Gary Cooper or John Wayne?

[pepperbear]

I chose these two actors and these two actors alone (which is why there is no "other" category) because both of them, more than any other actor alive, had the reputation of being the consummate "American".

personally, I think gary cooper had a "quiet fire" that wayne did not possess, but wayne was a strong screen presence. cooper had more nuance. check him out in "sgt. york", "the fountainhead" & "cloak and dagger". you can tell a good actor by the way he/she reacts to his fellow actors. cooper had this concept down in spades. he had all of these ticks and tiny mannerisms, totally instinctual, and he was really good at acting with his eyes.

wayne was larger than life. he had a persona, not just personality, and with very little exception, he was the right man for every role he ever played (ok, so maybe GENGHIS KHAN was a mishap). in "stagecoach", "true grit", ford's "cavalry trilogy", "the searchers", and "sands of iwo jima", he gave some of the best performances in movie history.

but as far as the craft goes, coop was the better actor.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. Cooper. Wayne was a horrible actor.

Wayne somehow got the reputation of playing the tough guy who always stuck to his guns, but there was little substance to him. Perhaps that's why Republicans always seem to idolize him the same way they idolized Reagan, Dubya and Palin, people of little substance who put on an act.

[ForrestGump]

2. Gary Cooper was a better actor, by far

High Noon is a classic among classics not only for the direction, story, and other important components but because it was acted to perfection. His performances, from an era where screen acting was still somewhat theatrically stylized compared to now, still hold up.

John Wayne, though, shouldn't be underestimated as a screen presence. He was also a better actor than often credited. Many of his films remain highly enjoyable. I just watched him recently (maybe for the first time) in The Searchers, as a result of my exploring the films of Akira Kurosawa (brought on by doing the same for Sergio Leone) and being redirected back to John Ford: Ford was really a master, and that film was incredible, and he used John Wayne in his films for a reason, not solely because of his box-office pull. Always loved True Grit, too, and its sequel (though Glen Campbell's acting was a little amateurish -- okay, a LOT so -- in the former).

[old mark]

3. Could not vote - I think they are both very effective actors.

Cooper is much more versatile, but look at "The Shootist"," The Cowboys", "Rooster Cogburn", "The Quiet Man", and you can see Wayne is no slouch, either. Wayne's very early cowboy movies were his training period - he literally learned on the job, and his later work displays polish and talent.

mar

[kskiska]

4. Marion played the same role over and over and over

The American hero who never was.