Gary Cooper

THE VIRGINIAN

Paramount Famous Lasky Corp., 1929.  Directed by Victor Fleming.  Camera:  J. Roy Hunt and Edward Cronjager.  With Gary Cooper, Walter Huston, Richard Arlen, Mary Brian, Helen Ware, Chester Conklin, Eugene Pallette, George Chandler.

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The Virginian, foreman of the Box H Ranch, near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, meets Steve, an old friend, and gives him a job.  They both encounter Molly Wood, the new schoolteacher just arrived from Vermont.  In a saloon, the Virginian and Trampas quarrel over a dancer, but the foreman forces him down.

At a christening party the foreman and Steve play a prank―for which Steve is blamed―on some sleeping babies, leaving the Virginian free to walk Molly home.  Soon their friendship grows into love, but Molly declines marriage.

Steve joins up with Trampas and his gang of rustlers.  When he is captured by a posse, the Virginian is forced to supervise his hanging, causing Molly to spurn the Virginian.  When he is wounded, however, she nurses him, and they plan to marry.  Trampas orders him to leave town and, though the girl resists, the Virginian shoots Trampas in a duel.

American Film Institute Catalog