Editing Gary Cooper (section)

===Later films, 1953–1959===
[[File:Gary Cooper 2.jpg|thumb|left|175px|{{center|''[[Vera Cruz (film)|Vera Cruz]]'' (1954)}}]]

After appearing in [[Andre de Toth]]'s Civil War drama ''[[Springfield Rifle (1952 film)|Springfield Rifle]]'' (1952)<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 238–240.</ref>{{snd}}a standard Warner Bros. film that was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor<ref>Dickens 1970, p. 240.</ref>{{snd}}Cooper made four films outside the United States.<ref name="meyers-253">Meyers 1998, p. 253.</ref> In [[Mark Robson (film director)|Mark Robson]]'s drama ''[[Return to Paradise (1953 film)|Return to Paradise]]'' (1953), Cooper plays an American wanderer who liberates the inhabitants of a [[Polynesia]]n island from the puritanical rule of a misguided pastor.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 241–242.</ref> Cooper endured spartan living conditions, long hours, and ill health during the three-month location shoot on the island of [[Upolu]] in [[Samoa|Western Samoa]].<ref>Meyers 1998, pp. 254, 256.</ref> Despite its beautiful cinematography, the film received poor reviews.<ref>Dickens 1970, p. 242.</ref> Cooper's next three films were shot in Mexico.<ref name="meyers-253" /> In [[Hugo Fregonese]]'s action adventure film ''[[Blowing Wild]]'' (1953) with Barbara Stanwyck, he plays a [[wildcatter]] in Mexico, who gets involved with an oil-company executive and his unscrupulous wife with whom he once had an affair.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 243–244.</ref>

In 1954, Cooper appeared in Henry Hathaway's Western drama ''[[Garden of Evil]]'', with [[Susan Hayward]], about three soldiers of fortune in Mexico hired to rescue a woman's husband.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 245–247.</ref> That same year, he appeared in [[Robert Aldrich]]'s Western adventure ''[[Vera Cruz (film)|Vera Cruz]]'' with [[Burt Lancaster]]. In the film, Cooper plays an American adventurer hired by Emperor [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Maximilian{{spaces}}I]] to escort a countess to [[Veracruz|Vera Cruz]] during the [[Second Mexican Empire|Mexican Rebellion]] of 1866.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 248–51.</ref> All these films received poor reviews, but did well at the box office.<ref>Arce 1979, p. 255.</ref> For his work in ''Vera Cruz'', Cooper earned $1.4{{spaces}}million in salary and a percentage of the gross.<ref name="meyers-269">Meyers 1998, p. 269.</ref>
[[File:Gary Cooper in Friendly Persuasion 1956.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Screen capture of Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire|Cooper and [[Dorothy McGuire]] in ''[[Friendly Persuasion (1956 film)|Friendly Persuasion]]'', 1956]]

During this period, Cooper struggled with health problems. He suffered a severe shoulder injury during the filming of ''Blowing Wild'' when he was hit by metal fragments from a dynamited oil well, as well as his ongoing treatment for ulcers.<ref name="meyers-269" /> During the filming of ''Vera Cruz'', he reinjured his hip by falling from a horse, and was burned when Lancaster fired his rifle too close and the wadding from the blank shell pierced his clothing.<ref name="meyers-269" />

Cooper appeared in [[Otto Preminger]]'s 1955 biographical war drama ''[[The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell]]'', about the [[Billy Mitchell|World War{{spaces}}I general]] who tried to convince government officials of the importance of air power, and was court-martialed after blaming the War Department for a series of air disasters.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 252–54.</ref> Some critics felt Cooper was miscast,<ref>Dickens 1970, p. 253.</ref> and that his dull, tight-lipped performance did not reflect Mitchell's dynamic and caustic personality.<ref>Meyers 1998, pp. 275–76.</ref> In 1956, Cooper was more effective playing a gentle Indiana [[Quaker]] in [[William Wyler]]'s Civil War drama ''[[Friendly Persuasion (1956 film)|Friendly Persuasion]]'' with [[Dorothy McGuire]].<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 255–58.</ref> Like ''Sergeant York'' and ''High Noon'', the film addresses the conflict between religious pacifism and civic duty.<ref name="meyers-281">Meyers 1998, p. 281.</ref> For his performance, Cooper received his second Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor.<ref name="nyt" /> The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, was awarded the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[1957 Cannes Film Festival]], and went on to earn $8{{spaces}}million worldwide.<ref name="meyers-281" /><ref>Arce 1979, p. 256.</ref>
[[File:Gary Cooper in Love in the Afternoon 1957.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|alt=Screen capture of Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn lying on the floor|Cooper and [[Audrey Hepburn]] in ''[[Love in the Afternoon (1957 film)|Love in the Afternoon]]'', 1957]]

Cooper traveled to France in 1956 to make Billy Wilder's romantic comedy ''[[Love in the Afternoon (1957 film)|Love in the Afternoon]]'' with [[Audrey Hepburn]] and [[Maurice Chevalier]].<ref name="meyers-317">Meyers 1998, p. 317.</ref> In the film, Cooper plays a middle-aged American playboy in Paris who is pursued by—and eventually falls in love with—a much younger woman.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 259–261.</ref> Despite receiving some positive reviews, including from Bosley Crowther, who praised the film's "charming performances",<ref name="dickens-261">Dickens 1970, p. 261.</ref> most reviewers concluded that Cooper was simply too old for the part.<ref name="arce-260">Arce 1979, p. 260.</ref> While audiences may not have welcomed seeing Cooper's heroic screen image tarnished by his playing an aging ''[[Rake (character)|roué]]'' having an affair with a young girl, the film was still a box-office success.<ref name="arce-260" /> The following year, Cooper appeared in [[Philip Dunne (writer)|Philip Dunne]]'s romantic drama ''[[Ten North Frederick (film)|Ten North Frederick]]''.<ref name="dickens-262-264">Dickens 1970, pp. 262–64.</ref> In the film, which was based on the [[Ten North Frederick|novel]] by [[John O'Hara]],<ref name="meyers-289">Meyers 1998, p. 289.</ref> Cooper plays an attorney whose life is ruined by a double-crossing politician and his own secret affair with his daughter's young roommate.<ref name="dickens-262-264" /> While Cooper brought "conviction and controlled anguish" to his performance, according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers,<ref name="meyers-289" /> it was not enough to save what Bosley Crowther called a "hapless film".<ref name="arce-264">Arce 1979, p. 264.</ref>
[[File:Gary Cooper in Man of the West 1958.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Screen capture of Gary Cooper|Cooper in ''[[Man of the West]]'', 1958]]

Despite his ongoing health problems and several operations for ulcers and [[hernia]]s, Cooper continued to work in action films.<ref name="meyers-291">Meyers 1998, p. 291.</ref> In 1958, he appeared in [[Anthony Mann]]'s Western drama ''[[Man of the West]]'' (1958) with [[Julie London]] and [[Lee J. Cobb]], about a reformed outlaw and killer who is forced to confront his violent past when the train in which he is riding is held up by his former gang members.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 265–266.</ref> The film has been called Cooper's "most pathological Western", with its themes of impotent rage, sexual humiliation, and sadism.<ref name="meyers-289" /> According to biographer Jeffrey Meyers, Cooper, who struggled with moral conflicts in his personal life, "understood the anguish of a character striving to retain his integrity{{spaces}}... [and] brought authentic feeling to the role of a tempted and tormented, yet essentially decent man".<ref>Meyers 1998, p. 290.</ref> Mostly ignored by critics at the time, the film is now well-regarded by film scholars<ref>Swindell 1980, p. 297.</ref> and is considered Cooper's last great film.<ref name="arce-264" />

After his Warner Bros. contract ended, Cooper formed his own production company, Baroda Productions, and made three unusual films in 1959 about redemption.<ref>Meyers 1998, pp. 291, 301.</ref> In Delmer Daves' Western drama ''[[The Hanging Tree (film)|The Hanging Tree]]'', Cooper plays a frontier doctor who saves a criminal from a lynch mob, and later tries to exploit his sordid past.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 267–68.</ref> Cooper delivered a "powerful and persuasive" performance of an emotionally scarred man whose need to dominate others is transformed by the love and sacrifice of a woman.<ref>Meyers 1998, pp. 296–97.</ref> In [[Robert Rossen]]'s historical adventure ''[[They Came to Cordura]]'' with [[Rita Hayworth]], he plays an army officer who is found guilty of cowardice and assigned the degrading task of recommending soldiers for the Medal of Honor during the [[Pancho Villa Expedition]] of 1916.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 271–73.</ref> While Cooper received positive reviews, ''Variety'' and ''Films in Review'' felt he was too old for the part.<ref>Dickens 1970, p. 272.</ref> 

In [[Michael Anderson (director)|Michael Anderson]]'s action drama ''[[The Wreck of the Mary Deare (film)|The Wreck of the Mary Deare]]'' with [[Charlton Heston]], Cooper plays a disgraced merchant-marine officer who decides to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and to redeem his good name.<ref>Dickens 1970, pp. 274–75.</ref> Like its two predecessors, the film was physically demanding.<ref name="meyers-299">Meyers 1998, p. 299.</ref> Cooper, who was a trained scuba diver, did most of his own underwater scenes.<ref name="meyers-299" /> Biographer Jeffrey Meyers observed that in all three roles Cooper effectively conveyed the sense of lost honor and desire for redemption<ref name="meyers-301">Meyers 1998, p. 301.</ref>{{snd}}what [[Joseph Conrad]] in ''[[Lord Jim]]'' called the "struggles of an individual trying to save from the fire his idea of what his moral identity should be".<ref name="meyers-301" /><ref>Conrad 1992, p. 81.</ref>