Car engine stalls in the Morning

When I am in a cool night environment (60 degrees) in the morning my car starts immediately but before it warms up the engine sputters, white smoke starts coming out the exhaust and it conks out as if it had no gas. I crank it continuously until it eventually starts again, feed it fuel softly for a while and from there on I have no problem for the rest of the day. This does not happen at lower elevations where the climate is much warmer. Today I left the car in the sun and started it when it was hot from the sun and had no problem. I have tried to feed it fuel softly and/or pumping the accelerator when it starts to sputter, but this does not work and it conks out. Only after I crank it continuously and it stars sputtering again can I get it going. If this car has an automatic choke, then it would seem that this is failing. Thank you