5 Worst Gary Cooper Western Movies, Ranked

Across his career, Gary Cooper led plenty of unforgettable motion pictures. Even beyond his seminal work in "High Noon," he proved a divine fit for "Design for Living," where he proved endlessly charming bouncing off of Barbara Stanwyck. For many, Cooper was the face of quality classic American cinema, and his ability to anchor so many different genres effectively makes his reputation hard to dispute. Of course, thanks to titles like "High Noon," Cooper and Westerns will always have a close kinship. His legacy in this genre remains some of his most revered and notable work.

Unfortunately, while Cooper anchored several Western classics, there was no way he could only headline absolute bangers in this genre. After all, Hollywood was producing too many of Westerns from the '20s through the '60s for all of them to be great. It's a basic numbers game.

Thus, Gary Cooper's largely esteemed filmography does house some major misfires. These five motion pictures (ranked below from "least worst" to worst based on their average Letterboxd rating) help demonstrate the endless ways movies can go awry even when the best intentions and greatest artists are in play. Still, even these underwhelming titles shed light on key corners of Gary Cooper's career, making it even easier to appreciate the outstanding Westerns he did headline.

1927 didn't just deliver several silent horror movies that will give you nightmares. This was also one of the best years ever for motion pictures. Enduing masterpieces like "Metropolis," "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans," "7th Heaven," Wings," and countless more titles hit theaters. This monumental year in cinematic storytelling, though, couldn't be all hits. One film from this year that many Letterboxd users could take or leave was the Arthur Rosson directorial effort "The Last Outlaw." 

In this title, Gary Cooper portrayed Sheriff Buddy Hale, who is tasked with taking down Ward Lane (Jack Luden), who just killed the last Sheriff around these parts. This newbie to the world of law enforcement will now have to contend with Ward and his posse. The smattering of Letterboxd users who've even seen "The Last Outlaw" have largely given this title two or 2.5 stars on the site. The greatest problem with the few who havr watched "Outlaw" is the most banal problem any production can suffer from: tedium. The handful of "Last Outlaw" Letterboxd reviews bemoan how little separates this feature from any number of other 1920s Westerns.

Granted, there's still some novelty to this production in being such an early example of Gary Cooper's leading man chops. Still, with so many other 1927 masterpieces out there, why waste time on this one?

The "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movies alone make it clear that there's a lot of movies out there focused on the Lone Star state. However, anyone popping in the 1930 Gary Cooper feature "The Texan" for another title utilizing Texan territories will leave sorely disappointed. Despite the title promising Dallas or Houston-oriented Western shenanigans, director John Cromwell and screenwriter Daniel Nathan Rubin (adapting the O. Henry text "The Double-Dyed Deceiver") go in another direction with "The Texan." After brief detours to Galveston and suchlike, "The Texan" largely takes place in various South American locales. Talk about false advertising.

Here, Gary Cooper plays the famous criminal Enrique A.K.A. The Llano Kid. In order to evade the law and maybe procure some money in the process, he takes on the identity of a wealthy gal's son. Once the sparks of love begin firing up in his new persona, though, his deceit-driven plans begins getting challenged. The majority of Letterboxd ratings for "The Texan" are either 2.5 or three stars, a sign of firmly mixed (though not quite dreadful) reviews. While the climactic gunfight and Cooper's acting chops are largely praised across these Letterboxd write-ups, most reviewers lamented how straightforward and plodding it was.

Unpleasant details like "The Texan" prominently featuring Fay Wray as a Hispanic character certainly makes it clear why nobody brings this title up as one of Gary Cooper's best, much less peak Texas cinema.

After the collapse of the Hays Code ensured a new era of cinema, director John Waters emerged to deliver wildly provocative titles like "Pink Flamingos," but he wasn't the first motion picture director to have that name. Decades earlier, another director named John Waters was also making distinctly American feature films, albeit much more mainstream-friendly ones like the Gary Cooper star vehicle "Nevada."

The original John Waters began directing movies in 1920 and had a nearly 40-year-long career in helming major motion pictures, which concluded with him directing "The Big Country," largely considered one of the five best Gregory Peck Western movies of all time. Long before that was the 1927 Western "Nevada," which saw the titular Nevada (Cooper) struggling to navigate a blossoming romance and contending with nefarious cattle rustlers. The vast majority of Letterboxd ratings for the scarcely-seen "Nevada" are three stars, a sign of the film securing a largely "meh" reputation amongst Letterboxd users. 

The majority of these Letterboxd reviews, though, agree that, without Gary Cooper, "Nevada" would've been infinitely less compelling given the excessively familiar storytelling terrain explored here. Perhaps the other John Waters could have done better by the tale.

At the start of "Fighting Caravans," Clint Belmet (Gary Cooper) is staring down the barrel of weeks in jail. However, his pals soon concoct a scheme that'll get him out of the hoosegow. Random lady Felice (Lili Damita) needs someone to pose as her husband so that she can have protection during her travels to California. Belmet proceeds to pose as her lover during the expedition. Thus begins "Fighting Caravans," a 1931 feature that's largely faded away from the general public's memory. An average Letterboxd rating of 3.1 doesn't exactly suggest that's a travesty, much less unwarranted.

A two-star review from Letterboxd user eely notes that "a lot of ["Fighting Caravans"] feels like a filmed rehearsal for an amateur play." That assessment epitomizes a lot of the Letterboxd reviews of "Caravans," which often bemoan how this title suffers from the visual stagnancy that plagued so many movies in the first few years of American sound cinema. Cooper and Damita struggling to share any sparks together is also a frequently noted shortcoming in these reviews. Only some charming Cooper moments and a pair of comedic supporting characters are praised in the smattering of "Fighting Caravans" Letterboxd reviews that have been posted.

Posing as Felice's husband certainly worked out for Clint Belmet in terms of keeping him out of prison. However, his journey was less successful for folks actually stuck watching the limply-made "Fighting Caravans."

Many of the films on this list are obscure entries in Gary Cooper's filmography. Several of these titles are even pre-sound Westerns that are difficult to find today. Then there's 1945's "Saratoga Trunk," an immensely well-known motion picture that (among other achievements) scored a best supporting actress nod at the Academy Awards. However, though it remains fairly recognizable, the long-term artistic reputation of "Saratoga Trunk" hasn't endured as positively as the legacies of the 10 best movies of the 1940s. To wit, "Trunk" only has a 3 star average rating on Letterboxd. 

This Sam Wood directorial effort follows Colonel Clint Maroon (Gary Cooper) and Clio Dulaine (Ingrid Bergman) who have been ousted from the rich and aloof people around them. Now they're forming an unlikely bond to gain revenge against those who've wronged them. The "Saratoga Trunk" Letterboxd reviews largely expressed incredulity about how this seemingly standard premise became a vessel for all kinds of toxic elements, including blackface, ableism, and misogyny. Consider "Saratoga Trunk" another one of those popular movies that aged terribly.

Even beyond those dehumanizing ingredients, though, the Letterboxd "Saratoga Trunk" reviews also criticized elements like this story not being nearly compelling or weighty enough to sustain a 134-minute runtime. "Saratoga Trunk" is more remembered than many films on this list, but that's not necessarily a good thing.