THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH

Barbara is an orphan found in the desert by Jefferson Worth, who decides to take her under his wing and raise her as his daughter. When she grows up, she is courted by Abe (Gary Cooper), who works for Mr Worth. Worth has a big project in mind: to bring water to the desert through irrigation. To achieve this, he joins forces with Willard Holmes, who soon falls in love with Barbara, becoming a competitor of Abe. But Holmes’ intentions regarding the project are clear: once the work is finished, the workers will be fired. He therefore refuses to reinforce the fragile dykes in order to save money. The local men revolt and the worst happens: the dykes fail and the river overflows, flooding the town… Gary Cooper, the ideal Wild West man, the cowboy by antonomasia, who entered Hollywood through the side door of stuntmen, makes his debut in this film directed by Henry King, one of the great directors of Hollywood’s golden age.