av Bror Gårdelöf » 2021-03-20/14:11
Apropå Carl Foreman är nedanstående saxat från Wikipediaartikeln om Gary Cooper - som uppenbarligen besatt ett rejält mått av civilkurage. Men han var förstås bland de allra största i Hollywood och kunde därmed stå emot antikommunisterna som få andra. (Fetstilen är mitt tillägg.)
On October 23, 1947, Cooper was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and was asked if he had observed any "communistic influence" in Hollywood.
Cooper recounted ... comments that Cooper said he found to be "very un-American" and testified that he had rejected several scripts because he thought they were "tinged with communist ideas". Unlike some other witnesses, Cooper did not name any individuals, nor did he name any scripts, during his testimony.
In 1951, while making High Noon, Cooper became friends with the film's screenwriter, Carl Foreman, who had been a member of the Communist Party. When Foreman was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Cooper put his career on the line to defend Foreman. When John Wayne and others threatened Cooper with blacklisting himself and the loss of his passport if he did not walk off the film, Cooper gave a statement to the press in support of Foreman, calling him "the finest kind of American". When producer Stanley Kramer removed Foreman's name as screenwriter, Cooper and director Fred Zinnemann threatened to walk off the film if Foreman's name was not restored. Foreman later said that, of all his friends and allies and colleagues in Hollywood, "Cooper was the only big one who tried to help. The only one."
På annat ställe läste jag, att Gary Cooper hade avsevärda besvär av ett magsår under inspelningen av High noon.
Det kan ha fått honom att se mer plågad ut - vilket passar bra till rollfigurens situation.
Jag har också läst det där om Rio Bravo, som jag anser är en skitfilm - i synnerhet jämförd med High noon.
Gary Coopers plågade rollfigur befinner sig i ett dilemma, och alla sviker - utom i viss mån hustrun. Han är helt ensam.
John Wayne gör sin vanliga, stereotypa hjälte, som själv skall klara allt, men som ändå får hjälp.
Men OK - jag har aldrig varit det minsta svag för John Wayne.
En annan megastjärna, som inte heller vek ner sig för antikommunisterna, var Charlie Chaplin.
Han valde att lämna USA.