Gary Cooper and Lauren BaCall in the 1950 movie classic, "Bright Leaf" Bright Leaf is a 1950 American drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall and Patricia Neal.[1][2] It is based on a 1949 novel of the same name by Foster Fitz-Simons. The title comes from the type of tobacco grown in North Carolina after the American Civil War. The plot is loosely based on the rivalry of tobacco tycoons Washington Duke and John Harvey McElwee, according to Bright Leaves, a 2003 documentary by Ross McElwee.