Bright Leaf

source: Bright Leaf

....one of the first cigarettes from Cooper's machine,you say to yourself: well it would be censored today now that we know where tobacco delights lead people to! Forget tobacco and you have a splendid melodrama:the old gent ,who treats young Turk Cooper as a dog ,the latter's revenge,and the impressive final when the new king is screaming "let it burn!!" Supporting cast is first-class including Crisp,portraying a man from another age,with his obsolete code of honor ,Jack Carson,the noble cool pal,Lauren Bacall the good-hearted gal.My favorite is Patricia Neal who portrays the more complex character of the whole movie.Her final scene with Cooper is highly dramatic and I think Neal made the best of her lines.

This is one of those should I watch this or not? Much has been made of the score..trust me..it's OK..but it does'nt soar or enrich the movie in any way..and what may be a good thing..there are large portions which are left alone..with only dialog to drive it..this is a movie where you have to take the good with the bad to get through it..like cough medicine..the star here is Gary cooper who does a good turn in this as a sleep walker..I do not know how he envisioned playing this role, , but he shows very little emotion..that's not acting..that's just taking up space on a stage..likewise Patricia Neal ..if only a little less so..the good? Lauren Bacall and Jack Carson who manage to steal their parts while on screen..Donald Crisp, as Patricia Neal's father..steady..as always in everything he's in..James Griffith as a southern book keeper working for Cooper plays a part unlike anything else he's ever done..usually someone on the dark side..other reviews have given you plot..I'm just giving performance reviews..a bit talky and slow..the direction by Michael Curtiz of Errol Flynn's films seems off his game..otherwise, why would it drag? The story..one that's been told a thousand times over ..revenge and mis-placed desire..there's no love lost here..it's revenge and more revenge ..and a climax you can see coming ..an ending that leaves you a little empty..another Cooper/Neal pairing from an earlier talky film..The Fountainhead..another unwatchable outing..Sorry..the good with the bad..COOP..how could you?

Yes, this movie has some good actors and one of the best directors ever. However it still doesn't work for me. It drags (no cigarette pun intended) on and on. Finally I was left with the feeling I had just wasted a good hour and a half. Lauren Bacall is beautiful as always but seems out of place here. And it's hard to believe any sane man would shun her for Neal. Coop at 49 is way to old to be playing the young maverick he is supposed to be. Patricia Neal is young and wide eyed but not nearly as attractive as Bacall whom we are expected to believe is second best. The other actors are also good, but sadly they don't have much to work with. This film is predictable from the start. The ending is telegraphed well in advance and contains no surprises. It's one of those films where nobody gets the girl or the guy. I find it hard to believe it's been rated here as highly as it is. If you love Coop or any of the other fine actors in this there are countless better films to see them in.

I think that Warner Brothers liked the performance that Gary Cooper gave in Edna Ferber's Saratoga Trunk which was released under their auspices a few years earlier. So when Cooper signs with Warner Brothers, Bright Leaf which is about the tobacco industry which has an Ferber like quality to it seemed perfect for him. It didn't turn out that unfortunately. Brant Royle may be the most unsympathetic character Gary Cooper who was THE archetypal screen hero ever played. He's come back to his home which is in a valley in the tobacco growing country of North Carolina looking for vengeance on Donald Crisp the tobacco baron who ruined his father. All he has as the family heir is a closed factory. But when Crisp refuses to take an interest in Jeff Corey's new cigarette rolling machine, Cooper latches on to Corey and with medicine show doctor Jack Carson to sell the product, the three form a partnership. Lauren Bacall who runs the town's house of joy with Gladys George helps kick start the firm with a financial investment. She likes Cooper well enough, but he's got eyes on Patricia Neal who is Crisp's daughter. Neal is a southern to the manor born heiress like Bette Davis in Jezebel and Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind. Those are high maintenance women and Cooper finds out just how high maintenance she is before the film concludes. Though this is a Gary Cooper film, the female co-stars really steal this film from the men. Neal and Bacall are whom you watch and remember from Bright Leaf and of course Gladys George who is never bad in anything. Though Bright Leaf is about a typical Edna Ferber empire builder the ending is anything like what you would find in a Ferber novel. Bright Leaf is a bit too melodramatic for my taste, but fans of the stars should find it good.

This 1950 film starred Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall and Patricia Neal in the leading roles and brought drama within the tobacco industry, although in the 50s it was okay to smoke. Doubt this film could make it this day and age. Interesting to see real-life lovers Cooper and Neal tear up the scenery with their love scenes. Cooper seemed a bit on the reserved side even though he was out for revenge. But, that's Coop. He's a master of do nothing on the screen and manages to hold his own. Spencer Tracy is another one of those dynamic actors. Here he plots to take over the tobacco industry from a man (splendidly played by that veteran character actor of distinction, Donald Crisp) who in the past had run him out of town for kissing his daughter (yes, just kissing) played by the lovely Patricia Neal. In the meantime Coop courts long time girl friend, Lauren Bacall, somewhat miscast in this, for money to start up a cigarette making factory invented by Jeff Corey, another great actor. Lauren doesn't look her best in this. How can we forget all those marvelous Bogart/Bacall films with her slinky hair and sultry body. In this her hair is up and curled and her gowns of the period don't look good on her. Bring Baby back. She doesn't have the chemistry with Cooper as she did with Bogart. And obviously the chemistry was flying with Neal and Cooper instead. Also in the cast are Jack Carson, in a small and not so well written role that wasted this fine actor. Gladys George (remember her in MADAME X) was also wasted in a thankless role. However, it's fine drama of the time and good to see the stars playing out their roles. I prefer to remember Coop in such films as SERGEANT YORK, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, SARATOGA TRUNK, FOUNTAINHEAD, HIGH NOON and ALONG CAME JONES.

I too have seen this movie many times & whenever possible. I have seen nearly every Gary Cooper movie. This is by far his best performance! The combination of star power, story and character interplay is flawless. If you have never seen a Cooper movie, see this one first. I'm also a huge fan of Donald Crisp. Again, a tremendous performance (though a slight step back of How Green Was My Valley). Never been a big Patricia Neal fan but, again, a great performance. Just another great job by Bacall. This is nearly in the EPIC category as movies go. Somewhat loosely based on the history of the tobacco industry/progression, it chronicles the rise in popularity & proliferation of cigarettes. This is truly a hidden gem that most movie fans are unaware of, but should be. And if that weren't enough, it was directed by the great Michael Curtiz.

Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal starred in 1949's "The Fountainhead", an adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel about an architect who refused to sacrifice his integrity or principles. A year later, the same two starred in this film, "Bright Leaf", a period piece in which Cooper plays a damaged man who becomes successful in the tobacco industry. In "The Fountainhead", Cooper is a strong man of principle, but he is probably the weakest part of that film, perhaps because he did not understand the film (as he himself admitted), perhaps because the role did not suit him. I think Cooper better understood his role in "Bright Leaf". His character, Brant Royle, feels more authentic. But Royle is not a man of principle. He is a caricature--the uncaring, destructive capitalist. He is a man with a chip on his shoulder and as far from a man of principle as one can get. "Bright Leaf" actually has more in common with the movie "Giant", in which Rock Hudson and James Dean play warring oilmen. But "Giant' is a much better film. Cooper, like Hudson, is headstrong. And Dean's character is like Brant Royle--a man with a chip on his shoulder, who only wants payback for perceived slights. But "Giant" is a bright and shining production, where "Bright Leaf" is a dingy film of sordid intents. There is a bright moment in "Bright Leaf"--near the end of the film, when Royle discovers the true intentions of his wife, Margaret. In that scene, Patricia Neal virtually glows as she burns with the intensity of her revealed emotions. But otherwise, this film is only as compelling as a grudge match between two self-absorbed and boring factions. It's not the director's fault; the writing defines these characters and drives them. It's not a horrible film, but it falls short of "The Fountainhead", which--even with the miscasting of Cooper--contains a striking story of principles.

Producer: Henry Blanke. Copyright 16 June 1950 by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Strand: 16 June 1950. U.S. release: 1 July 1950. U.K. release: 2 July 1951. Australian release: 20 September 1951. SYNOPSIS: In a Southern state in the late nineteenth century, the possession of a cigarette manufacturing machine brings a tenant farmer's son into control of a tobacco empire. COMMENT: Here's another film that doesn't deserve its poor reputation. The reason for this downgrading is of course that Hollywood was producing so many fine films in this period, the level of craftsmanship in a less-than-outstanding offering tended to be overlooked. Mind you, Bright Leaf has all the makings of "grade A" romance: best-selling novel, period setting, sweeping backgrounds, self-willed characters, illicit romance. The difficulty is that despite some persuasive (Cooper, Bacall, Carson, Crisp) and indeed fiery (Patricia Neal) acting, the people in this saga remain stubbornly one-dimensional. This fault is compounded by the tact that their particular traits are almost all unlikable. Royle's is a morose, vengeful figure at the center of an unlovely group of robber barons, con artists and connivers. Even Lauren Bacall's sweet eagerness is flawed by her profession and her hopeless love is so obviously foredoomed, it robs the script of a fair degree of romantic suspense. Crisp has a meaty part for once - and he makes the most of it - even though his character too is patently a mere pawn in the author's telegraphed chess game. It is Patricia Neal who excels, bringing such fire and vengeful malice to her role as to divert our attention momentarily from the mere mechanics of the plot. Whatever the shallowness of the script, it has been most appealingly dressed up in full regalia. The Warner Brothers have outfitted it in their finest production values: Karl Freund's crisply grey-toned deep-focus photography, Victor Young's atmospheric score, Stanley Fleischer's enormously vistaed sets. Director Michael Curtiz is in his element with such big-budget props. The action and crowd scenes are handled with his usual power. If the more intimate episodes lack the same conviction, it is not for want of dramatic skill, simply the fact that the script is often so stubbornly synthetic. Some of the support players are afforded excellent opportunities: Elizabeth Patterson is nicely cast as an independent-minded aunt, Jeff Corey is rightly long-suffering as a put-upon Yankee, Chick Chandler makes an amazingly sing-song auctioneer, while James Griffith limns an obsequious clerk to perfection. If the entertainment of the whole falls somewhat short of the sum of the parts, Bright Leaf is still one of the classier, flying high films of the year. Who can resist Cooper's Brant Royle, a truly tragic figure played with such assurance and conviction? (In many ways it's a typical role - well within the actor's range - but nowadays it has the fresh appeal of unfamiliarity.)

I'm a fan of Michael Curtiz and his seminal film, "Mildred Pierce", so I couldn't help comparing the story/plot of "Bright Leaf" to Mildred Pierce, which was a well-received Curtiz film from 1945 - five years previous to the release of Bright Leaf. The following is my comparison: Mildred Pierce is a woman from humble stock who is spurned by her unfaithful husband and her class-conscious daughter. Mildred determines to prove her worth by obtaining wealth and thereby purchasing both her position in society and the affections of her daughter. Success comes in the form of a chain of popular restaurants. Acceptance into higher society eludes Mildred as her snobbish daughter continues to ridicule Mildred and she is then double-crossed by her business partner/lover, society playboy Monte Barragan. Mildred loses everything for which she worked so hard; her wealth, social status, daughter, lover, etc. In the film "Bright Leaf", Brant Royle is the son of a poor tobacco farmer who was pushed out of business by the family of Margaret Singleton (played by Patricia Neal), the boyhood crush of Brant Royle. Brant determines to prove his worth and gain revenge on the Singleton family by obtaining wealth and thereby driving Major Singleton out of business. Revenge eludes Brant Royle; however, as he is double-crossed by his business partner/lover, Margaret Singleton. Brant loses everything for which he worked so hard; his wealth, social status, lover, etc. Although Bright Leaf is not a one-for-one plot-mirror of Mildred Pierce, the similarities to me were startling. Mildred is clearly the better film, in my opinion, due to the more likable and sympathetic main character. Mildred was motivated by a needy sort of "love" for her daughter, while Brant was motivated by a desire for revenge. The audience is left with sympathy for Mildred who was a victim of the selfish people around her. The audience must; however, place the blame of Brant's demise squarely on his own shoulders, for as Douglas Horton once said, "While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself".