JohnHowardReid Copyright 30 November 1938 by Samuel Goldwyn. Released through United Artists. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall, 24 November 1938 (ran 2 weeks). U.S. release: 17 November 1938. Australian release: 16 February 1939. 9 reels. 91 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Fun-loving heiress strings along a dumb but eager cowpoke who is unaware of her real identity.NOTES: Academy Award, Thomas Moulton (only) Sound Recording. Also nominated for Best Original Music Score (The Adventures of Robin Hood won); and Best Song (the title ditty) which was defeated by "Thanks For the Memory" from The Big Broadcast of 1938.Despite the raft of writers (see below) who concocted this disappointing fling, the plot is as predictable as the synopsis suggests, with characters and dialogue so vapid and inconsequential they do nothing but waste the talents of a fine cast. No amount of glossy window-dressing by director, photographer, art directors and music scorer can disguise the script's basic poverty of invention, its supremely unmemorable plot and dialogue. All it adds up to is an extremely dated romance whose comic overtones must have been judged feeble and uninspired even by the most indulgent 1938 audience. Writers included Anita Loos and John Emerson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell as well as Frederick Lonsdale, Howard Estabrook, Robert Ardrey, Eddie Moran, Frank Ryan, Gene Fowler, Robert Riskin, and Richard Connell. Yes, they all worked on the script at one time or another. The film commenced shooting on 15 June 1938 with William Wyler directing. Three days later, he was replaced by Potter because Goldwyn thought Wyler was working too slowly. However, Potter himself left before finishing the movie (he had a prior commitment to direct "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle"), so Stuart Heisler finished up. All these headaches, plus cast replacements (Henry Kolker for Thomas Mitchell, while roles originally set for David Niven and Benita Hume were eliminated) brought the negative cost up to an incredible $1.8 million. (Thanks to Alvin H. Marill in "Samuel Goldwyn Presents" — A. S. Barnes, 1976 — for these interesting facts.)

writers_reign This is the only movie I know of that boasts three directors and seventeen writers, the majority uncredited, and I have to say, alas, that it shows. It's saved to a certain extent by Harry Davenport clearly honing his charm for the forthcoming (six years later) Meet me In St Louis, but unfortunately there are large gaps where Davenport is off screen and none of the rest of the cast are up to covering for him. At times it seems as if the seventeen writers have 'borrowed' from seventeen different films in an implausible story about a woman who is at once naive and bored with her sheltered life masquerading as a maid and eloping with a rodeo rider. I could go on but you'd never believe it.

Lovely_Drama I saw this movie for the first time over 15 years ago. I can remember sitting in my Aunt's bedroom watching this, thinking that it was a great movie. For years i wondered what it was called because i missed the title. then one day i found it " THE COWBOY AND THE LADY" I was thrilled. It only took me 8 years to find the title and now all I had to do was find the movie.if course on ebay it was about 30 dollars. so i vowed to search and search the dollar store DVD. because that is where it is available. and then one night to my surprise TCM played it. I ran through the house like a mad woman looking for a blank tape. I have not seen the film since i was 8 or 9 years old and now at 24 I finally saw it again...

krorie Though slow moving at times, overall "The Cowboy and the Lady" is an entertaining romantic comedy with a twist, a high society lady whose father is about to throw his hat into the ring as a candidate for President falls head over heels in love with a rodeo cowboy. There are two scenes that really pack a comedic wallop. One is aboard the ship from Florida to Galveston, Texas, when 'Stretch' Willoughby (Gary Cooper) compares horses to people while wooing Mary Smith (Merle Oberon) when suddenly a crew member starts singing an outlandish song, "Give a man a horse he can ride." It becomes more outrageous when Stretch joins in and Mary ends the tune with a bass vocal. The other is when Stretch pretends to be entertaining his beloved wife, Mary, in their new house with only the framework completed. Cooper shows a hidden talent for pantomime that is very good indeed. Before he knows it his partners played by a bow-legged Walter Brennan and Fuzzy Knight along with the carpenters are invited in and play along with Stretch's fantasy. The spell is broken with the appearance of Ma Hawkins who brings everyone back to reality by delivering a dreadful telegram.There is one telling part near the end when Stretch searching for his wife appears as an unwanted and unwelcome guest at a political dinner. The big-wigs spout several false concepts and prejudices that exist concerning the American cowboy. Their ignorance is further denoted when Oliver Wendell Henderson attempts to show his knowledge of the west by declaring Montana to be the Lone Star State. Stretch carefully corrects Henderson, then proceeds to shoot them all down with his rebuttal.There were several cooks sirring the broth when it came to writing the sometimes witty script. Amongst the writers were Dorothy Parker, Leo McCarey, Anita Loos, and some say Garson Kanin.