To me the age and appearance differential make certain aspects of this film hard to swallow. Cooper was 40 when he was portraying York who would have been barely 30.
Too me Cooper looks like a 40+ year old trying to act like a kid, he just looks wrong. There was also a size variation between Cooper and York that made this difference even more profound.
I've seen this film over a dozen times and love it, don't get me wrong, but it just seems off kilter at times.
The age or size difference is no big deal because York's appearance wasn't generally known by the general public. It's not like a 40ish James Stewart playing a 20ish Lindbergh who everyone recognized.
shareWell to me it was and Stewart among others also. It suspends reality to me - that's all.
shareI missed the first few minutes of this film. I came in where Coop was lumbering around the kitchen and 'Ma York' was calling him 'son'.
My first thought "was why is that old man still living with his mother?" ;)
Of course then the charm of Cooper's performance completely took over and I just saw Alvin York.
Look at this, it's a nighty. She would look sexy in that, you'd look like a moose!
Amigo, I couldn't agree more!
Margaret Wycherley played Alvin's mother and was made up to look way older than she was.
Wycherley later played James Cagney's mom in "White Heat" (1949) and looked half the age she was in York.
Having "Coop" play the young Alvin York was a bit of a stretch...agreed...but don't forget: the real Alvin York wanted Cooper to play him in the film.
CmdrCody
Yes, thank you, I was aware of that.
He still looks out of place as a young hillbilly.
Early in the movie, the man in the store talks about "the war in Europe". In 1914, Alvin York was about 27, not 40 like Cooper was at the time he made the movie. And i don't think Cooper looked 40, maybe early 30s.
shareYeah, Coop was all wrong for the part.
shareI meant Cooper looked closer to York's age than he really was, not that he was all wrong for the part. He was excellent in the movie, as he was a year later as Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees.
shareIt's not unusual for people living the hard life of the Yorks to look older than their age.
The reality is that without Cooper as the lead Alvin York wasn't going to agree to the film. It wasn't a hard choice for the studio.
I agree with the OP. In the 1930s, Gary Cooper was widely considered the most handsome leading man Hollywood had ever produced. Yet he aged almost overnight. Take a look at him in "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" and compare it with anything he made after about 1940. By the time he came to play Alvin York, he did indeed look like a middle-aged man trying portray a callow youth. He was just not convincing as York by this time.
Im Arme der Götter wuchs ich groß.--Friedrich Hölderlin