The Day Gary Cooper Liberated Poland

For some strange reason, the image of Gary Cooper on that famous Solidarity poster popped into my head today. So I Googled it and was surprised to see that today is in fact the twentieth anniversary of the elections, and the successful Solidarity candidacy in those elections, that the poster promoted. The poster is doubly iconic, both because of its historical significance and because the image of Cooper from 1952’s “High Noon” was already iconic when the poster was produced. If you haven’t seen “High Noon,” by the way, go see it. Right now. And shame on you.

This being that anniversary, it’s a good day to recollect how much passion, honor, and gritty philosophy went into those old Westerns, how much they can still teach us today, and how much good the American Western has done not just for America, but for the world: the image of Cooper walking alone down that dusty black and white street is a reminder that sometimes when you do good, you have to do it alone.

So God Bless all those brave Polish souls who twenty years ago dared to defy their communist overlords and do the right thing, setting in motion a chain of events that liberated millions, and will yet liberate millions more. And God Bless America, and God Bless Gary Cooper. And damn, what a great hat.