# The Virginian (UCLA film restoration)

The Virginian is a 1929 American pre-Code Western film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Gary Cooper, Walter Huston, and Richard Arlen. The film was based on the 1902 novel The Virginian by Owen Wister and adapted from the popular 1904 theatrical play that Wister and Kirke La Shelle had collaborated. The Virginian is about a good-natured cowboy who romances the new schoolmarm and has a crisis of conscience when he learns his best friend is involved in cattle rustling. The film is considered to be Gary Cooper's breakthrough role, and it is well known for Cooper's line "If you wanna call me that—smile", in response to a cuss by the antagonist.

- Kind: Feature
- Year: 1929
- Runtime: 1 h 31 min
- By: Victor Fleming
- Genres: Western
- Archive: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Virginian_(UCLA_film_restoration).webm)
- Licence or status: Public domain (as the archive states it)
- Made from: The Virginian, Owen Wister's novel of 1902: free in the United States, as it was first published in 1902, and its US term of 95 years has ended (17 U.S.C. §304(b), §305).
- Credit: Victor Fleming
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/commons/157462423?play=1)