The Cowboy and the Lady

1938
Approved
1h 31m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

1.9K

YOUR RATING

Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon in The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)

A lonely socialite masquerades as a maid and meets an unpretentious, plain-spoken cowboy who is unaware of her true identity.

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Western

A lonely socialite masquerades as a maid and meets an unpretentious, plain-spoken cowboy who is unaware of her true identity.A lonely socialite masquerades as a maid and meets an unpretentious, plain-spoken cowboy who is unaware of her true identity.A lonely socialite masquerades as a maid and meets an unpretentious, plain-spoken cowboy who is unaware of her true identity.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

1.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:44

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Photos23

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Several trade papers and national magazines noted that the film, at that time, set a record for the number of screenwriters who worked on the script. Besides the four credited onscreen, at least 13 others were involved.

Goofs
During the initial blind date between the girls and the rodeo cowboys, they take a walk along the beach. Upon entering the gate to the house, the sound of a ukulele being played is heard, but Buzz (the ukulele player) is holding the ukulele in one hand, not playing it.

Quotes
Sugar: Hey, you don't suppose she married him for his money, do you?
Buzz: What money?
Sugar: Well, he got a job, ain't he?
Buzz: Yeah, I never thought of that.

Connections
Featured in The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender (1997)

Soundtracks
A-Tisket A-Tasket
(1938) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Ella Fitzgerald and Van Alexander
Sung a cappella and danced by Harry Davenport
Variations also in the score

User reviews37

Review

Featured review

6/10

First The Title, Then The Story

The Cowboy and the Lady will never be listed among the top features of either Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon's careers, but it has a unique place in Hollywood lore. Supposedly producer Sam Goldwyn came up with this title and then set about hiring the creative title to fashion a story and then a film from it. Not the usual way the creative process flows even in Tinseltown.

Merle is yet another rich girl who's bored living in her mansion because politically minded dad, Henry Kolker who's running for president. This budding Theodore Roosevelt doesn't want an Alice on his hands, he keeps Merle on a tight leash. Even after she gets busted in a nightclub raid with her fun loving uncle Harry Davenport.

When two of her maids go out on a double date with a pair of traveling rodeo cowboys, Merle goes along because the cowboys have a third and she hits the jackpot because the third is Gary Cooper. Of course Merle pretends to be a third maid.

Anyone who saw even a couple of thirties screwball comedies knows exactly how this one is ending up. Director H.C. Potter borrowed rather liberally from Frank Capra, there are elements of Mister Deeds Goes to Town and It Happened One Night in the story.

Still it's a pleasant enough piece of fluff and sure didn't do anyone's career any harm who was associated with it. Look for good typecast performances from Patsy Kelly and Mabel Todd as the maids and Walter Brennan and Fuzzy Knight as Cooper's rodeo buds. They all perform strictly to type.