We've seen this plot before. Many times before. Pampered woman weds an ordinary man. Even the title, The Cowboy and the Lady, makes it clear what this film is about. However, this 1938 film, starring Gary Cooper and Merle Oberon,  starts out with a light-hearted flair that snares the viewer, having the feeling of a Cary Grant/Kathryn Hepburn romp.

Mary Smith (Merle Oberon) is the daughter of a judge with high political aspirations. As his hostess, she's had little time to develop a social life of her own. Her uncle, respectable but less uptight than his snooty brother, takes pity on Mary and escorts her to a gambling club so that she can see how people her own age have fun. The place is raided, and Mary is whisked away to the family's Palm Beach estate before the press can create a career-damaging scandal for the judge.

Merle Oberon &

Gary Cooper

Bored, Mary convinces her two maids to take her along on their blind date with a trio of cowboys who are in town for a rodeo. The maids offer a few social tips to the lady they tactfully say, "doesn't exactly sizzle." She sure does sizzle the moment she lays eyes on the handsome cowboy Stretch (Gary Cooper), and it doesn't take long before they fall in love. Mary has led Stretch to believe she's just another maid and doesn't tell him the truth even when they elope. She sets up dubious housekeeping in a rodeo camp, and the couple are happy until Mary gets word that her father and his political cronies are coming to Palm Beach where he expects her to resume her hostessing duties. Still not telling Stretch who she really is, Mary sets off for Palm Beach, promising to meet him in Wyoming in a week.

Until this point, the film is amusing, charming, and engages the viewer's interest. But once Mary returns to Palm Beach the film falls as flat as Mary did when she plopped in the mud in rodeo camp. Cowboys stereotypically are supposed to be swaggering and macho. Cooper's lanky good looks fill the bill, but Stretch's behavior is nerdy. The inevitable happy ending, when it finally comes, just happens. No build up. No teary resolution about her lies.

One of the most interesting aspects of classic movies is the presentation of life as it was at the time the film was made. The fashions, the modes of transportation, the social customs. The Cowboy and Lady is worth a look just to see a slice of 1938 life.

Director: H. C. Potter

Writer: Screenplay by S. N. Berman and Sonya Levein from a story by Leo McCarey and Frank R. Adams

Cast: Gary Cooper, Merle Oberon, Patsy Kelly, Walter Brennan, Fuzzy Knight, Mabel Todd 

Rating: Not Rated, suitable for all ages 

Classic Movie Guide Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars 

Run Time: 92 minutes 

Studio: MGM 

Format: Black & White, full frame screen