On August 23 at 7:30 pm at the Myrna Loy Center, Maria Cooper Janis, daughter of Helena native --and movie star--Gary Cooper, discussed her book, Gary Cooper Off Camera: A Daughter Remembers. A reception and book signing followed the talk. Special guests for the evening were Patrick Hemingway, the son of Ernest Hemingway, and composer Byron Janis. John Mulholland, who is writing, directing, and producing a new documentary about the friendship between Hemingway and Cooper, entitled Cooper and Hemingway: The True Gen, moderated the evening. As a tribute to the actor, "A Hero's Passing By," was performed by composer Byron Janis. Please visit our Photo Gallery to see some great pictures of the event. Our celebration of Gary Cooper's life continued with events on August 24 and 25. Please see below.

A RARE FILM EVENT A DOUBLE-BILL GARY COOPER FILM EVENT Friday, August 24 Myrna Loy Center Tickets: $5 7:00 PM The Hanging Tree Gary Cooper plays a frontier doctor with a checkered past who works in a rowdy Montana mining camp. Cooper falls in love with Maria Schell, a young Swiss girl whom he has treated for shock after she was the victim of a holdup. He finances Schell's grubstake, which makes her rich. When Schell's unscrupulous partner Karl Malden tries to have his way with the girl, Cooper kills Malden. Sentenced to an immediate hanging, Cooper is saved when Schell offers to give the town her valuable mine. A surprise hit in 1959, The Hanging Tree was based on an award-winning novel by Montana writer, Dorothy M. Johnson. The film not only yielded a hit theme song by Mack David and Jerry Livingston, but also served as the film debut of George C. Scott, who plays Cooper's doctor predecessor. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide Plus A Gary Cooper film that hasn't been seen anywhere for 70 years. 9:10 PM I Take This Woman A young Gary Cooper cowboy film from 1931.

GARY COOPER VIDEO FESTIVAL August 25, 10 a.m. Myrna Loy Center Tickets: $2 On Saturday, August 25, another Gary Cooper Video Festival will be held at the Myrna Loy Center. 10 AM - The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell The true story of General Billy Mitchell, a pioneering crusader for the Army's fledgling air corp. In spite of an impressive performance during the First World War, the commanders of America's armed forces still think of the airplane as little more then a carnival attraction. Even after sinking an "unsinkable" captured German battleship from the air, Mitchell sees funds dry up and friends die due to poor equipment. He is court-martialed after questioning the loyalty of his superiors for allowing the air corp to deteriorate. Noon - Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life - including playing the tuba in the town band. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow picks up his tuba and moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone from the greedy opera committee to the sensationist daily newspaper. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. Babe is a hot-shot reporter who figures the best way to get close to Deeds is to pose as a damsel in distress. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen. 2:30 PM - Beau Geste Beau, John, and Digby Geste are three inseparable, adventurous brothers who haven been adopted into the wealthy household of Lady Brandon. When money in the uppercrust household grows tight, Lady Brandon is forced to sell her most treasured jewel the mighty "Blue Water" sapphire. The household gets it out for one final look, the lights go out and it vanishes stolen by one of the brothers, no doubt. That night, Beau, Digby, and John each "confess" and slip out, John leaving behind Isabel, whom he loves. They all join the Foreign Legion, and Beau and Digby are split from John and put under the command of the ruthless and sadistic Sergeant Markoff. Things begin to get hairy as the rest of the Legionaires plot a mutiny against Markoff, in the midst of an attack by Arab hordes.

All of these events are sponsored by the Montana Historical Society, Downtown Helena BID, and the Myrna Loy Center.

In May, the Montana Historical Society, The Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts, and Downtown Helena, Inc. proudly presented "A Montana Original: A Celebration of Gary Cooper's 100th Birthday." The day-long celebration included: a People's Choice marathon of Gary Cooper films, scholarly lectures on High Noon and Cooper's early life in Montana, and much more. Sue Near of the Montana Historical Society provided a talk about Gary Cooper's childhood and formative years spent in Helena and on their Dearborn ranch. Additional information is available about Gary Cooper's life.