cooper's case it was the making of him.
Source
Vidor, King. A Tree Is a Tree. Hollywood: Samuel French, 1953, 1981: 207.
Leave a Reply