Post by Coopsgirl on Mar 9, 2011 20:09:27 GMT -6
A Man from Wyoming was released after The Texan on July 12, 1930. It starred Gary as Captain James Baker and June Collyer as Patricia Hunter. The title might make you think this is a western but that is misleading. Set in Europe during WWI, which had ended only a dozen years earlier, it’s actually a lovely romance story with some dramatic elements as well.
As it begins we see Gary as Jim also nicknamed ‘Wyoming’ after his home state and Regis Toomey known as ‘Jersey’ working as engineers on a dam. They learn of America’s entry into the war and both men decide to enlist. Jim works his way up to the rank of Captain and he and his men help build bridges for the tanks and soldiers to use to get across waterways on the battlefront. While building one of these bridges the men are attacked by bombers and Jersey is injured. He is taken to an officer’s hospital in Nice, France to recuperate.
Meanwhile Pat Hunter is learning the proper way to bandage a wound far from the front lines. She is frustrated with this job however as she wants to see some action. Her uncle is a General and she goes to see him hoping he can help get her closer to the front. He does not comply however as he is concerned for her safety. So she decides to go AWOL, or as she puts it “a woman on the loose”!
Jim and his men are bunkered down in makeshift dugouts along a hillside when the enemy begins shooting at them. The soldiers peek out to see Pat walking along the ridge and realize she gave their position away. They yell at her to get down and once she does makes it down the hill Jim grabs her and takes her into his hiding hole. He is furious with her as she let the enemy know their location.
Hours later once the enemy has departed, the soldiers move out headed back to the small French town where they are billeted.
Jim instructs Pat to follow along behind the chuck wagon and he tells her to put her hand up on the back of the wagon and hang on to it. She’s mad at him because he shouted at her earlier so she refuses to follow his order. Frustrated with her, Jim grabs her hand and puts it up on the wagon. It’s a little thing but this scene sets up nicely the animosity between the leads after they first meet.
They walk all night and stop for a rest and chow break the next morning. One of the soldiers goes into a small home to make a bed on the floor out of a couple of blankets for the captain. Jim and Pat enter and Pat practically falls down onto Jim’s bedding and falls asleep. The soldier tries to tell her that it’s the captain’s bed but Jim tells him it’s alright. Instead Jim lies down on the floor several feet away and also goes to sleep. A few hours later he wakes her up and gives her a plate of food to eat. We’re beginning to see he’s not such a bad guy and even Pat tells him he likes to think he’s a tough guy but he’s really nice.
After eating they continue on to their destination and Jim makes sure that Pat keeps her helmet on and he’s really being very sweet in looking after her even though he’s trying to maintain a tough exterior. When they reach the town where they have been stationed Jim puts Pat on a truck heading back to her uncle and certain punishment.
Later that evening we see Jim in his room and he hears something tapping on his window. He opens it to see Pat and he helps her climb in. She managed to get away from her escorts and had been hiding out until it got dark. She saw soldiers coming in on ambulances and she noticed that many of the young men were seriously wounded and even maimed. It made her think about how quickly life can change and that you shouldn’t waste a minute of it. Basically what she’s trying to say is she loves Jim and wants to stay with him. Jim feels the same way and they sneak off to get married. He explains that it’s against the rules to get married in a war zone so they will have to keep it secret.
Pat hides out in his room during the day and then they spend their evenings together. Pat only has her uniform but she tries to make it look prettier by just wearing the skirt and button up blouse and she also lets her long hair down.
After a few blissfully happy days Jim gets order that they are to move on and he and Pat are heartbroken that they will have to separate. As he’s getting ready to go, she helps him get all his gear together and she notices that a button is missing from his coat. He says it’s okay but she insists on fixing it.
As she’s sewing it back on she pricks her finger with the needle and he kisses it. She asks him if she could just stow away in his pocket and he tells her she would get covered in tobacco. She says she doesn’t care and then she teases him that she’s been to the front before but they both know that she must stay behind. Once he’s gone she falls down beside the door and softly cries before pulling herself together to head back where she belongs.
Pat turns herself in and we see her sitting in a hallway waiting for her hearing to decide her punishment for going AWOL. As she is waiting she picks up a newspaper and listed with the names of those killed in action she sees ‘Captain James Baker’. Before she even has a chance to process this she is called in to the hearing. The women explain that she is going to be discharged and if not for the intercession of her uncle she would be in much worse trouble and then before they can say any more, Pat is overcome with emotion and faints to the floor.
Thankfully though, that’s not the end of the story. We see Jim waking up in a hospital bed and for a man who just withstood an attack, he looks dang good! Anyway, the man in the bed next to him points out that Jim was listed among the dead and at first Jim laughs but then realizes that Pat might see that and think he really is dead. He gets some paper and writes her a letter before being transferred to the officer’s hospital in Nice where his leg which was badly wounded can fully heal. Jim’s old pal Jersey is still in the Nice hospital and they reunite after Jim gets settled. Jersey explains to Jim that they are in a swell place. Nice is a wonderful city on the Mediterranean far from the front lines. Jersey explains about an especially big, beautiful home where a young American woman named Pat Hunter puts on parties for the soldiers.
That night Jim sneaks out of the hospital and makes his way to Pat’s house. He tells one of the soldiers that he would like to speak with Pat. He waits for her at the bottom of the stairs and after a few minutes she comes down and is clearly surprised to see him. He is also surprised at the sight of his wife in an elegant evening gown with flowers in her hair; quite a far cry from the girl he knew in a dirty uniform.
She grabs him and hugs him thrilled to see that he is alive. He tells her he wrote her to explain that listing was a mistake but she tells him she didn’t get it. They then go into a room where they can be alone and talk. Jim finds out that Pat comes from a wealthy family and this home is one of hers. He is just a regular guy who could never keep her in the type of luxury she has become used to. She explains that they can live off her money but Jim won’t go for that. Keep in mind this is set during the teens of the 20th century and he is a very traditional man who expects to take care of his family on his own. Pat quickly becomes frustrated with him as he assumes their marriage was a mistake. She explains that she was so hurt when she thought he was dead she decided to try and forget him by throwing herself into a world of parties and gaiety. She hoped to also help cheer up the wounded soldiers by giving them a little normalcy and a few hours of happiness with the parties in her home. Jim however is convinced that this is the lifestyle she prefers and they part on a sour note. This scene was especially well done as it transitions from utter joy with Pat realizing her husband is alive to anger as they both argue and can’t see eye to eye and then to sadness after they have parted.
Even though not fully healed Jim manages to get sent back out and he and his soldiers are again on the front lines when news of the war’s end reaches them.
Meanwhile Pat, back in her old uniform, is roaming the countryside looking for her wayward husband. Jim and his men leave the front and make their way back to the town they were billeted in when he and Pat were married. He goes back up to his same room and finds Pat there waiting for him. He acts a bit coldly to her and she thinks he still wants to end their marriage so she begins to leave and then Jim asks her where she’s going. She answers “Wyoming” and the film ends with the young lovers reunited with a kiss.
My conversation with Gary:
“This is one of my favorites of your early talkies. It’s really cute and you and June made a good movie couple” I say after the film has ended. “June was nice to work with; very down to earth and a really talented actress. She left the business a few years after this movie but then she and her husband Stu Erwin, who was also an actor, did a TV show together for a few years during the 50s” Gary explains. “I didn’t know they did a show together. That’s neat. I like Stu too. It’s a shame that so many good actors from those years have more or less been forgotten.” “Time marches on I guess” he says with a sigh. “I know you’d rather talk about other people but I’m going to turn the conversation back to you.” Gary chuckles and then says, “Okay, let’s get it over with.” “By the time you made this movie you had played a WWI soldier several times already and you’re brother Arthur actually fought in the war. Was it strange acting like a soldier knowing that so many others you knew and worked with like Richard Arlen and Bill Wellman had actually been in the war?” “At that point it really didn’t feel that strange. I was around 16 when we entered the war and I could have lied about my age and enlisted but that would have left my mother alone to run the ranch. Most of our hands joined the Army so it was up to me and her to keep it going. We sold beef to the government as part of the war effort so I felt like I was doing my part. It was different however when WWII came around. Then I was technically too old to be drafted but I still tried to join and was rejected because I couldn’t pass the physical; one too many falls from a horse I suppose. Then I didn’t feel like I was doing my part and that’s why I only made one war picture while the war was actually going on.” “I can understand that. Even though you couldn’t serve in WWII at least you tried. You went on a dangerous USO trip too very near actual combat when you could have just stayed at home and been safe and comfortable.” Gary’s face becomes serious as he speaks again. “That was the least I could do. Those guys were out there risking their lives to keep us and many others safe from a terrible enemy and at least we could give them a taste of home and hopefully a few happy hours. I think there will always be a little part of me that regrets I wasn’t able to serve my country. It’s a great country we have here and she’s well worth fighting for” he says now with a smile.
As it begins we see Gary as Jim also nicknamed ‘Wyoming’ after his home state and Regis Toomey known as ‘Jersey’ working as engineers on a dam. They learn of America’s entry into the war and both men decide to enlist. Jim works his way up to the rank of Captain and he and his men help build bridges for the tanks and soldiers to use to get across waterways on the battlefront. While building one of these bridges the men are attacked by bombers and Jersey is injured. He is taken to an officer’s hospital in Nice, France to recuperate.
Meanwhile Pat Hunter is learning the proper way to bandage a wound far from the front lines. She is frustrated with this job however as she wants to see some action. Her uncle is a General and she goes to see him hoping he can help get her closer to the front. He does not comply however as he is concerned for her safety. So she decides to go AWOL, or as she puts it “a woman on the loose”!
Jim and his men are bunkered down in makeshift dugouts along a hillside when the enemy begins shooting at them. The soldiers peek out to see Pat walking along the ridge and realize she gave their position away. They yell at her to get down and once she does makes it down the hill Jim grabs her and takes her into his hiding hole. He is furious with her as she let the enemy know their location.
Hours later once the enemy has departed, the soldiers move out headed back to the small French town where they are billeted.
Jim instructs Pat to follow along behind the chuck wagon and he tells her to put her hand up on the back of the wagon and hang on to it. She’s mad at him because he shouted at her earlier so she refuses to follow his order. Frustrated with her, Jim grabs her hand and puts it up on the wagon. It’s a little thing but this scene sets up nicely the animosity between the leads after they first meet.
They walk all night and stop for a rest and chow break the next morning. One of the soldiers goes into a small home to make a bed on the floor out of a couple of blankets for the captain. Jim and Pat enter and Pat practically falls down onto Jim’s bedding and falls asleep. The soldier tries to tell her that it’s the captain’s bed but Jim tells him it’s alright. Instead Jim lies down on the floor several feet away and also goes to sleep. A few hours later he wakes her up and gives her a plate of food to eat. We’re beginning to see he’s not such a bad guy and even Pat tells him he likes to think he’s a tough guy but he’s really nice.
After eating they continue on to their destination and Jim makes sure that Pat keeps her helmet on and he’s really being very sweet in looking after her even though he’s trying to maintain a tough exterior. When they reach the town where they have been stationed Jim puts Pat on a truck heading back to her uncle and certain punishment.
Later that evening we see Jim in his room and he hears something tapping on his window. He opens it to see Pat and he helps her climb in. She managed to get away from her escorts and had been hiding out until it got dark. She saw soldiers coming in on ambulances and she noticed that many of the young men were seriously wounded and even maimed. It made her think about how quickly life can change and that you shouldn’t waste a minute of it. Basically what she’s trying to say is she loves Jim and wants to stay with him. Jim feels the same way and they sneak off to get married. He explains that it’s against the rules to get married in a war zone so they will have to keep it secret.
Pat hides out in his room during the day and then they spend their evenings together. Pat only has her uniform but she tries to make it look prettier by just wearing the skirt and button up blouse and she also lets her long hair down.
After a few blissfully happy days Jim gets order that they are to move on and he and Pat are heartbroken that they will have to separate. As he’s getting ready to go, she helps him get all his gear together and she notices that a button is missing from his coat. He says it’s okay but she insists on fixing it.
As she’s sewing it back on she pricks her finger with the needle and he kisses it. She asks him if she could just stow away in his pocket and he tells her she would get covered in tobacco. She says she doesn’t care and then she teases him that she’s been to the front before but they both know that she must stay behind. Once he’s gone she falls down beside the door and softly cries before pulling herself together to head back where she belongs.
Pat turns herself in and we see her sitting in a hallway waiting for her hearing to decide her punishment for going AWOL. As she is waiting she picks up a newspaper and listed with the names of those killed in action she sees ‘Captain James Baker’. Before she even has a chance to process this she is called in to the hearing. The women explain that she is going to be discharged and if not for the intercession of her uncle she would be in much worse trouble and then before they can say any more, Pat is overcome with emotion and faints to the floor.
Thankfully though, that’s not the end of the story. We see Jim waking up in a hospital bed and for a man who just withstood an attack, he looks dang good! Anyway, the man in the bed next to him points out that Jim was listed among the dead and at first Jim laughs but then realizes that Pat might see that and think he really is dead. He gets some paper and writes her a letter before being transferred to the officer’s hospital in Nice where his leg which was badly wounded can fully heal. Jim’s old pal Jersey is still in the Nice hospital and they reunite after Jim gets settled. Jersey explains to Jim that they are in a swell place. Nice is a wonderful city on the Mediterranean far from the front lines. Jersey explains about an especially big, beautiful home where a young American woman named Pat Hunter puts on parties for the soldiers.
That night Jim sneaks out of the hospital and makes his way to Pat’s house. He tells one of the soldiers that he would like to speak with Pat. He waits for her at the bottom of the stairs and after a few minutes she comes down and is clearly surprised to see him. He is also surprised at the sight of his wife in an elegant evening gown with flowers in her hair; quite a far cry from the girl he knew in a dirty uniform.
She grabs him and hugs him thrilled to see that he is alive. He tells her he wrote her to explain that listing was a mistake but she tells him she didn’t get it. They then go into a room where they can be alone and talk. Jim finds out that Pat comes from a wealthy family and this home is one of hers. He is just a regular guy who could never keep her in the type of luxury she has become used to. She explains that they can live off her money but Jim won’t go for that. Keep in mind this is set during the teens of the 20th century and he is a very traditional man who expects to take care of his family on his own. Pat quickly becomes frustrated with him as he assumes their marriage was a mistake. She explains that she was so hurt when she thought he was dead she decided to try and forget him by throwing herself into a world of parties and gaiety. She hoped to also help cheer up the wounded soldiers by giving them a little normalcy and a few hours of happiness with the parties in her home. Jim however is convinced that this is the lifestyle she prefers and they part on a sour note. This scene was especially well done as it transitions from utter joy with Pat realizing her husband is alive to anger as they both argue and can’t see eye to eye and then to sadness after they have parted.
Even though not fully healed Jim manages to get sent back out and he and his soldiers are again on the front lines when news of the war’s end reaches them.
Meanwhile Pat, back in her old uniform, is roaming the countryside looking for her wayward husband. Jim and his men leave the front and make their way back to the town they were billeted in when he and Pat were married. He goes back up to his same room and finds Pat there waiting for him. He acts a bit coldly to her and she thinks he still wants to end their marriage so she begins to leave and then Jim asks her where she’s going. She answers “Wyoming” and the film ends with the young lovers reunited with a kiss.
My conversation with Gary:
“This is one of my favorites of your early talkies. It’s really cute and you and June made a good movie couple” I say after the film has ended. “June was nice to work with; very down to earth and a really talented actress. She left the business a few years after this movie but then she and her husband Stu Erwin, who was also an actor, did a TV show together for a few years during the 50s” Gary explains. “I didn’t know they did a show together. That’s neat. I like Stu too. It’s a shame that so many good actors from those years have more or less been forgotten.” “Time marches on I guess” he says with a sigh. “I know you’d rather talk about other people but I’m going to turn the conversation back to you.” Gary chuckles and then says, “Okay, let’s get it over with.” “By the time you made this movie you had played a WWI soldier several times already and you’re brother Arthur actually fought in the war. Was it strange acting like a soldier knowing that so many others you knew and worked with like Richard Arlen and Bill Wellman had actually been in the war?” “At that point it really didn’t feel that strange. I was around 16 when we entered the war and I could have lied about my age and enlisted but that would have left my mother alone to run the ranch. Most of our hands joined the Army so it was up to me and her to keep it going. We sold beef to the government as part of the war effort so I felt like I was doing my part. It was different however when WWII came around. Then I was technically too old to be drafted but I still tried to join and was rejected because I couldn’t pass the physical; one too many falls from a horse I suppose. Then I didn’t feel like I was doing my part and that’s why I only made one war picture while the war was actually going on.” “I can understand that. Even though you couldn’t serve in WWII at least you tried. You went on a dangerous USO trip too very near actual combat when you could have just stayed at home and been safe and comfortable.” Gary’s face becomes serious as he speaks again. “That was the least I could do. Those guys were out there risking their lives to keep us and many others safe from a terrible enemy and at least we could give them a taste of home and hopefully a few happy hours. I think there will always be a little part of me that regrets I wasn’t able to serve my country. It’s a great country we have here and she’s well worth fighting for” he says now with a smile.