Cooper shines in DVD releases

Gary Cooper would have been 106 this month, which isn't generally a celebratory year. So it's anyone's guess why Coop is the subject of a slew of DVDs released this week on a couple of labels.

But let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say.

The taciturn actor's best and brightest films — "High Noon," "Friendly Persuasion," Sergeant York," "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," "Pride of the Yankees" and many others — are already on DVD, of course. And both Warner and Universal have already devoted box sets to his work.

But there are many worthy titles among those newly released this week — including one of my personal all-time favorite Cooper films, "Ball of Fire." Only two of these titles are DVD reissues — "Ball of Fire" and "Vera Cruz."

"Ball of Fire" (MGM, 1941, b/w, $19.98). This hilarious comedy, believe it or not, is derived from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Barbara Stanwyck is a crass stripper on the run who hides out with a houseful of staid professors (led by Cooper), and tries to help them understand slang for their new encyclopedia. Funny stuff, directed at a rapid pace by Howard Hawks and co-written by Billy Wilder. Great cast includes Dana Andrews, Dan Duryea, Oscar Homolka, S.Z. Sakall and Henry Travers.

Extras: Full frame

"Unconquered" (Universal, 1947, $14.98). Typically overblown but colorful and entertaining Cecil B. DeMille epic set in Colonial America, with emphasis on a torrid romance between frontiersman Cooper and the slave (Paulette Godard) he rescues. Boris Karloff shows up as an Indian!

Extras: Full frame, new introduction (by Turner Classics Movies host Robert Osborne)

"Casanova Brown" (MGM, 1944, b/w, $19.98). Domestic comedy casts Cooper and Teresa Wright as a divorcing couple who discover she's pregnant. As tentative as you'd expect but still amusing. Frank Morgan costars.

Extras: Full frame

"The Adventures of Marco Polo" (MGM, 1938, b/w, $19.98). This look at the adventurer's exploits in China is treated as comedy-drama, with uneven results, but it's still fun, with Cooper and Basil Rathbone as fine adversaries.

Extras: Full frame

"The Wedding Night" (MGM, 1935, b/w, $19.98). Entertaining Hollywood romance with Cooper and Anna Stern playing star-crossed lovers.

Extras: Full frame