Cary Grant ~ 68 Films

Cary Grant ~ 68 Films
Cary Grant is one of the most consistent stars from the Golden Age
of the Hollywood Studio System. Perhaps more than any other actor,
he understood that what he was presenting to the public was an
image. Quite famously, he has been quoted as saying, "Everybody
wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant." What this
means for fans of the legendary actor is that when we sit down and
watch one of his films, good or bad, we know what we can expect of
Cary Grant. His long-lasting appeal is down to his striking good
looks, his dashing poise and a natural gift for both romance and
comedy. Cary Grant can make you laugh even while he sweeps you
off your feet.
Archibald "Archie" Leach was born on 18 January 1904 at 15 Hughenden Road
in the Bristol suburb of Horfield. He was the second child of Elias and Elsie
Leach (their first having died in 1900). His father worked as a tailor's presser at
a clothes factory while his mother was from a family of shipwrights.
Archie had an unhappy upbringing. His father was an alcoholic and his mother
suffered from clinical depression. His father placed her in a mental institution
and first told the nine-year-old that she had gone away on a "long holiday" and
later that she had died. When Archie was ten, his father remarried and started
a new family that did not include young Archibald. Little is known about how
he was cared for, or by whom. Archie did not learn his mother was still alive
until he was 31, when, shortly before his own death, his father confessed to
the lie. He told Leach that he could find her in a care home. At this point she
was 57. She eventually died, aged 95, in 1973.
He had such a traumatic childhood, it was horrible. I work with a
lot of kids on the street and I've heard a lot of stories about what
happens when a family breaks down, but his was just horrendous.
And he never really dealt with those things. He tried to. That's the
reason he tried LSD. He thought it was a gateway to God. (Grant's
fourth wife, Dyan Cannon)
It is alleged that, after being expelled from school aged fourteen, Archie lied
about his age and forged his father's signature in order to join the Bob Pender
Stage Troupe, with whom he performed as a stilt walker. In 1920, aged sixteen,
he toured with the group through the United States, entering through Ellis
Island on 28 July. When the troupe returned home, Archie decided to stay on in
the U.S. to pursue a stage career. He performed in vaudeville and then on
stage at The Muny in St. Louis in shows such as Irene, Music In May, Nina Rosa,
Rio Rita, Street Singer, The Three Musketeers and Wonderful Night. Leach's
previous experience as a stilt walker, acrobat, juggler and mime taught him
"phenomenal physical grace and exquisite comic timing" as well as the value of
teamwork - all skills that would benefit him in Hollywood.
After appearing in several Broadway musicals under his own name, Leach went
to Hollywood in 1931 when he signed for Paramount. When advised to change
his name, he proposed "Cary Lockwood", the character he had played opposite
Fay Wray in a show called Nikki. The Paramount bosses decided that "Cary"
was acceptable but that "Lockwood" was not and gave their new actor a list of
surnames to choose from. He selected "Grant". Leach became a naturalised
United States citizen on 26 June 1942, at which time he also legally changed his
name from "Archibald Alexander Leach" to "Cary Grant".
Grant appeared as a leading man opposite Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus
(1932) and his stardom was given a further boost when Mae West chose him to
lead in two of her most successful films: She Done Him Wrong and I'm No
Angel (both 1933), the success of which reputedly saved Paramount from
bankruptcy. The studio put Grant in a series of unsuccessful films until 1936,
when he moved to Columbia. His first major comedy hit came when he was
loaned to Hal Roach's studio for 1937's Topper.
Another pivotal film in Grant's career was The Awful Truth, which established
his enduring screen persona as a sophisticated light comedy leading man. As
Grant later wrote, "I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be and I finally
became that person. Or he became me. Or we met at some point." Grant is
said to have based his characterisation in The Awful Truth on the mannerisms
and intonations of the film's director, Leo McCarey, whom he resembled
physically. As writer/director Peter Bogdanovich noted: "After The Awful Truth,
when it came to light comedy, there was Cary Grant and then everyone else."
The Awful Truth began what The Atlantic later called "the most spectacular run
ever for an actor in American pictures". During the next four years, Grant
appeared in several classic romantic and screwball comedies including Holiday
and Bringing Up Baby (both 1938, opposite Katharine Hepburn), The Philadelphia Story (1940) with Hepburn and James Stewart, His Girl Friday (1940)
with Rosalind Russell and My Favorite Wife (1940), which reunited him with
Irene Dunne, his co-star in The Awful Truth. During this time, he also made the
adventure films Gunga Din (1939) with Douglas Fairbanks Junior and Only
Angels Have Wings (1939) with Jean Arthur and Rita Hayworth and dramas
Penny Serenade (1941) with Dunne, and Suspicion (1941), the first of Grant's
four collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock. Grant was a favourite of Hitchcock,
who called him "the only actor I ever loved in my whole life". Besides Suspicion,
Grant appeared in the Hitchcock classics Notorious (1946), To Catch A Thief
(1955) and North By Northwest (1959).
In 1952, Grant co-starred with Ginger Rogers and Marilyn Monroe in Monkey
Business. In the mid-fifties, he formed his own production company, Granart
Productions, and produced a number of films, distributed by Universal, such as
Indiscreet (1958), Operation Petticoat (1959), That Touch Of Mink (1962, with
Doris Day) and Father Goose (1964). Grant was considered for the role of
James Bond in Dr. No (1962) but the idea fell through due to his age. In 1963,
he appeared opposite Audrey Hepburn in Charade. Hitchcock asked him to star
in Torn Curtain (1966) only to learn that the actor had decided to retire.
Grant was the first actor to "go independent" by not renewing his studio
contract, effectively leaving the studio system, which almost completely
controlled what an actor could or could not do. In this way, he was able to
control every aspect of his career, at the risk of not working because no
particular studio had an interest in his career long term. He decided which films
he was going to appear in, often had personal choice of directors and co-stars,
and at times even negotiated a share of the gross revenue, something
uncommon at the time. Grant received more than $700,000 for his 10% of the
gross for To Catch A Thief, while Hitchcock received less than $50,000 for
directing and producing it.
Though nominated for two Academy Awards, for Penny Serenade and None
But The Lonely Heart (1944), Grant never won a competitive Oscar. He did,
however, receive a special Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1970. Accepting
the Best Original Screenplay Oscar on 5 April 1965, Father Goose co-writer
Peter Stone quipped: "My thanks to Cary Grant, who keeps winning these
things for other people."
Grant was married five times, first to Virginia Cherrill from February 1934 to
March 1935, then from 1942 to 1945 to Barbara Hutton, who, following a $50
million inheritance from her grandfather F. W. Woolworth, was one of the
wealthiest women in the world. The couple was derisively nicknamed "Cash
and Cary" although, in an extensive prenuptial agreement, Grant refused any
financial settlement in the event of a divorce. The pair remained the "fondest
of friends". Grant always bristled at the accusation that he married for money:
"I may not have married for very sound reasons, but money was never one of
them." On 25 December 1949, he married Betsy Drake. He appeared with her
in two films - Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) and Room For One More
(1952). This would prove to be his longest marriage, ending in August 1962. In
July 1965 he eloped with Dyan Cannon in Las Vegas. Their daughter Jennifer
was born in February 1966. He frequently called Jennifer his "best production".
Grant and Cannon divorced in March 1968. In April 1981, Grant married
Barbara Harris, a British hotel public relations agent 47 years his junior. They
renewed their vows on their fifth wedding anniversary and remained wed until
Grant's death in November 1986.
Some, including Hedda Hopper and screenwriter Arthur Laurents, claimed that
Grant was bisexual. Grant was allegedly involved with costume designer OrryKelly when he first moved to Manhattan and lived with actor Randolph Scott
off and on for twelve years. Richard Blackwell wrote that Grant and Scott were
"deeply, madly in love." Scotty Bowers alleged in his 2012 memoir Full Service
that he had been intimately involved with both Grant and Scott. Cole Porter
biographer William McBrien states that Porter and Grant frequented the same
upscale house of male prostitution in Harlem, run by Clint Moore and popular
with celebrities. All of these claims were published many years after Grant had
died. Barbara Harris, Grant's widow, has disputed claims that Grant had a
relationship with Scott. When Chevy Chase joked in a TV interview about Grant
being gay, Grant sued for slander, and Chase was forced to retract his words.
However, Grant's one-time girlfriend Maureen Donaldson wrote in her memoir
An Affair to Remember: My Life with Cary Grant (1989) that Grant told her his
first two wives had accused him of being homosexual. In Chaplin's Girl, a
biography of Grant's first wife Virginia Cherrill, Miranda Seymour wrote that
Grant and Scott were only platonic friends. Former showgirl Lisa Medford
claimed Grant wanted her to have his child, but she did not want children.
Grant's daughter Jennifer wrote in her memoir Good Stuff (2011) that her
father was not gay, but admitted that he "liked being called gay". In 2012, Dyan
Cannon said that Grant was not gay. Tallulah Bankhead jokingly referred to him
as a lesbian.
After the birth of his daughter Jennifer, Grant retired from the screen to focus
on her upbringing and to provide a sense of permanency and stability in her
life. But he remained active. In the late 1960s, he accepted a position on the
board of directors at Fabergé. By all accounts this position was not honorary, as
many assumed; Grant regularly attended meetings and his mere appearance at
a product launch would almost certainly guarantee its success. The position
also permitted use of a private plane, which Grant could use to fly to see his
daughter wherever her mother, Dyan Cannon, was working. He later joined the
boards of Hollywood Park, the Academy of Magical Arts, Western Airlines and
MGM.
Grant expressed no interest in making a career comeback and rejected all
offers to appear in films and stage plays. He admitted in interviews that he
rarely attended the theatre or cinema or kept up with what was on. In 1978 he
told Times columnist Roderick Mann: "I probably have less than 70,000 hours
left on this Earth and I'm going to enjoy every one of them." In the last few
years of his life, Grant undertook tours of the United States in a one-man show,
A Conversation with Cary Grant, in which he would show clips from his films
and answer audience questions. Whilst preparing for a performance at the
Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa on the afternoon of 29 November 1986, he
felt unwell and was eventually persuaded to allow himself to be taken to the
local hospital, where, following a stroke, he died at 11:22 p.m. the same night,
aged 82. After cremation, his ashes were scattered over the Pacific. The bulk of
his estate, worth millions of dollars, went to his widow Barbara Harris and
daughter Jennifer Grant.
Film critic David Thomson referred to Grant as "the best and most important
actor in the history of the cinema." To Richard Schickel he was "the best star
actor there ever was in the movies". Howard Hawks concurred, declaring Grant
"so far the best that there isn't anybody to be compared to him." Cary Grant
remained one of Hollywood's top box-office attractions for almost 30 years.
Grant liked to poke fun at himself, saying: "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant.
Even I want to be Cary Grant." In His Girl Friday he ad-libbed: "I never had so
much fun since Archie Leach died." In Arsenic And Old Lace, a gravestone bears
the name Archie Leach. According to a famous story now believed to be
apocryphal, after seeing a telegram from a journalist to his agent asking How
old Cary Grant?, Grant replied: Old Cary Grant fine. How you? In 2001, a statue
of Grant was erected in Millennium Square, Bristol. In 2005, Premiere's list of
The 50 Greatest Movie Stars Of All Time was headed by Cary Grant.
I will never look at this without remembering the quiet patience of
directors who were so kind to me, who were kind enough to put up
with me more than once, some of them even three or four times. I
trust they and all the other directors, writers and producers and my
leading women have forgiven me for what I didn't know. You know
that I've never been a joiner or a member of any particular social
set, but I've been privileged to be a part of Hollywood's most
glorious era. (CG, Honorary Oscar acceptance speech, 1970)
THIS IS THE NIGHT (1932)
How did 28 year old Cary Grant make his first feature film entrance? You'd
probably be a long time guessing that it was with a bag of javelins over his arm
(above) and singing. His character, a Paris-based Olympic athlete, is being
cuckolded by lounge lizard Roland Young who, when challenged, claims it's all a
misunderstanding and that his imminent trip to Venice was never going to be
with Grant's wife but with his own. He then has to hire an actress to stand in
for his fictitious spouse, and you can probably guess the rest. Based on a sixhanded Avery Hopwood play (itself the revision of an earlier play), the story is
slight but entertainingly performed and presented. Lili Damita (the future Mrs
Errol Flynn - see Fighting Caravans with Gary Cooper) is suitably winsome as
the wife-substitute and Charles Ruggles and Young make the most of their
louche roué / men-about-town parts. Grant doesn't have too much to do, but
does it well. His cheating wife Thelma Todd is least convincing of the leads. The
film opens with and later relapses into a strange sort of symphonie méchanique
(for more of the same, see Love Me Tonight, also set in Paris) and includes a
nice running joke about Young's chauffeur / valet tearing Mrs. Grant's clothes
off. My only complaint is that Young's disreputable character shouldn't end up
with the girl, who deserves better. Even so, 78 minutes well spent.
IMDb: I always wonder when I see the lists of "the hundred best films ever made" etc.
You see, there is one thing that I have discovered over the years of delving around in
old films, and it is this. It is not possible to compile lists of the best films ever made for
the simple reason that some of the best films ever made are lying forgotten on shelves
in film libraries, and, sadly, some are lost. There are so many great films that the public
never get to see. The critics will have you believe that a picture like This Is The Night
is not particularly good and only of interest to fans of Grant or Thelma Todd. People
have forgotten all about it. The director, the star, the film are today forgotten. Then
you play it. The acting is utterly superb, the comic timing superb. The film is cleverly
and adventurously put together by the filmmakers. All the players, Grant, Todd, Young
and Ruggles are excellent. It would be wrong of me to reveal the plot, but what I will
say is that if you are not smiling or laughing at this movie from beginning to end, then
there is something wrong with you / The film is near perfect, except for the miscasting
of Young as the love interest - but perhaps that is the point of the matter: we do not
always fall in love with Maurice Chevalier / Grant makes his entrance into the world of
cinema with a light step and a sharp wit - singing about apartment keys, no less! It's a
memorable debut, followed by numerous other moments throughout the picture in
which he demonstrates much of the early promise that would soon flower into fullthrottle, megawatt star power. This Is The Night is a solid comedy of adulterous affairs
with some surprisingly risqué elements. It still holds up perfectly well, let down only by
its too-conservative ending / Witty and charming / Don't miss this pre-Code classic.
(1) Lili Damita (2) Charles Ruggles and Roland Young (3) Damita and Grant
SINNERS IN THE SUN (1932)
In this flyweight 70 minute drama, Carole Lombard (above) and Chester Morris
lead as star-crossed lovers Doris and Jimmie. When they part, he marries a rich
girl on the rebound and she starts running round town and staying out late.
Grant plays socialite Ridgeway, a small part giving him just two scenes and a
handful of lines. The usual pre-Code quota of models in skivvies strike poses
intended to titilate the punters, but given the quality of the script (from a
Mildred Cram story) and despite lavish production values, they face an uphill
struggle. Lombard, 23, here makes her fiftieth screen appearance!
IMDb: A terrible film, but Grant is a diamond in the rough / Boring and predictable / A
bit simplistic but worth a look. In just his second film, 28 year old Cary Grant is
reasonably good but nothing more / A beautifully written and sometimes magnificently
played serious movie. Chester Morris and Carole Lombard love each other, but she is
terrified of the corrosive effects of the life of poverty that she foresees with Morris, so
they break up and drift into lives as a kept woman and a gigolo. The two are almost
perfect in their roles; Chester Morris plays a character who is almost unable to phrase a
clear thought and pulls it off beautifully, for a wonderful payoff scene. Miss Lombard
only fails in one scene, towards the end, when she is contemplating suicide: I blame the
heavy-handed direction of it rather than her performance. But the movie is riddled with
wonderful performances: from the always excellent Alison Skipworth as Lombard's
supportive mother, from Reginald Barlow as the father who gives her no chance and
from Adrienne Ames and Walter Byron as the leading pair's likable seducers. Particularly good is Rita La Roy, an actress whom I have never noticed before, as a kept
woman who kills herself. Alas, this was her best part in the movies - after her career
faded out she sold yachts. Cary Grant is also present in a small role, in his second film,
but if you're not paying attention to the soundtrack you could easily miss him: his voice
was far more distinctive than his good looks at this stage of his career. There is a
happy ending, but it feels forced, which is Sinners In The Sun's one flaw. Otherwise it
is well worth your time.
MERRILY WE GO TO HELL (1932)
Journalist, drunk and would-be playwright Fredric March (above, right) marries
canned food heiress Sylvia Sidney (centre). He thinks she's swell, but can't beat
the booze. Though looking the part and nicely played, this Paramount soaper
never quite rings true. In particular, the obligatory quasi-happy ending makes a
nonsense of the film's acerbic drinking-toast title. Ninth-billed Grant has another
very small part (as actor/Lothario Charlie Baxter). 83 anodyne minutes.
IMDb: Once you get past the appalling title, this is a good picture. It's a pre-Code film
and must have been naughty in its day, but is tame by today's standards. It involves a
fairly routine love story pulled out of the doldrums by director Dorothy Arzner and by
exceptional acting performances from the two principals, Frederic March and Sylvia
Sidney. An underrated, under-appreciated movie, especially if you enjoy solid acting
and are a sucker for a pretty face / High grade pap / A not particularly inspired look at
alcoholism and co-dependency. As I watched this film, I found myself struggling to
believe the plot / The story verges into the melodramatic, but Dorothy Arzner gets
some good performances from her stars and their support / A depressing bore / Funny
drunks aren't realistic drunks. A real downer of a story, shocking in its choice of preCode sins / This highly underrated film has a lot to say about 'modern' relationships,
drinking and feminism. Though extremely well acted, its highlight is the writing,
featuring realistic characters and funny moments. It also includes one of the better
performances I've seen from Sylvia Sidney, which is a little odd as it's one of her
earliest / Wonderful and unsettling / Nothing too surprising in the plot, but good
performances all around. Arzner has a good sense of pacing, so the film doesn't drag or
slow down. Worth seeing, though more for actors than story / In spite of good actors
rising above a decidedly average script, worth seeing as a curiosity.
DEVIL AND THE DEEP (1932)
A strong cast in the hands of a capable director put across a brisk (76 minutes)
and heated look at suspicion and madness with some panache. The s & m come
from "newly-introduced eminent English character actor Charles Laughton"
(above, left) who mugs and swaggers his way through what amounts to a dry
run for his Captain Bligh to come. Stage-success, screen-flop Tallulah Bankhead
(above) and young Gary Cooper co-star, with Grant - strikingly handsome - given
a small part that helps establish Laughton's rampant paranoia. Some exotic
North African settings and a claustrophobic finale aboard a stricken sub add
value. Adapted from Maurice Larrouy novel Sirenes et Tritons. Good.
IMDb: In his Paramount debut, Laughton steals the film / Bankhead gives a crash
course in how to hold a melodrama together, commanding every scene, inflecting every
line with subtle nuances. When she must deal with menacing Laughton, the air between
them vibrates with tension. He does his share as well, but seems mannered in a familiar
way. Only the radiant young Cary Grant in a dazzling naval uniform steals attention
from the leading lady in a brief appearance. Cooper, though persuasive as the romantic
hero, soon gets submerged in a disappointingly shallow character. The eye is seduced
by cameraman Charles Lang's repertoire of shadows, the heart is stirred by a star
performance, but in the end the head may resist: the terse dialogue tries for Hemingway but remains stubbornly pedestrian and remarkably humourless. The devil is in the
dialogue! / Cooper is wooden, awkward and handsome as usual and Grant does well in
a smallish supporting role / Starts slowly but turns out dandy / Enormous fun. Charles
Lang's expert cinematography is a master class in how to get major effect from minor
effort but, even if less than high art, Devil And The Deep is most worth seeking for
Bankhead shining, simmering, sulking, seducing, sinking and swimming / Laughton's
performance reaches hysterical heights. This film should be better known.
BLONDE VENUS (1932)
Between 1930 and 1935, Austrian-born Josef von Sternberg directed Germanborn Marlene Dietrich (above) in seven films, including The Blue Angel, Morocco
and Shanghai Express. The fifth (and the only one set in the U.S.) was Blonde
Venus. Dietrich plays a doting mother, loving wife and ex-cabaret singer who
sells herself to millionaire politician Grant to raise money for life-saving medical
treatment for her husband. He's played by sobersides Herbert Marshall, who
here as elsewhere (see the Stanwyck file) expertly hides the fact that he lost a
leg in WWI. Grant, third billed, is once again "the other man" - the smooth and
unprincipled third side in a love triangle - but his time is coming soon. Visually
striking but overly sentimental. With Hattie McDaniel. 90 minutes.
IMDb: Acting under the flamboyant direction of her mentor, Josef von Sternberg,
legendary Marlene Dietrich fascinates as a tender mother fiercely protecting her small
child while spending her evenings as a seductive stage siren, captivating audiences in
America and France. She is equally good in both postures, her perfect face registering
deep maternal love and sphinx-like allure. Dietrich is incredibly gentle crooning an old
German lullaby at her son's bedside, while the contrasting image of her emerging from
an ape suit to sing Hot Voodoo in a nightclub is one of the pre-Code era's most bizarre
images. Paramount gave the film lavish if slightly decadent production values. The live
chickens flapping about in Dietrich's apartment during the French Quarter sequence are
a nice touch / Two Brit actors compete for Dietrich's attention. Distinguished Herbert
Marshall, with a voice like liquid honey, is ideally cast as her conflicted husband.
Playing a chemist poisoned by radium, his face reveals his humiliation at having to be
supported by his wife; later, he manifests pent-up rage when he discovers her 'betrayal'.
Cary Grant, on the cusp of becoming a major star, plays a powerful political boss
whose arrogance mellows as he pursues Marlene's affections. Josef von Sternberg
would, no doubt, dismiss this film as one of his lesser works, yet, to me, Blonde Venus
defines his relationship with Dietrich. The combined attraction of the harlot-mother
gives Marlene's acting both sexual radiance and that intimate, moody quality that is so
unique to her. Just watch her in the scenes with her boy. She is lovely and glamorous
yet totally attentive to the child's needs, protective and unselfconscious in a way that
only Carole Lombard (see Made For Each Other) managed back in those days. Her
presence is so strong that she makes the male stars seem awkward and rigid. Marshall
(probably from lack of directorial attention) looks ill at ease while Grant sails through
the movie unblessed by inspiration. This is Marlene's film through and through. The
plot is silly beyond words (suffering in mink, writ large!) but she makes it memorable.
Her close-ups in the scene at the railway station when she realises she has lost her
family tell it all - a lost soul with nowhere to go but down. Von Sternberg (or some
intrusive producer) tacked on a happy ending, but the movie really ended there. The
rest is just wish fulfilment / Grant is like a knick-knack, good to look at but quite
useless. He walks through the movie, beautifully dressed and photographed, but
delivers his lines without any passion or belief. He spreads his charm with that
nonchalance that will be his future and unforgettable footprint / It was during this film
that Grant's appearance was altered when von Sternberg changed the parting in his hair
from the left side to the right, where it remained for his lifetime.
Blond Venus ... is a muddled, unimaginative and generally hapless piece of work,
relieved somewhat by the talent and charm of Marlene Dietrich and Herbert Marshall's
valiant work in a thankless role. It wanders from Germany to many places in America,
over to France and then back to New York, but nary a whit of drama is there in it.
There is good photography, and for those who are partial to scenes in a theatre, there
are some over which Mr. von Sternberg has taken no little care. But the pain of it is the
dismal and suspenseless tale of a woman who sinks to selling her favours and finally
ends by returning to her husband. There is scarcely any sympathy evoked for the
characters, except for the little boy. Most of the scenes are unedifying, without
possessing any strength or a common sense idea of psychology. It is regrettable that
Miss Dietrich, Mr. Marshall and others should have been called upon to appear in such
a vehicle. (Mordaunt Hall, The New York Times, 26 September 1932)
MADAME BUTTERFLY (1932)
Whilst on two months shore leave in Yokohama, Lieutenant Pinkerton (Grant)
"marries" geisha Cho-Cho San (Sylvia Sidney, above - see also Merrily We Go To
Hell). Once back stateside, he weds his childhood sweetheart, not knowing that
Cho-Cho is determined to await his return. Three years later, with the fleet
back in port, the two meet again. She sees his wife, he does not see their son.
He leaves, she takes her life. A tepid tearjerker. 82 minutes. Grant sings.
IMDb: A tragic, romantic story about loyalty and how some cultures don't understand
others / Run of the mill / In 1900 David Belasco opened a one act play at the Herald
Square Theatre on Broadway for a successful month's run. It was based in turn on an
1898 short story of the same name by John Luther Long. Thus was Madame Butterfly
born. The melodrama hit an emotional chord not only in the U.S. but around the world;
in Italy in 1904 Giacomo Puccini used the story (and, some scholars suggest, actual
events in Nagasaki in the late 1800s) for his opera Madame Butterfly, which was
staged on Broadway five times from 1918 to 1948. This becomes significant when one
sees how well the themes from the opera are used in this film version, a solid, still
entertaining presentation of an important, touching play that holds heightened interest
because of the world famous opera drawn from it / The screenplay makes little attempt
to disguise its theatrical origin, although Russian-born director Marion Gering does a
competent job of approximating the look and feeling of war-era Japan. If the film has a
primary shortcoming, it is that it feels a little flat when performed as a straight drama.
Although well-written and reasonably paced, the drama fails to soar to the appropriate
level of intensity without the accompanying swell of the opera. But there is still much
to recommend in this touching picture, primarily the terrific performance of Sidney,
worth seeing on its own merit / A trifle slow at times / A curio / Good.
SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933)
Set in an 1890s Bowery music hall, this redolent but dated period spoof runs
just 62 minutes. Statuesque Mae West does her idiosyncratic stuff (some will
love it, others not) with Grant in another small part that, while allegedly "starmaking", is no more impressive than his turns in Devil And The Deep or Blonde
Venus. Perhaps it's just that this Best Picture Oscar-nominated film was way
more popular. Maltin's four stars seem to me one too many.
IMDb: Mae West (above) was a veteran of burlesque, vaudeville and the Broadway
stage by the time she made her first film in 1932 at the age of 39. She Done Him
Wrong was her second film and her first starring role in an adaptation of her smash
Broadway hit Diamond Lil. It was a play that West had written herself and it played to
packed houses on Broadway for years. Nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award,
She Done Him Wrong made Cary Grant into an instant star. Mae went on to write nine
of the twelve screenplays for films in which she was to star. Thus, all those great
quotes we've heard that are attributed to her were not only said by her, but written by
her as well. By 1935, she was the most highly paid woman in America. Full of the
bawdy double entendre that became her trademark, this film is among her finest. West
was the queen of sexual innuendo and suggestive dialogue and many of her lines (Is
that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me? / A hard man is good to find
/ Come up and see me sometime) have become part of Americana. The simplistic plot
of this film is clearly no more than a vehicle for her enormous talent, leading up to the
now famous proposal by Grant at the end. Mae commands every frame with her
incomparable combination of sex appeal and ribald humour. Her sense of comic timing
is impeccable, making the funny lines she writes that much more hilarious by the snide
way in which she delivers them. Before this film, Grant had appeared in half a dozen
movies and was building a reputation as a solid actor. However, none of his early films
gave him the exposure that She Done Him Wrong did, due to its wild popularity at the
time. West handpicked him for the part saying that he combined virility with the
bearing of a gentleman. She wanted someone who would epitomise the now famous
line Hello, warm, dark and handsome. Though his role here is minor compared to hers,
it made him a household name and bankable star. Among Mae West's best moments,
this classic movie is a piece of film history that should not be missed.
Mae West : sassy, brassy, statuesque - a "natural star"
It appears that some modern day critics have forgotten what a great period film is all
about. This very authentic replica of the Gay (18) Nineties is accurate right down to
the horsehair furniture, gas lamps, Brooklyn accents and costumes. It was adapted
from Mae West's Broadway hit Diamond Lil and, coupled with her other 1933 hit I'm
No Angel, saved Paramount from bankruptcy. The film - West's favourite of all her
twelve - was so loved by audiences that midnight showings were needed to accommodate the crowds and was considered so lurid that seven countries banned it altogether.
The film introduced the famed line Come up and see me sometime. Some of Mae's
funniest work is here, and she sings three great tunes. Edith Head did all the costumes
and Lowell Sherman directed. Modern times have dulled the bluntness of this film but
in 1933, rest assured, it was an eye-popper / If you never understood why Mae West
achieved lasting fame, watch this to see a natural star at work / A serious test of my
patience. Mae's one-liners, although bordering on slick, were those of a person desiring
a kick in the chops / A light hearted comedy that keeps you interested, smiling, and
wanting to see it again. The camerawork and sound are superb for this time period /
Worth watching once for a couple of reasons: first, the movie may be pretty bad but
West is excellent. She also has a few nice musical numbers. Second, to see Grant in his
first major role - yet little wonder this was his least favourite film. He looks terrible, as
though made of clay. If not for that cleft chin, you'd struggle to recognise him.
THE WOMAN ACCUSED (1933)
Glenda (Nancy Carroll, above) has just found love with Jeff (Grant) when an
insistent old flame re-enters her life. When she tries to give him the brush-off,
he calls up a hitman acquaintance and is about to issue instructions for Jeff to
be rubbed out when she stoves his head in. She then takes off with unknowing
Jeff on a three day booze cruise - but the dead man's lawyer friend has worked
out whodunit and sets off in pursuit. Fraught, improbable fun. 73 minutes.
IMDb: For Grant fans, a must see / Based on a serial in Liberty magazine to which ten
well known authors each contributed a chapter, The Woman Accused is a scrappy,
somewhat foregone she-didn't-mean-to-do-it with a few clever twists here and there.
By and large, Carroll, Grant and John Halliday as Bessemer manage rather well / The
performances are all agreeable, with a young Grant emerging as a formidable presence
in the film's final quarter / Entertaining / Pretty good / Classy / Recommended.
*****
The Woman Accused : Proof That It's Pre-Code:
 Someone gets murdered and someone gets away with it, even
though accused. You may say that I'm spoiling the film, but, come
on, it's not called The Woman Convicted, now, is it?
 Unapologetically decadent. Lavish parties, penthouse suites and a
huge cruise ship with a boat on board and everything. Man, I
didn't even know there were cruise ships in the '30s.
 The mobsters and the police are closely knit, though this may be
because the police seem to be just a gaggle of morons.
 One fellow jokes: "A beautiful girl is supposed to be suing a banker
for three million dollars. The real trick is finding a banker with any
money!"
 Man forgives his future wife for previously living with a man.
 On a woman and a man left in a room alone together: "The way
things are going nowadays, you don't know who's going to
scream first!"
The Woman Accused is a murder mystery where (as in Columbo) we know the
murderer. She's cornered by an old flame who knows how to push her buttons
and finds a big red one where her new fiancé is concerned. He calls up a
hitman to do away with the new fiancé and with a scream and surge of anger
the old flame is dead.
Glenda is in shock about her new-found strength. Who knew a society belle
had the ability to murder someone? It wasn't self defence, per se, but she was
committing a murder to stop a murder. Morally, that should cover some bases,
right?
In reading up on the Production Code, I came across a quote that summarised
an article in The Nation denouncing some of the requirements of the Code. It
argued that if film criminals could never be portrayed in a sympathetic way,
then "law" and "justice" in films would come to mean the same thing.
As a culture, it's hard to argue that the perception doesn't persist. While we
get films that dote on the criminal with the heart of gold, rarely are these the
hardened career criminals and murderers like you'd find in the Warner Brothers
gangster pictures of the '30s. Bad guys nowadays still have a minimum height
of good before getting onto the ride.
The Woman Accused doesn't directly linger on the culpability of a murderer,
but it espouses a moral relativity that sounds good on paper: the life of a mob
boss is worth less than that of a good man. Watch any movie made in the last
80 years: this hasn't changed.
But I'm letting the movie get away from me. The Woman Accused unfolds
mostly in real time, saving us some transitions but keeping Glenda's recent
deed at the forefront of her every action. Her darling new fiancé is Cary Grant,
still in his serious acting days and a touch better here than in Born To Be Bad.
He's planning on taking her on a cruise, and gives her a little bit to prepare.
It's at this point that Glenda gets called upstairs, as her old flame has not only
returned from Europe but has generously moved in right above her. Nancy
Carroll plays Glenda with big doe eyes, but when she loses control and hits the
man over the head, her flash of anger works. The director Paul Sloane does
something interesting with the murder itself, allowing it to be off centre, as she
hits him just off screen, illustrating how Glenda has lost control to the point
that the camera doesn't even know what's coming next.
The rest of the film can't really live up to its opening, as Glenda is whisked off
on the cruise, and the police are called in by the corpse's friend. The police
suspect Glenda but let her go on with her cruise - no need to bring her in quite
yet, after all, she is rich and white - while the accuser goes aboard the boat,
determined to bring her down.
The end of the film is unbearably silly. There's a mock trial staged by the accuser
so convoluted that I'm sure any writer attempting this in a novel nowadays
would be laughed out of the room. The accuser slowly morphs the mock trial
into one using the circumstances of his friend's death and Glenda, cornered,
fesses up to the whole thing. The rest deals with just how much punishment
the murderer of a murderer deserves: believe it or not, it's precious little.
There's not much stopping The Woman Accused from being dismissed as a
hoary relic. Despite odd bits of flair now severely out of style (such as opening
credits for "The Man", "The Woman" and "The Accuser") and while it includes a
few token thrills, the leaden second and third acts detract from them badly.
This is just the type of film they now make TV shows out of.
Danny, Pre-Code.com, 11 June 2011
*****
THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK (1933)
France, 1918: Fredric March (left, above - see also Merrily We Go To Hell) plays
a conflicted American RFC pilot and Grant his more callous observer in this
superior "war is hell" film that stands up despite some indifferent acting from
the undercast. With Carole (Sinners In The Sun) Lombard. 73 minutes.
IMDb: The Eagle And The Hawk is a well-made, well-acted gem with decent aerial
footage, a wonderful, anguished performance by March and a strong anti-war message.
Its ending has a pair of surprises that are well worth the price of admission / One of the
best films of its day, The Eagle And The Hawk contains March's most impressive
performance, nicely set against Grant who had yet to make his own screen presence
identifiable. Though only 73 minutes, the film does not have the feeling of slightness.
Its tempo is impeccable / The dialogue is terrible, the acting bad, the plot predictable
and all the Dawn Patrol clichés are there. But good fun and well worth seeing, if you
like that sort of thing / The ending makes the movie / Grant plays very much against
type. A few years later the public would never have accepted him in the part he plays
here / A terrific, criminally underrated film ripe for rediscovery / Hard-hitting and
emotional, one of the best films of its decade / March is fantastic. It's a shame he's not
better remembered. Lombard's (part-censored) role is pretty pointless and doesn't mesh
with the rest of the film / Fine viewing / The ending is stunning and unexpected / A
sincere, believable antiwar film that gets its message across more powerfully than a
hundred preachier others. Should be better known / Powerful and profound, this fine
drama ranks up there with Wings and All Quiet On The Western Front / In the original
ending, the camera pans out from the plaque to show Grant's character walk by with a
bottle in a bag. He has become a hobo and seems to regret what he did / Amazing.
GAMBLING SHIP (1933)
Desperately drab B-movie fare has mobster Grant leaving Chicago after beating
a phoney murder rap and hooking up on the train to California with a gal who's
not what she seems. Rival offshore casino boat owners clash, there's a bomb,
some gunplay and the loving pair ride off together into the night - but a good
cure for insomnia, even so. 70 minutes.
IMDb: A relatively routine crime drama that manages to infuse a rather thin plot with
an average degree of tension and pathos. The film does perhaps take a bit too long to
cover a far too familiar storyline, but it is reasonably well directed, and is made further
palatable its adept cast, all of whom turn in highly respectable performances that
manage to engage the viewer in the plights of the various characters. Cary Grant and
Benita Hume are endearing as the protagonists attempting to escape their pasts, Jack
La Rue and Arthur Vinton are convincing mobsters, and decent comic relief is
provided by Roscoe Karns and Charles Williams. The slightly grating Glenda Farrell is
the only major cast member who misses the boat while providing one of her usual
tough gal characterisations that feels out of place in these proceedings. The film is not
particularly memorable once it reaches its expected conclusion but its well-cast
ensemble makes it reasonably enjoyable while it's playing / A tidy web of a plot.
Deception abounds, but luckily the audience is the first to know. It's fun waiting for the
characters to discover their mutual deceptions. Every principal character is a racketeer;
there are no innocents. Grant's character is, of course, the most charming criminal of
the bunch / A weather-beaten hulk that deserves to be decently retired from active
service, Gambling Ship steers an erratic course in too familiar waters, takes a terribly
long time to traverse a course accurately charted years an uncomfortable number of
years ago and, in brief, could be scuttled with almost no loss to Broadway (NY Times).
I'M NO ANGEL (1933)
More fun than the less than fully realised She Done Him Wrong, Grant's second
and last run-out with Mae West (above) gives him a better role - though he
only appears in the 49th minute, he's good value after that. West wrote the
screenplay as another starring vehicle for her character - presumably the only
one she played - that of a brazenly suggestive bottle-blonde honky-tonk dame,
a freewheeling showgirl with a heart of gold but sassy mouth, ready to fleece
the saps for all they're worth. With Edward Arnold. 88 minutes. Very good.
IMDb: Mae West was an unlikely sex symbol. She was a small woman with a face that
defied most standards of beauty and an unremarkable body - and by the time she hit
film she was edging into middle age. But as West herself might have said, it ain't what
ya got, its what ya do with it. If anybody knew what to do with it, Mae West certainly
did and I'm No Angel finds her doing it in remarkably fine style indeed. West made a
number of justly famous films during the 1930s, but this is arguably her best, salted
with one memorable quip after another as she cracks whips, snubs snobs, frolics with
her maids - "Peel me a grape!" - and waylays the willing Cary Grant with considerable
aplomb. If you've never seen a Mae West movie but have always wondered what made
her a great star, this is the film to see / A pre-Code comedy that has stood the test of
time. The courtroom scene in which West acts as her own attorney is priceless / The
great stars are inimitable. With the very greatest, such as the outrageous one-of-a-kind
Mae West, nobody else even mirrors the style. Bogart, Hepburn, Dietrich, Cagney,
maybe a few others - all you ask is that the story not smother what they do best. Here
is West's finest movie, giving her the opportunities, sometimes denied elsewhere, to
strut her stuff - all of it: suggestive dialogue, provocative poses, sashaying hips and a
young Cary Grant to make her purr. The Production Code would not be far behind.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1933)
A pleasant though uneven trip with Alice through her looking glass and into
Wonderland, where we meet Ned Sparks as Caterpillar, Edward Everett Horton
as The Mad Hatter, W.C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty, Gary Cooper as The White
Knight and a great value Cary Grant as The Mock Turtle (in a part allegedly
turned down by Bing Crosby as beneath his dignity). Though his face is never
seen, Grant's single three and a half minute scene is lots of fun. Though it will
surely not be everyone's cup of tea and was a box-office flop, the film must be
considered a success. 76 minutes.
IMDb: In a role difficult by any stretch of the imagination, young Charlotte Henry does
very well as Alice, utilising the character's spunk and determination in holding her own
against a supporting cast of seasoned veterans and inveterate scene stealers. Spirited
and charming, with few hints visible of Victorian decorum, she is never boring. W.C.
Fields has received much acclaim for his performance as Humpty Dumpty, and, indeed,
his raspy voice and personality fit the character perfectly, but Edward Everett Horton's
Mad Hatter and May Robson's Queen of Hearts are equally enjoyable - perhaps more
so, as we can see their facial expressions / True to the sensibility of many early
Paramount comedies, this Alice mingles giddy humour with a touch of lyricism, never
cloying or saccharine, just endearingly sweet / I stopped with my head in my upturned
palms to stare hard three times: at W.C. Fields to try and figure if it really was him I
was seeing, at Grant to try and figure if it really was him I was hearing and at Cooper
because his character was the best portrayal - the only one to seem to care for Alice, he
was funny, gentle and oh, all those falls! / It's sad that so many dislike this astonishing
film. Other Alices exist, but all fall short of the original stories. Paramount's faithfully
adapted Christmas treat is still savoury after all these years.
BORN TO BE BAD (1934)
In this smart little pre-Code soaper, Loretta Young (above) plays a hard-nosed,
scheming single mother who imparts her warped values to her seven year old
son. After he is knocked down by an Amalgamated Dairies Inc. truck that just
happens to be driven by company President Malcolm Trevor (Grant), the pair
sue for damages, but after their lies are exposed in court, Loretta is adjudged
an unfit mother and laddo is taken into care. Soft-hearted gent Trevor, married
but childless, adopts him. In order to get the child back, Loretta cold-bloodedly
seduces Trevor, only to have an abrupt change of heart when his loyal and
adoring wife Alyce tells her a few home truths. Though its plot forces both lead
characters to act improbably and unnaturally (thus not very credibly), the film
as a whole is surprisingly good. 62 minutes.
IMDb: Grant does a good job as the male lead who is not a star, but who is supposed
to support the acting of the lead. He comes off as thoughtful, kind and wise. Young,
however, cannot quite pull off her leading role as the woman who, kicked around by
life, decides to kick back / This flawed second feature sustains interest only thanks to
the attractive stars. Still, not a bad way to spend an hour / A short but fascinating film it's pre-Code and Loretta Young plays a tramp. It's also a pairing of two of the golden
era's stars before they really hit the big time / Grant here is not quite yet the Cary Grant
who is rightly a fable in the history of Hollywood, but he is of course handsome and
well matched with Young / An uneven melodrama, Born To Be Bad stays afloat thanks
to its talented cast and some interesting, surprisingly risqué pre-Code moments. It
clearly takes place in some fantasy realm where logic is thrown out the window in lieu
of standard plot devices. All of the good folks are ceremonious saints who only err
when corrupted by a devilish woman like Young, whereas she inexplicably becomes a
model citizen in the last reel just for having known such jake people. It makes no
logical sense but proves blissfully entertaining camp cinema just the same / A very fast
paced and enjoyable film likely to shock most audiences today because of its odd moral
compass and less than likable characters / A fine film marred only by its weak, rushed
ending / Young is perfect in this naughty pre-Coder / A fantastic film though drastically
unbelievable in parts / A historical curiosity in which radiant Young delights.
KISS AND MAKE-UP (1934)
Dr. Lamar (Grant) is a celebrated Parisian beautician who comes eventually to
realise that his work and existence are frivolous - but we take an hour of
tedious viewing to get there. Despite some diverting musical interludes, the
always welcome Edward Everett Horton (above - see also Holiday etc) and a
gratuitous Keystonesque last reel car chase, there's precious little substance
here. With Helen Mack (above - see also His Girl Friday) and Genevieve Tobin.
From a Stephen Bekeffi play. 70 minutes.
IMDb: A very silly, virtually plotless comedy dealing with cosmetics / If you pick up
on the parody, you'll see past the shallowness and find a handsome rom-com with
plenty to enjoy / The movie includes two songs: the campy Corned Beef And Cabbage
sung by Mack and Horton and Love Divided By Two, sung twice by Grant. In spite of
his reputation as a debonair leading man, exemplary screwball comedian and fine heavy
dramatic actor, Grant shows here how well he can sing, and how too sparingly he did it
on screen. Kiss And Make-Up is the sort of harmless fun that results when writers
throw in anything to stretch a story out to the required 70 minutes. It's a sort of offbeat
film Grant might have looked back at and asked "Did I really do that?" / Vies with
Once Upon A Time as Grant's worst film. The slapstick finale is truly one of the most
wretched scenes of his wonderful career / Disarmingly silly. Mack is cute and funny, a
kind of early Holly Hunter / A minor, ill- written, pre-Code funfest / An underrated,
wacky screwball forerunner, the film benefits greatly from Grant who makes the most
of this early chance to display his grand prowess at farce - one of the many qualities
that inevitably made him a huge Hollywood star. Solid entertainment with a terrific end
sequence / See it for dazzling young Cary, but don't expect too much.
LADIES SHOULD LISTEN (1934)
In 1933, prolific author and long-time PGW collaborator Guy Bolton adapted
French play Le Demoiselle de Passy by Alfred Savoir into Ladies Should Listen.
After a provincial run but no transfer to Broadway, the property was picked up
and brought to the screen by Paramount, with Grant, Frances Drake (above)
and Edward Everett Horton (see also Alice In Wonderland, Holiday and Arsenic
And Old Lace). The conceit of the play is that telephonists know everything
about everybody - and are also capable of falling in love by nothing more than
eavesdropping. The result here is a bland and slight but consistently pleasant
drawing room farce that, at 59 minutes, does not outstay its welcome.
IMDb: Julian de Lussac (Grant), an investor with an expiring option in Chilean mineral
rights, is frolicking about with any and every beautiful woman in Paris. Unknown to
him, his current amour, Marguerite and her crooked husband Ramon are plotting to
part Julian and his mineral option. The woman who brings him to his senses is Anna,
(Frances Drake) the switchboard operator of his apartment building. She knows every
detail of his many affairs and has fallen in love with him via listening in on his phone
conversations. She knows why each love affair occurred and why each ended. She also
knows from her connections with other operators just what Marguerite and her husband are up to. Julian is flattered by Anna's adoration, but in no way returns it. From
the time that her secret love is out in the open, Anna wages war on the evil couple
trying to dupe Julian. Her weapon: the switchboard. A man with the morals of an alley
cat just needs the right woman to show him the path to true love / Fine of its type and
time / Acceptable romantic fodder / Nice old fluff / Of interest to huge Grant fans but
no one else. A misfire / Agreeable, lightweight entertainment / Fun / Not bad.
WINGS IN THE DARK (1935)
This first of three films that Grant and Myrna Loy (above) made together (see
also The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream
House) tells a contrived and far-fetched tale in an entertaining way, courtesy of
two stars easy in each other's company and on their best game. Aside from its
major credibility deficit, one to enjoy. (See the Loy file for more.) 76 minutes.
IMDb: Some beautiful scenes between the two leads and a sense of genuine emotion
on the screen before you / This movie shows that Grant had depth as a serious actor /
Cliché at best but watchable, thanks to the know-how combination of Loy and Grant
early in their movie careers / Not deep or original, but wild and exciting / Wings In The
Dark is dated because aviation has progressed so much since the mid-thirties, and it
pales beside the two classic screen comedies Grant and Loy did later. Still it offers an
interesting glimpse of both stars in their earlier years and, for Grant, an unusual bit of
casting / This movie has several amazing things going for it, and two of them have
names: Myrna Loy and Cary Grant / This is a pretty good film with both actors turning
in strong performances. Grant gets to show his dramatic flare - the man could really do
anything. Now that I've seen so many of his early films, I'm convinced he had a nose
job - his nose is definitely longer early on / A little-known '30s gem. Sure, there's a lot
of hokum in the story, but Loy as a daring aviatrix and Grant as an inventive young
pilot make it believable and compelling. Grant is working on new technology to enable
pilots to fly and land "blind" when his eyes are seared by an exploding stove. Loy's
growing affection for him runs into a cold, bitter barrier. But when she accepts a
dangerous challenge, he literally rises to the occasion and becomes her eyes in the sky.
Even some seemingly minor scenes, as when Grant reacts badly to the gift of a guide
dog, have real emotional impact and some of the aerial stunt work is spectacular.
THE LAST OUTPOST (1935)
In WWI Kurdistan, British army officer Grant is taken by hostile tribesmen then
freed by undercover Intelligence Officer Claude Rains, who then leads a band
of threatened natives to safety. After breaking a leg, Grant is shipped back to
Cairo for treatment. He falls in love with his hospital nurse and she with him regrettably, however, she is already wed, and to none other than the same
Claude Rains to whom Grant is so indebted. When the two meet again in the
Sudan, the fuzzy-wuzzies are attacking in force, the relief column is heading for
trouble and all seems lost. Who can save the day? Action, adventure, romance
and some exotic locations combine for good though familiar fun. 76 minutes.
IMDb: Grant and Rains both give superb performances, with the scenes following their
confrontation fraught with tension. Set during the Great War in a part of the world
other than Europe, this is exciting from start to finish. Certainly there are a ton of
clichés, but sometimes that is exactly what makes these movies so much fun / Plenty of
nice action here to spice up yet another wartime triangle - but super Rains could make
any kind of drivel look good / This underrated little film is extremely predictable but
Grant and Rains develop a unique and genuine on-screen chemistry that infuses much
of the picture with a invaluable sense of urgency and interest / A pretty bog-standard
tale that you've probably seen done before - but what is absolutely wonderful about
this movie is that the studio tried to save money by recycling scenes from an earlier,
silent version of the same film. So there you are, watching what seems like a lowbudget pot-boiler when suddenly you're thrust into a blurry, gritty shot of hundreds of
natives moving very quickly and jerkily for a few seconds, then back to normal tempo
and film stock. Okay, it's not much to write home about, but quite a fun effect.
SYLVIA SCARLETT (1935)
A young and vital Kate Hepburn (above) is the only thing this tiresome film has
going for it. Adapted from a Compton MacKenzie novel and directed by George
Cukor, it runs 95 minutes that seem more like 300. Grant plays a Cockney conman and she, with some ambivalence and partly in male disguise, one of his
accomplices. Plot and script are wafer-thin and support players Edmund Gwenn
and Dennie Moore hammy and grating respectively. Grant and Hepburn went
on to co-star in three more films - Bringing Up Baby, Holiday and The Philadelphia Story - all a great deal better than this justly forgotten dog.
IMDb: A disaster from beginning to end / Not for everyone, but what a film this is! / A
series of unconnected events, tied together with the loosest of threads, with no real
meaning. There is zero chemistry between the characters: Grant's is badly drawn and
Hepburn's just screechingly annoying. The rest of the cast isn't much better, though I
don't blame them. The screenplay is terrible and the film a trial to sit through / Hard to
figure out whether the movie is deep or ditzy. I have my doubts - the abrupt change
from con-men to vaudevillians would be hilarious if it weren't so bizarre - but I vote for
the former / Not worth seeing - a real shambles / Weakly scripted and bursting with
melodramatic affectation, it's hard to love this picture / A chore to get through. Maybe
the worst picture Grant and Hepburn have on their filmographies. Contrived, fake,
talky, addled, unfocused, unbelievable and annoying pretty much sum it up / Hepburn
delights in this extremely unusual little film that makes the odd transition from caper
comedy to coming of age romance, occasionally teetering back and forth between the
two. A lost gem, very much ahead of its time / Sylvia Scarlett is not a lost or underrated gem. Sometimes, a flop is just a flop - and some films are best forgotten.
BIG BROWN EYES (1936)
Grant plays a cop and Joan Bennett (above) his quick-witted gal in this gritty
little tale of jewel thievery, extortion, fraud and murder, in which justice is
served ill by the courts but rather better by enterprising Cary and Joan. With
Walter Pidgeon. 77 minutes of solid, well turned, genre entertainment.
IMDb: Mundane / Adequate / Watchable but unmemorable / The chemistry between
Grant and Bennett is breezy and natural and despite some woefully leaden dialogue,
the duo significantly better the film with their thoroughly winning performances / If
you don't literally jump out of your seat during the scene in which Douglas Fowley
exits the police station, you shouldn't be watching vintage movies. Raoul Walsh directs
with admirable style, polish and economy. Production values are first class. A must /
Lacking in entertainment value. Strictly second-rate despite a good cast / The mix of
comedy and drama is an uneasy one / An uneven movie carried by Grant / Essentially
trivial though with some nice touches / Well worth your time, this amiable blend of
comedy, romance and mystery is one of the better examples of this odd genre
combination. While not up to the tip-top standards of The Thin Man (but what is?) still
a delight, very well written and surprisingly good / Grant a cop? Yes, and with enough
charm and grace to make even this kind of part his own / A slick comedy, directed by
Raoul Walsh, who gets the whole cast in sync like a Swiss watch. An unusual film for
Grant, but his fans will like it / To get the most out of this nifty programmer, forget
that it's a film with Cary Grant, who is still in work in progress here. Taken instead on
the merits of its fast pace and action and crisp scripting, it provides an interesting peephole into the ins and outs of a '30s-era town, plus decent entertainment to boot / Well
done and sharply acted. See it / Ultra-cool and a little bit before its time, I love this film
/ A total thrill, and something I hope to see again / Among the best of early Grant / A
hardboiled and (two years post-Code) surprisingly provocative winner.
SUZY (1936)
A cracking little drama set just before and during the Great War, Suzy stars
Grant in good form alongside Jean Harlow (above), Franchot Tone and, in the
role of Grant's father, Lewis Stone. The action moves between London, Paris
and the French front, with Grant a flying ace, Tone an aeronautical engineer
and Harlow romantically involved with them both. A little bit more resolution
would have improved the end (though what's missing can be imagined readily
enough) - otherwise Suzy, running 93 minutes, is just the job.
IMDb: An entertaining, well-made WWI era romance, Suzy features a routinely
scripted but winningly executed love triangle with some espionage and spy action
thrown into the mix. In the title role, Jean Harlow (arguably MGM's biggest female
star at the time) gives a refreshingly natural and totally believable performance, and
really carries the film with her considerable charm and screen presence. Franchot Tone
and Cary Grant may draw some criticism for utilising improper accents, but both actors
also contribute solid performances as the men in our heroine's life - Tone is touching as
the idealistic charmer who truly loves Suzy and Grant is shockingly effective cast
against type as smooth-talking but treacherous heel. The movie is further enhanced by
the quiet strength of Lewis Stone, whose genteel toughness as Andre's father creates a
moving relationship with Harlow as his neglected daughter-in-law. As a WWI period
piece, the studio faced the obvious challenge of redressing the soundstages to reflect
the 1914 setting and the MGM artisans contribute their usual high standard to the film.
Suzy features the typical MGM gloss, although the budget does appear to be a bit more
limited than the studio usually lavished upon a vehicle for one of their biggest stars.
The sets and costumes are up to the usual MGM standard for the time, with Harlow's
stunning figure showcased in several beautiful Dolly Tree gowns (even if the style is
unarguably more 1936 than it is 1914). The film makes extensive use of various stock
footage, notably Howard Hughes' 1930 classic Hell's Angels, most of which is
reasonably incorporated into the finished film and succeeds in enhancing its scope. The
film is based on Herbert Gorman's novel. The fact that its characters are very well
developed by the strong performances of the cast gives the central love triangle more
than usual tension and pathos and also renders Suzy's relationship with the Baron
(Grant's father) as poignant as her love affair with either suitor. The film only wobbles
a bit in the final third as too many coincidences involving the espionage subplot begin
to pile up, and a slightly preposterous conclusion prevents the film from being a total
classic (with four credited screenwriters, perhaps there were too many cooks in the
kitchen). When its focus remains on its strong characterisations and the relationships of
its leads, Suzy is absolutely terrific. Director George Fitzmaurice does an expert job of
keeping the whole film on track and provides us with many breathtakingly beautiful
moments, my favourite of which is a particularly lovely scene with Grant singing a few
lines of the Oscar-nominated song "Did I Remember" to Harlow. Suzy is not only an
underrated WWI drama but - almost - a masterpiece.
An excerpt from the Variety Film Review of 29 July 1936:
... In the original novel, Suzy was far from being the tender lamb she is made out to be
in the picture, which dispenses with the bigamous angle. In the film much explanation
does not quite acquit her of being too precipitate and her looseness militates against
her. There are a number of other rough places the dialogue simply cannot smooth out.
Dialogue is generally too flippant and forced to give conviction to the situations, but
the story bristles with sure-fires, starting with a generous dressing room sequence, a
race scene with Suzy betting on an outsider at 20-1 and bringing home the bacon, a
well written scene in a war-time railroad station where Lewis Stone, as Andre's father,
makes him be nice to Suzy, though Andre has played hookey all through a visit to
Paris. There is some gorgeous flying stuff with cloud effects out of the files and a few
feet of air stuff apparently made for this picture.
But all through the scenarists have put in the punch whether it belongs or not and the
general effect would seem to justify this treatment. It's cheap, sometimes tawdry, but
for the moment it appeals.
Miss Harlow works hard and generally to good effect. She lacks a little in the more
serious moments, but Harlow fans do not expect more acting and are likely to be
content. Franchot Tone has the job as the first husband and shades nicely from the
carefree youngster of the earlier scenes to the more serious minded airplane expert at
the front. On the other hand, Cary Grant contributes a fine performance as Andre, but
cannot wholly overcome the handicap of his cheating proclivities. Lewis Stone is
sympathetic as Andre's father, who comes to love his daughter-in-law, and for whose
sake Suzy seeks to preserve the honour of the boy's name. Benita Hume is good, if
stereotyped, as the spy, and Inez Courtney plays the chorus girl friend right up to the
hilt. Her exit from the scene about midway is to be regretted, though she would have
stolen too many of the later scenes had she been permitted to remain. This comedienne
has been coming along in great style in pix of late. Photography, save for some library
war stuff, is excellent, and the director made the most of the rich opportunities in the
script. The one song is effectively handled.
THE AMAZING ADVENTURE (aka The Amazing Quest Of Ernest Bliss) (1936)
This modest British-made B-picture tells the tale of jaded millionaire playboy
Ernest Bliss (Grant) who, when challenged by his doctor to get a job and
support himself for a year entirely on earned income, takes work as an oven
salesman then chauffeur. He puts the oven business back on its feet, buys both
the car rental firm and his favourite blue collar restaurant, helps out his old
friends and, bizarrely, evicts two squatting crooks from his empty flat, all while
falling for working girl Frances Clayton (Mary Brian, above). Unsurprisingly, all
works out happily in the end, to be speedily forgotten. 62 minutes. Thin.
IMDb: A simple Aesop's fable of human values and the importance of meaningful work
starring an astonishingly beautiful man. Worth watching / Amiable but formulaic / 1936
marked the end of Grant's long apprenticeship and, of his films released that year, this
is probably the weakest / Amazingly cheap but endearing. Though the plot is a bit silly,
because of its charm and brisk pace it satisfies / Though Cary's performance is fine, the
production values on this film are pretty shoddy. There was material for an A picture
though - Capra should have done it and Jimmy Stewart would have been great had the
setting been America. Grant, on the cusp, is still not quite the done deal / Harmless but
dated / Very average / Not a great film though its heart is certainly in the right place /
Lightweight and amusing / A nice film that leaves you happy / There isn't a dull scene
in the film. Nothing is wasted in the effort to entertain and it all works very well. This
is a taster of what was to come from Grant. He is just superb here. He and Brian have
excellent chemistry together. A delightful little film and something of a forgotten gem.
WEDDING PRESENT (1936)
Grant and Joan Bennett (above) reunite (see Big Brown Eyes) in this pleasant
screwball comedy that survives some more crass acting (this time from George
Bancroft) to serve up a light-hearted confection that, well larded with charm, is
hard to dislike. In his last film for Paramount until 1955, Grant gets to sing
again, act drunk, turn lifesaver and generally have a good time, such that his
audience are likely to too. Bennett again proves a worthy foil. 82 minutes.
IMDb: Screwball comedy is one of the most popular and enduring genres that came
out of the 1930s and arguably Cary Grant remains its brightest star. Long before The
Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday and My Favorite Wife became part of his
screwball canon, this seminal forgotten gem showcased his emerging talent as a light
comedian. Wedding Present is an unheralded minor gem that would serve as a good
opener on a double feature with His Girl Friday / Starts well but loses momentum and
ends poorly, with some cruel, irresponsible and nasty behaviour. While I love Cary
Grant films, I also have to admit that occasionally he made a disappointing one such as
this or Once Upon A Time or Kiss And Make Up. Of course, he also made His Girl
Friday, Arsenic And Old Lace, North By Northwest and a ton of classics to make us all
forget about the few duds / Grant and Bennett are fine in the leads and even have
respectable chemistry but are let down by the film's lack of narrative and structure / It's
hard to impress on youngsters beyond a cartoonish awareness that women in 1930s
society and film were extremely limited in options: homemaker, secretary, teacher,
nurse, whore. If a woman was intelligent and witty and active, she was a reporter.
Seeing and discovering was sexy. It's lost today, that effect. Imagine a film that
presents a woman far beyond your experience, what you know from real life. Imagine
her witty and sexually available - at least temporarily so - outside marriage, smart, full
of humour and ready to play severe and grand jokes. It's impossible to do today where
Angelina can fight, Tilda can control and Julianne can affect. But just imagine the
cinematic power of a newsroom with such juice, they writing stories, we seeing them
simultaneously. Oh how I wish we had such power to pull from in film today!
TOPPER (1937)
Grant plays second fiddle to Constance Bennett (above) in this tired, laboured
comedy about a pair of carefree spirits haunting a stuffed shirt banker to
liberate him from his conventional wife and proscriptive routine. From a Thorne
Smith novel. With Eugene Pallette and Hoagy Carmichael. 98 minutes. Dull.
IMDb: Plenty of social commentary, totally politically incorrect. My all-time favourite
comedy / Good, clean, innocent fun / Grant usually kept just short of smugness in his
dashing performances, but not in this early role. A real let-down / Unbelievably bad.
Utterly lame. Painful to sit through / With a fine cast and some good and occasionally
impressive special effect camera tricks, this is a decent fantasy feature. It makes its main
gimmick work well while also telling a light but interesting story about the principal
characters. The idea of ghosts returning to interact with the living is a simple and
familiar one but in this movie it works pretty well / Delightful and original. One of the
best things Hollywood ever produced at the height of the madcap comedy craze of the
thirties / Outstanding / Underrated / A feather-light visual feast / Stale / A witty script
and terrific work from the entire cast. Roland Young is divine in an Oscar nominated
performance in the title role and Grant and Bennett are superb as the dearly departed
couple. The film was followed by two sequels, a long-running TV series, a made-forTV remake and a whole slew of imitators - although none approached the quality of
the original. A delightful film that remains arguably the best supernatural comedy that
Hollywood has ever produced / Badly dated? Yes, but ignore all the stuff that reflects a
time capsule of 1930s values and attitudes. Watch it, instead, to enjoy performers
whose like we will never see again / An odd story, oddly framed / A diverting trifle /
Enjoyable fluff that rarely rises above the level of a sitcom / Zany, romantic, sexy and
hilarious / Silliness beyond belief / A delicious piece of thirties comedy pie / If this is
the best of screwball comedy, then the genre sucks. Let's be realistic, it's not funny / A
must see for Grant fans / You will feel better for having watched it / Wonderful.
THE TOAST OF NEW YORK (1937)
Grant is second billed to Edward Arnold (above) in this fact-based film about
the life and death of nineteenth century businessman, financier and speculator
Jim Fisk. We follow his career from humble huckster beginnings selling soap
through Civil War profiteering in cotton then into shipping and railroad stock
and finally gold, culminating in a ruthless but ultimately unsuccessful bid in
1869 to corner the market and cause widespread financial panic. Grant (at his
most handsome) plays Nick Boyd, Fisk's partner and rival for the love of aspiring
actress Josie Mansfield (Frances Farmer). Though Arnold (see also I'm No Angel
etc) is always good value, the story is of only moderate interest and the fiscal
shenanigans hard for the uninitiated to grasp. With Jack Oakie. 105 minutes.
IMDb: Starts out as a whimsical joyride and ends with a thought-provoking meditation
on the evils of greed. Arnold is grand / The Heaven's Gate of its day, Toast is a film
that almost sank its studio (RKO). Though uneven in tone and historically inaccurate,
it is still grand entertainment in the late '30s manner, with high drama and low comedy
interspersed in about equal measure, with excellent performances by Arnold, Farmer
and Oakie. Grant seems rather ill at ease in a role quite different from his usual screen
persona / The further it strays from Wall Street, the less interesting this film becomes.
At the centre of the drama is Jim Fisk, played by the avuncular Arnold - a larger than
life performance entirely suited to the role. He largely dominates the film, overawing
Grant (Nick) and Oakie (Luke), who are frequently reduced to the level of stooges. But
the conclusion descends into bathos, Fisk's end not so much tragic as formulaic, with
consequently little impact / Superficial but enjoyable / Disappointing / Dull / No great
shakes / Dreadful / Hokey but fun. Worth a look if you like old Hollywood biopics.
THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937)
Grant and Irene Dunne bring this bright crossed-love comedy to life with a pair
of sparkling lead performances. Though divorced from one another, both do all
they can to foul the other's subsequent relationship, leaving the way clear for
an eventual cosy reconciliation. The film garnered Oscar nominations for Best
Picture, Director (Leo McCarey), Female Lead, Male Support (Ralph Bellamy),
Screenplay and Editing, though only McCarey won. 87 minutes. Very good.
IMDb: Nothing in this movie makes sense, and it really doesn't matter. It succeeds with
its self-assured anarchy and the charm of its stars / A screamingly hysterical marital
comedy that hasn't lost one iota of its punch in the eight decades since its release. Irene
Dunne is amazing in a layered performance that is both subtly affecting and sidesplittingly funny, sometimes within the same scene! The one in which she masquerades
as Grant's floozy, nightclub dwelling sister is one of the brightest highlights in film
comedy history. Dunne received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for her inspired
work in this film, which endures as a reminder of why she was one of Hollywood's top
actress during the thirties and forties. And see Cary Grant emerge as a superstar ...
The Awful Truth was a play by Arthur Richman that first appeared in 1922 and
later served as the basis for several films. There was a 1925 silent effort,
starring Agnes Ayres and Warner Baxter, and three sound versions. The first of
those was an early talkie in 1929 featuring Ina Claire (who had headed the
Broadway cast), and the last was a 1953 Columbia picture entitled Let's Do It
Again with Jane Wyman and Ray Milland. It was the 1937 version, however,
that was the definitive one. The Awful Truth is perhaps the quintessential
screwball comedy. It certainly has all the key production elements including the
genre's perhaps most identified actor (Cary Grant), one of its favourite
actresses (Irene Dunne), everyone's favourite other man (Ralph Bellamy), Asta
the dog (here called Mr. Smith), a key director (Leo McCarey) and the usual
ridiculous but very funny plot. Except that in this case, there's even less plot
than usual. Basically, everything depends on the lead couple. They have to be
good because there's no safety net to draw our attention if they fail. There's no
mystery angle like in The Thin Man, no musical or theatrical sub-plot like in
Twentieth Century, no massive supporting casts of the sort that populate
Capra's best work. No, there's just Grant and Dunne, starting off together at
first as the ideal couple, then Dunne on her own with Grant trying to
undermine her, then Grant alone with Dunne trying to undermine him, and
then finally the two tentatively perhaps reuniting.
Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy and Irene Dunne
The film is a triumph for the two stars who exhibit the excellence of their skills
throughout. Perhaps no scene demonstrates that excellence better than the
one in the nightclub where Lucy (Dunne) and Daniel (Bellamy) run into Jerry
(Grant) who's there with new girlfriend, Dixie Belle. It turns out that Dixie Belle
is also the featured performer and when she does her rather cheesy act
featuring a song punctuated by some interesting wind effects on her dress, the
reactions of the watching Lucy and Jerry (and Daniel) are worth the price of
admission alone.
By 1937, Cary Grant already had some two dozen films behind him, but he was
only just starting to really come into his own. Topper (Hal Roach) had been a
big success and The Toast Of New York (RKO) provided more positive press, but
it was with The Awful Truth that Grant confirmed his pre-eminence in the
screwball genre. More gems would follow, including Bringing Up Baby, Holiday,
His Girl Friday and The Philadelphia Story, but none topped The Awful Truth for
its purity of form and none offered a Grant as free of the outrageous mugging
that he was sometimes prone to. If you want to see why Cary Grant was the
king of screwball comedy, this film is the one to watch.
Nowadays, too many people would say "Irene who?" but anyone at all in tune
with classic American cinema won't have to think twice. Adept at comedy, but
able also to turn her hand to serious drama with ease, Irene Dunne was
already a star in 1937 with a string of major films behind her including a
number of pre-Code titles and the more recent Magnificent Obsession (1935)
and Showboat (1936). More significantly for The Awful Truth, she'd been a
standout in the 1936 Columbia screwball comedy Theodora Goes Wild. She is
top-billed in The Awful Truth and would remain so for a decade. Dunne's other
screwball outing with Grant would be 1940's My Favorite Wife (RKO). Her
opportunities to shine in The Awful Truth are many, but to me the most
memorable sequence is her appearance at the Vances' where she pretends to
be Jerry's slightly sleazy sister and performs a hilarious version of Dixie Belle's
nightclub act.
Any appreciation of The Awful Truth would be incomplete without mention of
Ralph "never-got-the-girl" Bellamy. Usually appearing as a naïve out-of-town
visitor to the big city, Bellamy was the rebound-guy for divorced or jilted
women in what seemed like countless comedies of the 1930s and early 1940s.
His role as Rosalind Russell's prospective husband after her divorce from Cary
Grant in His Girl Friday is perhaps his other best-remembered performance of
this type. But it couldn't top his efforts as the innocent rancher / oilman visiting
New York with his mother in The Awful Truth - efforts that included his initial
appearance in the film where he's singing Home On The Range to himself, or
where he manages to make a complete fool of himself dancing a lumbering
jitterbug with Lucy, or his parting line to Lucy - Well, I guess a man's best friend
is his mother - when he realises she may not be the innocent he thought. With
those three in top form, what else do you need? Well, how about some
delightfully witty dialogue, good physical comedy and stunning production
design and costuming? Under the assured direction of veteran Leo McCarey,
the film just zips along and is all over far too soon.
Barrie Maxwell, DVD Verdict, 25 April 2003
*****
BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
Leonard Maltin again hands out a full house four stars in assessing this peach,
and in contrast to Mae West vehicle She Done Him Wrong, fully deserved they
are too, for it's a bona fide timeless classic - Grant's first (though far from last)
truly great film - featuring a strong story in the hands of a more than capable
director and two compelling leads at the absolute top of their game. Howard
Hawks followed up this Grant collaboration with two more - Only Angels Have
Wings and His Girl Friday - before coaxing equally definitive performances out
of (among others) Cooper, Bogart and Wayne. Here, radiant Kate Hepburn
(above) banishes the grim memory of Sylvia Scarlett with an irresistible Oscarworthy turn. Baby is a Brazilian (!) leopard and George is Asta. Who could ask
more? A film for the ages, with May Robson and Charles Ruggles. 98 minutes.
IMDb: Utterly sublime / Wild, crazy, hysterical, laugh-a-minute fun / A quite wonderful
character comedy with Hepburn and Grant on insurmountable form. These delightful
stars and anarchic, scintillating, comic material combine to make an unutterably fine
film / A poorly received flop on release, Bringing Up Baby is screwball comedy to the
max: absolutely absurd, crackling with dialogue moving faster than a bullet and
unapologetically zany. Starring Katharine Hepburn in her only real foray into playing a
"scatterbrained heiress" and Cary Grant as a befuddled palaeontologist whose life she
disrupts from the moment they meet on a golf course, the story almost seems like
deliberately crazy plotting. But, featuring one classic comic scene after another,
Bringing Up Baby is a prime example of a film that has, though initially reviled - most
notably because of the arrogant personality of its lead actress, then reputedly "box-
office poison" - over the years, with repeated views, gained strong critical praise. While
its dialogue may be a little too fast for some tastes, the absurdity of the situation alone
makes it worth watching, plus, of course, the remarkable chemistry of an athletic
Hepburn and dashing Grant / In his glorious Bringing Up Baby, Howard Hawks
ratchets screwball comedy up to its tautest and springiest level. In clumsier hands,
screwball too often gallops into the frenetic, fraying the nerves, but Hawks, while
maintaining a presto pace, never lets the mix-ups and misunderstandings grow implausible - he just glides serenely to something else. With Hepburn and Grant he was blessed
indeed, but the rest of the cast he assembles, both human and animal, can't be faulted
either (with the redoubtable May Robson - below, centre - earning extra credit). And
while he draws on stock characters and stereotypes that probably date back to
commedia dell'arte - the stuffy professor, the blithe rich girl, her crusty dowager aunt,
the bumbling sheriff - he freshens each one up, making them distinctive, memorable
and endearing. Behind a pair of repressive spectacles, Grant plays the single-minded
palaeontologist whose path crosses with that of madcap Hepburn, never again to
uncross. The plot revolves around a leopard named Baby, a million dollars, an intercostal clavicle bone and a dog named George who buries it ... Well, it all makes perfect
sense while you're watching. Underneath all the antics, Hawks never loses sight of the
pastoral romance that Bringing Up Baby at its core really is (at its most magical in the
woods under a full moon, all captured exquisitely by Russell Metty's lovely photography). Grant's been rooting around in the dirt for so long looking for dinosaur bones
that it takes him forever to 'get' Hepburn - an airborne sprite who never comes down to
earth. (Their alchemy here is rarefied, in contrast to the commoner sort of reaction they
kindled in the stage-bound Philadelphia Story.) Last but not least, the movie features
the canine talents of Asta, Nick and Nora Charles' lovable cur who appeared as himself
in the Thin Man series. Here he plays George, who, barking his stubby tail off, has no
qualms about tangling with Baby the leopard. Is there any question that this highstrung wire-haired terrier is and will forever remain (pace Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie)
Hollywood's top dog? How fitting that he should lend his considerable talents to
Bringing Up Baby, the most exquisite comedy of the sound era.
HOLIDAY (1938)
After Sylvia Scarlett and Bringing Up Baby, it's Grant and Hepburn (above) in
tandem once more for this second cinematic rendering - see also Holiday (1930)
in the Ann Harding file - of Philip Barry's hit 1928 Life v. Money stage play. (The
same author also wrote Paris Bound, The Animal Kingdom and The Philadelphia Story.) Though Harding and Hepburn bring quite different qualities to the
role of Linda Seton - the one cerebral, patrician cool, the other a more earthy
indomitable spunk - both infuse her with an enchanting allure that only stars
can, and both were surely that. Grant as conflicted Johnny Case leads an
accomplished cast that includes the inimitable Edward Everett Horton (below,
left - see also Alice In Wonderland, Ladies Should Listen and Arsenic And Old
Lace) reprising his 1930-version Nick Potter role and Lew Ayres as doomed wage
slave brother Ned. 92 minutes. Recommended.
*****
I have it easy. When asked to name the best film to come out of classic-era
Hollywood, I don't need to waffle in indecision, because for me there is only
one single, inevitable answer: Holiday, of course. Known more often than not
as "that other film Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn made in 1938," for one
reason or another, Holiday has never quite seemed able to escape from the
long shadow cast by the canonical, much-loved and much more famous
Bringing Up Baby.
And don't get me wrong - Bringing Up Baby is an excellent film, and there are
countless films from studio-era Hollywood that I dearly love, but Holiday
always seems to loom large in my mind, even if the reasons why are hard for
me to articulate. It certainly has something to do with the joy of witnessing
two Hollywood icons working at the top of their game, capitalising on their
effortless sexual chemistry, and I love the literary humour playwright Philip
Barry gives the script, and how it compliments rather than clashes with the
screwball-inspired physical comedy. It also has something to do with my
appreciation for the script, which allows big ideas and tough issues to cut the
laughs short with a cutting poignancy. And I endlessly marvel at the elegance
in which perpetually underrated director George Cukor mixes and balances all
of these elements with an effortless grace. Yes, there are plenty of reasons why
this film is great, but there's just something that makes Holiday - dare I say it? sublime.
Holiday actually takes place between two holidays. At the beginning of the
film, Johnny Case (Grant) and Julia Seaton (Doris Nolan, below, left) are just
arriving back from a trip from Lake Placid where in a whirlwind romance they
have met, fallen in love and decided to marry. It is only back in New York City
that the happy-go-lucky Johnny finds out that Julia is one of "those" Seatons one of the oldest and wealthiest families in New York - and it doesn't take long
before ideological differences begin to poke holes in Johnny and Julia's starry
eyed romance. However, Julia's sister, the high-spirited Linda (Hepburn) thinks
Johnny is a refreshing jolt to the stultifying atmosphere of the family's
privileged lives, and sets out to vigorously promote the pairing to the sisters'
stuffy and money-minded father (Harry Kolker).
As the wedding day approaches, it becomes increasingly clear that Johnny
might abandon his idealistic dreams and settle down to a conventional life
working at the Seaton family's bank. Will Johnny recognise the better course
for his life - and more ideal life partner - before it's too late?
While doing some research for this review, I made an unexpected discovery: it
seems that Holiday is also the favourite film of my favourite working film critic,
Stephanie Zacharek. In 1997, for a feature Salon did called "Reel Dreams:
Personal Bests", Zacharek wrote a short piece on why the film is so special to
her and I would like to use her opening lines as the springboard to launch my
own celebration of this marvellous film:
There's almost no movie that makes me as wistful as Holiday does,
and I can't figure out exactly why. Even after it's over, even after I
know disaster's been averted, that Cary Grant didn't futz up and
chose the wrong partner, I still feel unsettled, as if the move has
somehow cut too close for comfort. It's just that a mantle of sadness
hangs over this most stylish of comedies - weightlessly, like a silk
web - and afterward, I always feel as if it's quietly drifted onto me,
too. Holiday never cheers me up, but it always opens me wide.
I feel inadequate of any kind of elaboration, mostly because Ms. Zacharek nails
so completely my own thoughts and emotional reaction to this film. Perhaps
that helps explain why Holiday has never quite received the attention or praise
that it deserves -the source of its beauty and emotional resonance always
seems to remain elusive. Holiday doesn't make audiences laugh like the other
screwball comedies Grant and Hepburn were paired in, and it doesn't hit its
audience over the head with its tragedy like latter-period Hepburn and Grant
films such as Long Day's Journey Into Night and An Affair To Remember.
Rather, after about five viewings, I've come to realise that Holiday is
deliberately obscure regarding its tone and intentions. On the surface, the film
might come off as remarkably frivolous, but I'm always surprised at the lump
that has formed in the back of my throat as it barrels towards its conclusion.
Zacharek is absolutely right - despite the happy ending, there's something to
Holiday that makes one contemplative, if not deeply, indescribably sad.
That's what makes Holiday such a hard sell - it's a tragedy wrapped up in a
comedic package. Its readily apparent refinement - the incredible Seaton
family mansion, the upper-class social delicacy and discretion, the amazing
gowns - serve as smoke and mirrors that hide the script's vicious fangs, as
Holiday sets two overarching American ideologies against each other and
allows them to mercilessly rip each other apart. Julia and her father represent
the common goal of accumulating great material wealth, and they inevitably
lock heads with Linda and Johnny, who dearly hold onto their right to life,
liberty, (and most importantly) the pursuit of happiness.
Much of Holiday is dedicated to demonstrating how this clash of life philosophies can trap and destroy all those involved, and the two characters most in
danger of being crushed are Linda and her younger brother Ned, played with
heartbreaking despair by a young Lew Ayres (below, right). Linda mentions to
Johnny at one point that Ned had been a promising musician before his father
had forced him into the family business, and as a result it seems Ned has given
up on life, living his life in a constant alcohol-induced haze. So when Ned is
unable to break free of his domineering father's grip on his life, turning his
back on the escape route Linda offers him, it's a moment of complete
emotional devastation. It also marks the point in the film, when characters'
futures are in chaos and entire lives are on the verge of being shattered, that it
seems Holiday has become something more than a film, and that, somehow,
something nameless and vital and real is about to break apart.
Though the film always remains swathed in its polished classic Hollywood
patina, the gloves are off and it's delivering savage, unflinching emotional
blows, and the only consolation is to witness the only two characters still
capable of escaping at the film's close - Linda and Johnny - finally break away
once and for all. The kiss between the two during the film's final fadeout not
only gives the happy realisation that true love has finally conquered, but one is
also left with the impression that two vibrant lives have narrowly avoided
complete and utter destruction.
Zacharek finishes her analysis of this film with a brief anecdote about how
several days after watching it for the first time she found herself wandering
listlessly around a video store, yearning for another Holiday. Finally, her
husband had to tell her simply "There isn't one." And that, to be honest, about
sums it up.
Jesse Ataide, DVD Verdict, 29 March 2007
GUNGA DIN (1939)
This influential (Indiana Jones and more), big budget, stirring and occasionally
spectacular though overlong RKO epic imagines the circumstances in which
Rudyard Kipling's 1892 poem Gunga Din came to be written. The lead roles are
taken by Grant, Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Junior (above) with
Indian water-bearer turned hero Gunga Din played by unconvincingly blackedup white American Sam Jaffe. Lots of people love this, including Leonard Maltin,
who gives it a full four stars (making it one of seven Grant films so honoured)
but the middle drags, it's all a bit knockabout and I've yet to see Fairbanks
shine in anything. There's some decidedly token love interest for the ladies,
with that story thread concluding most unsatisfactorily. Still, though suspect on
historical, ethnic and gender bias grounds, a romp undeniably. 117 minutes.
IMDb: One of the greatest "entertainment" movies ever made, Gunga Din has everything: a good script and story, epic sweep, fantastic acting, inter-character chemistry,
charisma, pacing and coherency - and how many films can you say that about? / A trio
of buddies, sergeants all in the British Army, carouse and brawl their way across
Imperial India. Intensely loyal to each other, they meet their greatest and most deadly
challenge when they encounter the resurgence of a hideous cult and its demented,
implacable guru. Now they must rely on the lowliest servant of the regiment, the water
carrier Gunga Din, to save scores of the Queen's soldiers from certain massacre. Based
as much on The Three Musketeers as Kipling's classic 1892 poem, this is a wonderful
adventure epic - a worthy entry in Hollywood's Golden Year of 1939. Filled with
suspense and humour while keeping the romantic interludes to the barest minimum, it
grips the interest of the viewer and holds it right up to the sentimental conclusion. It is
practically fruitless to discuss the performance nuances of its three stars as they are
really all thirds of a single organism - inseparable and, to all intents and purposes,
indistinguishable. However, this diminishes nothing of the great fun in simply watching
them have a glorious time. (It's interesting to note, parenthetically, that McLaglen
boasted a distinguished WWI military career; Fairbanks would have a sterling record in
WWII - mostly in clandestine affairs and earning himself no fewer than four honorary
knighthoods after the conflict, while Grant reportedly worked undercover for British
Intelligence, keeping an eye on Hollywood Nazi sympathisers.) The real acting laurels
here should go to Sam Jaffe (below, left) heartbreaking in the title role. He infuses the
humble man with radiant dignity and enormous courage, making the celebrated last line
of Kipling's poem (You're a better man than I am ...) ring true. He is unforgettable.
While it is fashionable to condemn anything that portrays favourably European
colonialism generally and the British Empire in particular, a little historical knowledge
will show that Kipling's poem, as well as this superb film, are hardly the reactionary
racist screed that some would have you believe. Gunga Din is a regimental bhisti - a
water carrier - and in 19th century India that meant he had a job, food and a place to
sleep in a very brutal society. Considering that he was also an untouchable - a member
of India's lowest caste - this was something. Colonel Weed is correct in saying "he had
no official status as a soldier" - bhistis were non-military auxiliaries. As for his loyalty
to the British, there were many Indians - and not only maharajas and princes - who
preferred British rule to that of their fellows. Yes, Gunga Din is "men-as-buddies"
flick. Just enjoy it - it is a rousing tale - and keep the PC nonsense out of it. The bad
guys lose in the end while the best man is recognised for his virtues - and you don't get
that it in real life! / A mix of action, adventure, comedy and drama the like of which is
rarely seen these days / A classic / Don't miss it / Arguably the best film of its kind.
ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (1939)
In a South American backwater, Geoff Carter (Grant) runs a shoestring flying
operation, forever short of pilots and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.
When Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur, above) steps off the banana boat and decides
to stay, Carter plays hard to get. There's one more trip needed to get the mail
contract, but the weather's closing in. Hawks-directed hokum entertains thanks
mainly to its charismatic stars. With Rita Hayworth. 116 minutes. Good.
IMDb: Arthur was always a kind of goofy and appealing actress. Grant is unconvincing
- though his wardrobe throughout is a riot - but the film's characters are familiar enough
types to make us feel comfortable with them, and the flying scenes are exciting. Well
worth watching / While the cast (especially Thomas Mitchell as veteran pilot Kid) are
all superb, it is Hawks who turns a rather ordinary plot into an extraordinary film / The
film establishes a wonderful sense of uncertainty. Life can fall apart at any moment and
we should be ready. Sadly, it doesn't recognise that preparation for this involves
growing closer to others rather than pushing them away. Still, it is unique in its time
and setting as well as its characterisation of lost Americans late in the Depression.
Hawks was one of America's great directors of intelligent, adult films, but the misogyny
and general antipathy of this film leave it a notch below his strongest work / Grant is
unable to get into his tough guy persona and in a scene requiring some tenderness and
tears, he is weak / The reviewers who claim that Grant doesn't play it serious enough
are exactly missing the point - his seemingly breezy, actually brittle facade is the Lost
Generation attitude. This is one of the great tough romances in which the real romance
is with death itself. Angels is one of the greatest works of art to sneak out of the studio
system in the guise of glamorous entertainment / Creaky and dated / Glorious.
IN NAME ONLY (1939)
Alec (Grant) is married "in name only" to Maida (Kay Francis, above left). They
live together as an apparently happy couple until he meets and falls in love
with widowed single mum Julie (Carole Lombard, above, right - see also Sinners
In The Sun and The Eagle And The Hawk). Scheming Maida then does all she
can to prevent the two making a life together. For its first 80 minutes, the film
is a superior sudser with lovely performances from Cary and Carole (formerly
Mrs William Powell and now Mrs Clark Gable) sweeping all before them. In the
last reel he takes improbably sick and it all gets a bit teary and melodramatic,
but despite the high Kleenex quotient, In Name Only is 92 minutes rewardingly
spent. Lombard made just four further films before her untimely death.
IMDb: Practically perfect. This heart-wrenching tale of forbidden love is one of the
most satisfying weepies ever. Polished, expert and ultimately very moving. Don't miss
this one / A little cornball in parts but overall it works / One of the great tearjerkers
with three stars at their very best / Timeless / A forgotten classic / Take an interesting
story about two more or less doomed lovers, add a much-deserved happy ending, cast
three leads against type and hire some top-notch support. Then hand it over to a
competent director, spend some money for plush production values and demand some
snappy lines and lush camera work. What do you get? Not just a 40 carat weepie but
one of the great love stories of all time / A forgotten gem - lovely / Classic Hollywood
at its best / In this brilliant soap drama, Grant plays a man deprived of marital love who
in striving for true love is frustrated by a vixen of a wife. I've seldom seen him in such a
sad-faced role / Francis steals the show / I know this line is old and tired and said all
the time but they just don't make 'em like this anymore / This film goes beyond typical
love triangle theatrics to show just how mean-spirited divorce can get, although here
the Kay Francis wife character gets a wonderful comeuppance. Highly recommended /
Grant and Lombard, two actors meant to play opposite one another, were both better
known for comedic than dramatic roles, but together pull this off very convincingly. It's
a shame they didn't do more drama / Maida great impression / A fast, smartly written,
involving drama, expertly played / Lombard shines / A joy from beginning to end.
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)
Hit Broadway comedy The Front Page, about tabloid hacks on the police beat,
was written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur
and first produced in 1928. (Interestingly, the story of 1939 film Gunga Din, by
the same writers, hinges on the same plot device of trying to dissuade someone from leaving their job.) The Front Page was adapted for the screen in 1931
and 1974 under its original title and, with a romantic sub-plot added, in 1940 as
His Girl Friday. It has also been produced on radio, TV and as musical theatre.
In this frenetic, mile-a-minute Howard Hawks adaptation, Grant and Rosalind
Russell (above) turn in dazzling performances as Morning Post editor Walter
Burns and his ex-wife (just back from Reno) and ex-ace reporter Hildy Johnson.
At the start of proceedings, she's engaged to insurance salesman Ralph Bellamy
(see also The Awful Truth, in which he plays a very similar patsy role) but, of
course, a combination of Burns' scheming, circumstance and her irrepressible
journalistic instincts conspire to bring her to her senses. Hawks (see also
Bringing Up Baby and Only Angels Have Wings) had great difficulty casting this
film. While the choice of Cary Grant was almost instantaneous, the casting of
Hildy was a more extended process. At first, Hawks wanted Carole Lombard,
whom he had directed in screwball comedy Twentieth Century, but the cost of
hiring her - now a freelance - proved too expensive; Columbia could not afford
her. Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Margaret Sullivan, Ginger Rogers
and Irene Dunne all turned the role down, Dunne because she felt the part was
too small. When Jean Arthur refused, the studio suspended her. Joan Crawford
was reportedly also considered. Hawks then turned to Rosalind Russell. In her
autobiography, Life Is A Banquet, Russell wrote that she thought her role had
fewer good lines than Grant's so she hired a writer to punch up her dialogue.
With Hawks encouraging ad-libbing on set, Russell was able to slip in her
writer's work. After Grant cottoned on, he greeted her each morning with
"What have you got today?" He, too, ad-libbed, describing Bellamy's character
by saying "He looks like that fellow in the movies, you know - Ralph Bellamy!"
Columbia studio head Harry Cohn thought the remark too cheeky and ordered
it removed, but Hawks insisted that it stay. When Grant's character is arrested
for a kidnapping, he describes the horrendous fate suffered by the last person
who crossed him: Archie Leach (Grant's own birth name).
His Girl Friday is noted for its rapid-fire repartee, using overlapping dialogue to
make conversations sound more realistic. Although overlapping dialogue is
specified and cued in the original play script, Hawks told Peter Bogdanovich:
I had noticed that when people talk, they talk over one another,
especially people who talk fast or who are arguing or describing
something. So we wrote the dialogue in a way that made the
beginnings and ends of sentences unnecessary; they were there
for overlapping.
To get the effect he wanted, with multi-track recording not yet available, Hawks
had his sound mixer turn the various overhead mikes on and off as many as 35
times in a scene.
The film is a 92 minute, old school, harum-scarum delight.
IMDb: A gloriously funny romp, rightly remembered as one of the fastest-talking films
ever made / One of the screen's finest comedies. Grant is fantastic and Russell equally
brilliant in full comic mode. These two are on camera often and their dialogue together
is like a frenzied waltz. Trying to follow every exact word, gesture and snarl is quite a
task. Boy, does it sizzle! Well ahead of its time, the film also offers an interesting view
on feminism thirty years before the concept became common currency. Making "Hildy
Johnson" a woman to enhance his story was the best decision Hawks could have made
/ Hollywood favourite The Front Page has been remade many times - thrice under its
original title, as a TV series, two TV productions and as the film Switching Channels.
Plus, of course, His Girl Friday, possibly the best of them all / One of the true gems of
Hollywood's most prolific era, with incredible pacing, acting, photography and that
authentic, gritty feel associated with hard-boiled, anything for a story newspaper folk.
Long one of my favourite films, His Girl Friday deserves to be watched over and over
again, both for its great acting and also for all the dialogue that goes by so fast you
can't catch it all in one pass / The best film version of The Front Page, and one of the
funniest films ever made. The entire cast shines / Every good thing you've heard about
this movie is true. One of the first films of the '40s and a highlight of the decade.
MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940)
This lumbering farce only flies at all because none of its characters will tell the
truth, as common sense demands, making it an 88 minute investment offering
too little return. Grant plays lawyer and father of two Nick Arden. Seven years
after his wife Ellen (Irene Dunne, above, centre - see also The Awful Truth)
supposedly drowned in the Pacific and just a few hours after his marriage to
Bianca (Gail Patrick, above left), Ellen reappears, leaving Nick with two wives
and one quandary. Complications ensue when he learns that Ellen spent the
seven years alone on a desert island with Burkett, played by Randolph Scott
(second right above), a significant figure in Cary's life (see page four), appearing
with Grant for the second and last time. True love prevails, of course, but the
whole, while nicely played by all concerned, is ill-conceived and flat.
IMDb: A fine example of those early Grant farces in which he gawps, double-takes and
mutters to himself as only he can / A Shakespearean masterpiece of farce, My Favorite
Wife features shared rooms, opening and shutting doors, frustrated sexuality, mixed
identities and wonderful flashes of whimsy such as the Burkett diving sequence that
results in some of the most bizarre, incongruous, and side-splittingly funny visions ever
seen on film / I was disappointed by the dismal treatment of Bianca. It wasn't her fault
that Ellen wasn't dead, yet she is treated so rudely and offhandedly that I found it
irritating and frustrating. In addition, the film was often simply not funny / Hopelessly
outdated. Dunne and Grant are always fun to watch and there are some good bits here
and there, but the "wrapper" storyline just doesn't cut it anymore / The expressions on
Grant's face alone make this worth watching. He is delightful and the film just plain
hilarious / Poorly written / Entertaining from beginning to end, with all the ingredients
that make up a rom-com. Truly the yardstick for any subsequent romantic comedy.
THE HOWARDS OF VIRGINIA (aka The Tree Of Liberty) (1940)
This film, a boiled down version of Elizabeth Page's The Tree Of Liberty, follows
the fortunes of Matthew Howard (Grant) from his early childhood in colonial,
pre-revolutionary America through to the eve of Independence. Born a poor
farm boy in class-conscious Virginia, he finds work (with the help of his friend
Tom Jefferson) as a surveyor and quickly marries Jane Peyton, belle of the local
aristocracy. Facing down prejudice from both sides of the class divide, he
establishes a thousand acre plantation, sires three children - the first of whom,
because lame, he spurns - goes into politics and then the army. Unusually for
him, a miscast Grant fails to inhabit his character. His acting is unsubtle and his
accent wanders alarming between English, Irish and American. The film, while
moderately interesting, falls short of enthralling. Richard Carlson as Jefferson
and Martha Scott as Jane both outshine Grant. 111 minutes.
IMDb: A catastrophic, emotionally unstirring period piece that engages top talent for
all the wrong reasons / Howard is less a complicated man than a simple cipher / Grant
donated his $40,000 salary to the war effort and continued to use his career to support
the cause of the Allied forces fighting for freedom in Europe / Grant, cast against type
as Matt Howard, takes a bit of getting used to in buckskins, but I liked his characterisation. In point of fact, to see the real Grant on screen, look at None But The Lonely
Heart, Gunga Din or Sylvia Scarlett. That's Archie Leach. Cary Grant was the best
role Cary Grant ever played / Interesting but not entertaining. Sadly, the script is weak,
the acting uneven and the moral lessons unsubtle / The banal dialogue that closes the
film is enough to make anyone wince. Possibly Grant's worst film / I liked this movie
despite Grant's dreadful miscasting. His performance beggars all description / Tripe.
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
George Cukor successfully transfers a hit Philip Barry play from stage to screen
- as with Holiday (1938), so too The Philadelphia Story, with Oscar-nominated
Kate Hepburn (above) reprising her 1939 Broadway role opposite Grant and
James Stewart (above) in this peerless Pennsylvania high society rom-com.
Though nominated five times, Stewart won his only Best Actor Oscar here. The
Best Screenplay Award went to Donald Ogden Stewart, with Picture, Director
and Supporting Actress (Ruth Hussey) all nominated also. Another Maltin four
star special. 112 minutes. Highly recommended.
*****
What exactly does it mean when they say They don't make 'em like that any
more? Usually it's in reference to movies of the '30s, '40s and '50s - movies like
Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon or indeed The Philadelphia Story. As much as
one feels that the statement has any validity (and I feel it does), I think it refers
to a pretty complex combination of factors, including the power of the studio
system, the comparatively limited (or localised, as in non-global) reach of the
media in that period and the more parochial expectations audiences had of
their 'stars' then, when they generally turned up to a James Stewart movie
expecting to see much the same James Stewart they'd seen before, rather than
a James Stewart who had lost four stone, grown a beard and learned ju-jitsu in
order to play a rebel Tibetan monk. If I had to boil it down to one tangible
quality, however, I'd have to say innocence. The so-called Golden Era of Hollywood occurred before the advent of mass-media marketing, GDP-sized budgets
and obsessive audience testing. It's not that performers of this era didn't mug
any less grossly than today or that there weren't scads of terrible films, or that
Hollywood was any less of a soulless, ruthless, talent-gobbling machine. But
the cinema was still a relatively new invention and the audience's relationship
with it had yet to be coarsened by repetition and betrayal. So films like The
Philadelphia Story, even in their haphazardness and cliché, carry a sort of lovely
scent with them, a whiff of something almost never detected in today's multiplexes, and that is charm.
Following her divorce from boat designer / playboy C. K. Dexter Haven (Grant),
wealthy Pennsylvania socialite Tracy Lord (Hepburn) is on the eve of her next
wedding to self-made businessman George Kittredge (John Howard). Haven
still has designs on her and tries to discredit the union by arranging for two
reporters from Spy magazine to be invited to the Lord family home: struggling
writer Macaulay Connor (Stewart) and snapper Liz Imbrie (Hussey, above). The
two hapless journalists are pulled into a sequence of acid exchanges involving
Haven, Tracy, her younger sister Dinah (Virginia Weidler) and Uncle Willie
(Roland Young). That evening, Tracy is forced to confront aspects of herself she
has always denied and, during a long party, finds herself strongly attracted to
the secretly sensitive Macaulay. As the wedding day dawns, Tracy has to choose
which of the three men she will spend the rest of her life with …
Wealthy, high-spirited, sporty, upper class young socialite, the role of Tracy
Lord could have been written for Hepburn - and it was! Philip Barry originally
wrote the stage play The Philadelphia Story for Hepburn and it was a huge
success, helping return her star to the ascendant after a period in which she'd
been deemed 'box office poison'. Hepburn's lover Howard Hughes bought her
the film rights, allowing her considerable control of the forthcoming movie
project, though not enough to get her choice of leading men: having wanted
Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, she got Cary Grant and James Stewart - hardly
a bum deal. Cukor had already worked with Hepburn and Grant (and on a
Barry / Ogden Stewart piece, no less) in Holiday so was a natural choice to direct
and Joe Mankiewicz came in to produce. How could it fail?
It didn't. In fact The Philadelphia Story succeeds on just about every level. The
way in which the idle rich of Philadelphia manipulate the less well heeled into
being audiences for their grandiose personal dramas - as if they are incapable
of even swapping barbs without witnesses - is immaculately drawn. The film is
also quite daring for 1940, intimating Grant's alcoholism and Hepburn's
frigidity. The way these issues are referred to indirectly, even poetically, is quite
fascinating. It's another of those instances where having to work in a much
more censorious age forced the filmmakers to employ ingenious methods to
get their points across, with sometimes bewitching results.
It's also an example of perfect casting: Grant as the suave and smarmy
divorcee, Stewart as the chippy writer with the hidden poet's heart and
Hepburn as the icy socialite heading for a fall. But don't think the terrific cast
ends with the three leads; there isn't a dull or ill-starred performer anywhere,
standouts being Virginia Weidler as Tracy's precocious younger sister Dinah
and Roland Young as the amorous and amoral Uncle Willie. British actor Henry
Daniell's deliciously acidic tones also grace the film in an early scene, in his
appearance as publisher Sidney Kidd.
Most importantly, the script is extremely funny. There are many utterly brilliant
exchanges in The Philadelphia Story, sometimes almost surreally dry. For
instance, early in the film Haven enters the office of Sidney Kidd, publisher of
sleazy Hello! predecessor Spy magazine. He regards him coldly:
Kidd: I understand we understand each other.
Haven: Quite.
Or when Haven meets Tracy for the first time with her current fiancé, George
Kittredge:
Haven: You should have stuck to me longer.
Tracy: I thought it was for life but the nice judge gave me a full
pardon.
Or when Haven approaches Tracy and Connor, who are taking breakfast before
a swim:
Haven: Orange juice? Certainly.
Tracy: Don't tell me you've forsaken your beloved whiskey and
whiskeys?
Or when Liz calls at Haven's house to fetch Connor, who is drunkenly forcing
Haven to type a letter to Kidd:
Liz: We've come for the body of Macauley Connor.
Haven: Can you use a typewriter?
Liz: No thanks, I have one at home.
And so on - terrific, spot-on dialogue, perfectly delivered. Hepburn's extraordinary voice, which makes one think of purring cats, burnt treacle and polished
wood, lilts archly throughout the film. With Grant's famously ironic tones and
Stewart's Pennsylvanian drawl thrown into the mix, the three leads weave a
kind of hypnotic music simply through talking. This film is a delight.
Richard Curtis's Love Actually (2003) carried the unbelievably arrogant tagline
The Ultimate Romantic Comedy. Such an appellation could, in contrast, be
truthfully applied to The Philadelphia Story. The casting is perfect, the script
dazzles and the chemistry between its leads could hardly be bettered.
Nat Tunbridge, The Digital Fix, 20 April 2005
*****
PENNY SERENADE (1941)
Told in flashback, Penny Serenade serves up a long, slow and glutinous account
of a couple's adoption and loss of a child, with the whole redeemed (or spoiled,
depending on your point of view) by the unnecessary addition of a deus ex
machina "happy" ending. Tearjerking treacle, though good of its kind, it stars
Irene Dunne (above) in her third and last collaboration with Grant (see also The
Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife). Grant's performance earned him a first of
two Oscar nominations (the other for None But The Lonely Heart). During her
41-film career, Dunne was nominated no fewer than five times (including for
The Awful Truth) but, like Grant, never won. 117 minutes. For genre fans only.
IMDb: If you can watch and not blubber, you're probably from another planet / Falling
in love, best friends, career challenges, pregnancy, miscarriage, infertility, adoption,
death, separation - it's all covered in this one sweet little film, and all told in a way that
reminds us all how important music is as it sets the soundtrack to our lives. This lovely
film may not be Citizen Kane, but is definitely worth your time / A cute first ninety-five
minutes is ruined by the last twenty. Oh, you've just lost your child? No problem, here's
another. Children aren't goldfish! Crass and insensitive / A dreary, manipulative and
depressing little film that gives good tearjerkers a bad name! / A perfect example of
how pace and editing can make or break a movie - and this one doesn't quite make it /
Boring, sentimental tosh in which the leads are too old for their parts / Grant is pitch
perfect in his entirely assured performance, especially during his moving monologue
before the judge / The film's comic and tragic elements do not sit easily together and
the ending is a particularly implausible way of providing a "happy ending" / Overlong
and overblown with a forced and stale plot. Only the presence of the two great stars
lifts it above the level of mediocrity. The ending in particular is unconvincing.
SUSPICION (1941)
Though bounder Johnnie (Grant) marries country mouse Lina (Joan Fontaine,
above) for both love and money, it's the latter he's most in need of, though
not, since he's averse to work, honestly earned. So he sponges off his friends,
steals cash from his employer and even surreptitiously sells his wife's treasured
heirloom. Then his well-to-do best friend Beaky dies mysteriously and Lina's
suspicions begin to grow. Though Suspicion gives us the chance to see Grant
finally flex his serious acting muscle, it does so too diffidently, for in Before The
Fact, the 1932 Francis Iles novel on which the film is based, Johnnie is a thief,
forger, embezzler, serial adulterer and double murderer. Grant's character, in
contrast, is merely feckless - Hitchcock's twist being that ultimately the worst
of Lina's fears prove to be unfounded. Apparently someone (accounts vary)
believed that audiences would be reluctant to accept Grant as a killer - but it's
surely the book that tells a more coherent, convincing and compelling tale and
it seems a shame it wasn't more faithfully filmed. All the same, Suspicion - the
first of four Grant / Hitchcock collaborations - was well enough received to be
Best Picture Oscar nominated. It also scooped for Fontaine her only Academy
Award. 99 minutes. Good though disappointingly faint-hearted.
*****
Harmless liar or murderous cad? Lina thinks that her new husband may be planning to
kill her for her inheritance and her suspicion is eating away at her marriage. One of
Hitchcock's earliest films on American soil finds him doing what he does best - coyly
playing with audience's expectations and taking tension to the absolute breaking point.
Made the year after Rebecca and starring the same leading actress, Joan Fontaine,
Suspicion shares the stage with Spellbound, Notorious and the aforesaid Rebecca as
one of the acclaimed director's best films of the 1940s. Despite the infamous studio
tampering and a less than meaty plot, the film is thoroughly Hitchcockian, a textbook
example of suspense both entertaining and absorbing. Suspicion has the distinction of
feeling like a Hitchcock of old, but with a better budget, star power, and solid visual
imagery. Like several of his earlier British films, it is almost a pure exercise in tension,
uncomplicated by political contexts and world events that would sometimes serve to
draw the viewer away from the immediate action on screen. The film even boasts a
similar atmosphere to his British films, with a European setting and a polished cast of
English supporting actors.
Suspicion's straightforward plot is a classic model of the way Hitchcock expertly
presses his audience's buttons as he slowly cranks up the pressure in each successive
scene. Presented through Lina's viewpoint, which shifts from blind love to acute
paranoia throughout the course of the film, the viewer is forced to question Johnnie's
motives at every turn. This makes for some memorable moments, including an anagram
game with Scrabble tiles, in which Hitchcock puts you directly in Lina's chair. Point-ofview shots slowly reveal words like "doubt" and "murder," which leads to a frightening
fantasy of Beaky plummeting to his death from the very cliff that their business was
devised to develop. As Hitchcock steadily and beautifully builds to the film's climax,
Lina turns into a blubbering victim-to-be of her own accord and Johnnie ascends the
stairs to the bedroom with a potentially poisoned glass of milk. Although the conclusion
is famous for suffering under studio tampering and is usually cited as a weak compromise in light of the scripted ending, the first ninety minutes of suspense are far more
important. There is a reason the film is called Suspicion and not Fears Confirmed or
Doubts Eased, as the true enjoyment in the film comes from an awareness of the sly
methods that Hitchcock is using to play with our perceptions.
Fontaine gives a virtual repeat of her performance from Rebecca: a reserved young
lady who impetuously and unknowingly marries into a dangerous situation. Although
this performance garnered her the 1941 Academy Award for Best Actress, most feel
that the nod was more to make up for her loss the previous year, and I'd have to agree.
She certainly does a fine job as her nagging doubts drive her increasingly mad, but she
is completely overshadowed by Grant who is wonderfully ambiguous as womanising
gambler Johnnie. Grant projects a steady threat of violence, as though he could go over
the edge from debonair to deadly at any moment. Hitchcock heightens the sense of
danger as much as possible, forcing his audience to constantly wonder if "Monkey
Face," his cute pet name for Lina, is as cruelly mocking as it implies or if his intention
in grabbing his wife-to-be on the top of a cliff is to toss her off or to fix her hair. It is
surely on the strength of his performance here that Grant went on to appear in three
more of Hitch's finer films, Notorious, To Catch A Thief and North By Northwest.
Eventually, though, this unrelenting emphasis on the nature of Johnnie's character starts
to get tiresome. Not much seems to happen in the film that isn't meant to throw further
uncertainty on Johnnie's character, from the mysterious disappearance of Lina's father's
antique chairs to a speedy car trip along the dangerous cliff. Like most of Hitchcock's
pictures from the early 1940s, Suspicion is enthralling, but overlong, just on the cusp
of wearing out its welcome.
Paul Corupe, DVD Verdict, 11 October 2004
*****
When his Paramount contract expired in 1937, Grant chose not to sign with
another studio. Instead, by selecting his own films, scripts and directors, he put
his personal stamp on the screwball comedy genre. As sophisticated as his
characters seemed, they were never above a pratfall, setting Grant apart from
other leading men of the time and making him the perfect foil for the comic hijinks initiated by screwball's wacky heroines. Grant and his co-stars operated
on the same plane, neither quite gaining the upper hand. He converted screwball comedy into a two-character, upper-class, adult slapstick parlour game.
Though his first hit was Topper, it was The Awful Truth that made him a star.
For the next three years, Grant appeared in a succession of hits - Bringing Up
Baby, Holiday, Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, My Favorite
Wife and The Philadelphia Story - each of which honed his image to a fine
gloss. By 1940, Cary Grant had become an archetype. But, after this amazing
string, his career faltered, courtesy of films that were either atrocious mistakes
(Once Upon A Honeymoon), bland fantasies (The Bishop's Wife) or wholesome
pap (Room For One More). When Grant tried something different, something
closer to his roots, as the poor East End drifter in None But The Lonely Heart,
he was working against a persona that was so implanted and perfected that
his characterisation seemed ineffective and forced. He had become so much of
an ideal that to play a normal person on the screen seemed impossible.
Instead, his best roles resulted in his playing off his film image, exposing it and
exploiting it, particularly in his work with Hitchcock. Critic Pauline Kael suggests
that were it not for Alfred Hitchcock, Grant might have slipped into latter day
obscurity. It was Hitchcock who rescued him from the sentimental forties glop
like Penny Serenade where he was mired after his thirties screwball heyday ...
Many find Suspicion and Grant's character, Johnnie Aysgarth, problematic.
There is that pesky ending dictated by the studio's refusal to see Grant as a
murderer (cheating, lying and stealing apparently being acceptable to execs).
The tacked on ending is jarring but doesn't compromise Grant's performance
as much as some would suggest. Whichever way it ends, the significant part of
the story is that Lina thinks he is going to kill her - the drama, whether real or
imagined, is played in her mind. What other actor could make her resistance to
flee in the face of her fears so believable? ... Aysgarth is one of the few Grant
characters who actively goes after a woman. But never, in his pursuit of mousy
Lina do we see him as a victim of love. Even as the hunter, he is still the love
object. Grant's Aysgarth is a festival of the irresponsible and the irresistible,
exuberantly bearing mink coats and puppies while continuing to indulge in his
more nefarious habits. He smoothly plays the darkness beneath the light.
Hitchcock.tv / Elisabeth Karlin, 16 January 2011
*****
THE TALK OF THE TOWN (1942)
George Stevens (Gunga Din, Penny Serenade) directs Grant for a third time,
Jean Arthur (Only Angels Have Wings) joins him for a second time and Ronald
Colman (above) for the one and only time in this seven times Oscar nominated
drama cum treatise cum rom-com about justice, the theory and practice of law
and, naturally, who gets the girl? Grant plays a man who, while standing trial
for arson and murder, breaks jail and hides out in Arthur's house, just before
Harvard law professor Colman occupies it as a summer tenant. He initially
declines to become interested in a minor local court case but is brought to
realise that the law is more than merely a dry, academic subject of study. Like
Gunga Din or She Done Him Wrong, this is another Grant film that, while perfectly pleasant and well played, struggles to justify four Maltin stars. 112m.
IMDb: Absolutely delightfully enjoyable / A lot of the suspense that might have been
put into the story was bled out by the philosophical approach the film takes - but that's
part of the fun! It gets rolling, and you can't quite tell where it's going. Watching Grant
mug suavely and Arthur speak like she's ad-libbing, you just have to sit back and enjoy
it. It's not interested in manipulating its audience so much as presenting real characters
in a compelling story. I loved it! / Despite the witty script and the winning combination
of three great stars - Grant, Arthur and Colman - something is seriously wrong with
this sophisticated story that strikes an uneven balance between comedy and drama. It's
unpredictable - and that's usually a compliment - but this time it's not because you have
no idea where the story is going until you're halfway through, and even then you're not
quite sure. The somewhat dated story and screenplay were both nominated for Oscars,
along with technical nominations and Best Picture (at a time when ten films were
nominated for that award rather than today's five). Strangely enough, the film has fallen
between the cracks and is seldom ever talked about or mentioned by film buffs
recalling the greats of the golden years. Perhaps it's that, despite its significant social
commentaries having to do with law, justice and fugitives, it is so strangely offbeat in
conception that it doesn't fit a particular category of film. Grant is in fine form as a man
hiding from the law who takes refuge in Arthur's house. She as a teacher and Colman
as a stuffy lawyer come off second best in what seems like a muddled script, Oscar
nominated or not. Something is definitely missing - and it's that missing ingredient that
may have led to it being considered a forgotten film. For me, more of a curiosity piece
than anything else / The plot is almost secondary and not incredibly ingenious. What
makes this film so great is the brilliant script and interaction between the three leads. I
don't think Grant was one of the better actors of his day. He has been funnier (Bringing
Up Baby), more cynical (Notorious) and more dramatic (Only Angels Have Wings) but
in my opinion this is his best overall performance. Colman was simply a brilliant actor
who didn't have enough chances to shine in a film like this, and Arthur was never more
adorably inept. This absolutely fantastic film is one of the most underrated and unjustly
forgotten of the studio era / A movie with a little bit of everything - comedy, drama,
romance, social commentary, suspense and mystery - plus three of the most charming
stars ever to grace the screen / Flawless Arthur at her zenith / Until 12 Angry Men
(1957), the best movie about the philosophy and reality of the law / Social commentary
either elevates the value of a film or bogs it down, and with comedies it is generally the
latter. The Talk Of The Town is no exception; while it is a fun film that has much to
admire, the pretensions of the filmmakers often get in the way of what could have been
a masterpiece of comic suspense. The tone becomes almost unbearably preachy at times
and some of the monologues on "justice" and "the pursuit of truth" are excruciating.
Thankfully, the good people at Columbia hired just the right people to star in this
classic example of skilled performers triumphing over flawed material / The film's issues
are timeless, making it all the more important to see it whenever the chance arises.
Jean Arthur and a temporarily-bearded Ronald Colman
ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON (1942)
Remarkably clear-sighted and forthright about the Nazi menace, this uneasy
made-to-order mix of propaganda and entertainment pairs Grant for the first
time (see also Monkey Business) with a non singing, non dancing Ginger Rogers
(above). Unfortunately, the film, directed by Leo (The Awful Truth) McCarey,
sinks itself from the off by presenting the Rogers character as a remarkably
stupid and selfish American showgirl on the make, who, within twenty film
minutes, metamorphoses into a clued-up, would be double agent, impossible
to warm to. Walter Slezak as her husband, "Hitler's fingerman", performs
creditably but the whole is cold, calculating, contrived and not worth the effort
of finding. 115 minutes.
IMDb: Grant's worst film - the jokes are terrible, the story is ludicrous and the ending
so stupid! / Thin on plot but high on patriotism / A delightful diversion. Don't miss it /
A major dud / This bi-polar attempt to balance tragedy, farce and flippancy tips over
more than once / Although an intriguing curiosity, the film never resolves its schizoid
tension. The Nazi characters are more cartoonish that frightening and what comedy
there is is overshadowed by the sincere attempt to portray the threat to European
Jewry. The ending is abrupt and doesn't really resolve anything. Grant and Rogers do
their best but their efforts are ultimately in vain. The scene where the Allied agent tries
to prove his American heritage is painful / A hapless mess that has to be seen to be
disbelieved / Students of film could hardly see a more exact example of filmmakers
attempting to explore a topic that is just too much to handle with so little understanding
and a resolution yet to come / RKO's surreal attempt to blend Hollywood glamour with
Nazi evil is woefully miscalculated / Comedy in the face of tragedy - a worthy effort.
MR. LUCKY (1943)
In this enjoyable film, draft-dodging gambler Grant plans to fleece a War Relief
charity of big bucks but has a change of heart, courtesy of a girl he meets and a
letter from Greece. He comes up with lots of "Australian" Cockney rhyming
slang, learns to knit and eventually takes a bullet for his pains, but all ends
happily, of course. With Laraine Day and Henry Stephenson. 100 minutes.
IMDb: Beautifully photographed in black and white with lots of interesting shadows
and fog - the director's remarkable eye helps turn what could have been just a vehicle
for Grant into a real work of art / A great Grant movie that never takes itself too
seriously. The plot is easy to follow and the acting well done / An interesting character
study and welcome change from more usual Grant fare / Including many moments that
match Grant's best, Mr. Lucky is funny, fast paced, easy on the eye and blessed with a
great supporting cast. What's not to like? / Once again, as in Suspicion, Grant plays a
rat who has rehabilitation forced on him by a craven, populist script. Yet, since Mr.
Lucky was RKO's second biggest hit of 1943, it's clear the studio knew what it was
doing in not letting his character remain a heel. Try as he might, Grant struggled in vain
to persuade studios to see him as anything other than an urbane charmer. Eventually he
surrendered to the power of his image and just went with it / A wonderful and somewhat surprising picture in which Grant plays against type and Day is stunning / One of
Grant's finest films / A light, romantic drama, full of more tense moments than comedic
ones, with the best scene Cary's "repentance" in the church / A magical movie - one of
the best I've seen / A delightful slew of romance, comedy, drama, conmen, gambling,
crime, socialites running charity balls, knitting, Cockney rhyming slang, war and, most
of all, heart. Those who consider Grant's acting skills overrated should watch this film.
Fully transported into his character, he brings us right along for a real surprise.
DESTINATION TOKYO (1943)
A solid, morale boosting sub saga, not excessively gung ho, though, of course,
the Japs get it right and left in the end. Captain Grant leads his crew across the
Pacific and into Tokyo Bay to land spies ashore to recce ahead of a seaborne air
attack, with a doctor-free, by-the-book appendectomy and extended (and, by
now, very familiar) depth charging sequence thrown in for good measure. With
an overacting John Garfield. 129 minutes. Surprisingly accomplished.
IMDb: The warmth and togetherness of the crew is a very true depiction of life inside a
WW II submarine / A top-notch underwater fiesta / Made during the height of the war
and before it was a foregone conclusion that the Allies would prevail, Destination
Tokyo shows a surprisingly detailed (if romanticised) portrayal of life in the Silent
Service. The characters are finely drawn with a craftsman director's skill and are the
archetypes for subsequent films, not derivative cartoons. An invaluable bona fide
classic / A memorable epic which, like Casablanca, tells a story with a sense of
urgency, rooted in reality, that we cannot recreate today / A crackerjack movie with a
workmanlike cast in which no one disappoints. You'll find every cliché in the book,
very nicely buffed, some of which had not yet become clichés. The film is not a thought
piece; is craftsmanship not Art, but one you won't quickly forget / Despite the toy
boats and cut-price special effects (remember, too, this was wartime and a very long
time ago), this excellent film stands up well beside later sub classics such as Das Boot
or Run Silent, Run Deep / This film is important both because it is based upon the
success of a real sub in action (the USS Wahoo) and because it was one of the early
submarine films of WWII / Every sub film eventually falls back on the same clichés and
Destination Tokyo is no different / This gritty, tightly plotted film moves with a pace
that never flags despite its lengthy runtime. It neither stretches credibility nor once
descends into simplistic propaganda, managing to avoid much of the ugly racism that
mars many other war-themed movies from this era. Grant, cast against type, gives a
masterful performance with aplomb / Both Grant and the film are terrific.
ONCE UPON A TIME (1944)
Grant marks time in a feeble fable about Curly the dancing caterpillar. With its
end never in doubt, surely Walt Disney's sanity was! This pap for the war-weary
has not aged well. With Ted Donaldson (above) and Janet Blair. 88 minutes.
IMDb: A wonderful story for grown-ups and a fairy tale for kids The redemption of
Jerry Flynn (Grant's character) is a joy to watch / Even with one hundred and fifteen
credited actors, the real star in this movie is Fantasy / The rather fanciful plot is a
wonderful metaphor for life and love. Very heart-warming with a brilliant ending /
What was Cary Grant thinking? / Grant had the uncanny knack of making even the
most hollow tripe seem like cinematic high art, but the genuine surprise in this film is
not how irrepressibly charming he is, but how willingly he steps into the unbecoming
role of the villain who eventually chooses goodness over celebrity - a subtle bit of
advice that most stars of today would do well to heed. Once Upon A Time is not high
art, but remains nonetheless an enjoyable film hemmed in by a finely wrought
performance / Once Upon A Time, based on a successful radio play by Norman Corwin
called My Client Curly, is a minor Cary Grant comedy that came out just before his
greatest performance as Ernie Mott in None But The Lonely Heart / Throughout, there
is a beautiful philosophy of faith / A box-office disaster in 1944, the film has not
improved with age / You'll love the obvious but surprise ending. Yes, that's a contradiction, but just watch it for yourself. A great fantasy film and the kind they can't make
anymore, for, if they did, you'd probably be disappointed because Curly just wouldn't
live up to your imagination / One of the schmaltziest, sappiest, dumbest films I have
seen in some time - and it stars Cary Grant at the height of his career! / I'm a huge
Grant fan, so I'm glad I saw this excruciating movie. However, I don't care to watch it
ever again / A fine family film that holds up well / Grant effortlessly carries this mildly
entertaining offbeat gem / Shallow and tedious / A long 90 minutes / Really?
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
Hollywood has probably always kept its eye on Broadway, on the lookout for
both emerging talent and potentially lucrative properties. Thus, when Joseph
Kesselring's Arsenic And Old Lace premiered to acclaim in January 1941, Frank
Capra was quick to buy the screen rights. Though he completed his adaptation
just before America entered the war in December 1941, the film could not
released, by prior agreement, until the play finished its Broadway run in June
1944. Grant leads a well-versed cast (both old ladies and the mad son were in
the stage production) with aplomb. Though his acting is broad - he himself
thought it horribly so, often citing Arsenic as the least favourite of all his films he was instructed by Capra to give just such a performance, which the material
stands perfectly well. Indeed, for a wartime audience, the film is just what the
doctor ordered - and a tonic still. With Priscilla Lane (above), Edward Everett
Horton (see Holiday etc) and Peter Lorre. 113 minutes. Recommended.
Differences between play and film: The play is set entirely in the Brewsters' living
room, so there are no visits to the judge or the doctor or the street outside. Also, the
play is set in early September whereas the film is set on Halloween. The idea of
Mortimer writing anti-marriage books was wholly a film invention - in the play he was
simply a drama critic. Mortimer and Elaine are engaged in the play rather than just
married (and it's implied that they've indulged in a bit of premarital fun, which would
have been against the Production Code in the 1940s). Neither would the Code have
countenanced Mortimer's triumphant shout in the play: I'm not a Brewster, I'm a
bastard! which became in the film I'm the son of a sea cook! In the original Broadway
play, Boris Karloff played Jonathan, but since the producers wouldn't release him to
make the film, Raymond Massey assumed the role on screen. Consequently, when the
policeman tells Jonathan that he looks like Boris Karloff, it was a lot more meaningful
in the play because the actor actually was Boris Karloff. Finally, the play has an entirely
different ending where Mr. Witherspoon from the sanatorium ends up being the aunts'
final victim by sipping some of the poisoned wine as the curtain falls.
IMDb: Led by the perfectly cast Grant, the film barely pauses for breath, stopping only
briefly to put a bit of creepy menace into the otherwise insane plot. An out and out joy
/ So hilarious. A true classic / One of the best comedies of all time with dark humour,
frantic situations and excellent performances / Capra wonderfully combines slapstick,
screwball, silent film antics and sharp dialogue to produce a gem / An inspired black
comedy. Capra keeps things moving at a breakneck pace / Grant pulls off the comedy
coup of his career with the performance of a lifetime / Black comedy was never better
than this. Timing, delivery, choreography - perfect. Enjoy! / What fun to see a different
side to Grant, and, despite his own reservations, how great he is / More than seventy
years on, Arsenic And Old Lace will still fracture the funny bone in you / Superb.
John Alexander, Jean Adair and Josephine Hull, who all reprised their stage roles
in Frank Capra's screen adaptation of Arsenic And Old Lace
NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART (1944)
John Ford's How Green Was My Valley (1941), winner of five Oscars including
Best Picture, was based on the 1939 best-selling first novel of Hendon-born
Richard Llewellyn. No surprise, then, that his 1943 follow up, None But The
Lonely Heart, was snapped up for adaptation too - though with less obviously
profitable results. RKO's production is low-key and moody, befitting the piece,
perhaps, but its quasi-profound narrative fails to compel. It concerns Ernie Mott
(Grant), a quixotic, free-thinking but narrow drifter who returns briefly to his
East End roots, only to be trapped there by his mother's terminal illness and his
own inability to break away. Though well cast, acted and shot and projecting an
authentic sincerity, this dated film is finally hard to warm to. 113 minutes.
IMDb: A fine old film. In Ernie Mott, Grant plays one of his most substantial roles. Set
in the underbelly of between-wars London, this multifaceted story has engrossing
characters and a story that draws us in. The inconclusive ending puts it more or less in
the category of 'slice-of-life' drama - but what a slice! Worth watching / In both Mr.
Lucky and None But The Lonely Heart, Grant's character starts out being cynical in the
sense of guys who are prematurely disappointed in the future. He lives like a dog that
will succeed by biting and outfoxing everyone. Then he is humanised - but without
loosing his cynical edge. On the contrary, we see here a key into the elegance that was
Grant. He lives by denying and accepting society - a suave, cool-hearted knave. You
can see that he denies society for the very reason that he is convinced it will not fail:
because he accepts life's contradictions. He gets on with it. Most important of all, he is
loyal to the few good things in life. In short, we were fortunate to have Grant and Mr.
Lucky and None But The Lonely Heart - Grant-branded jewels cast in timeless celluloid
/ Grant's Ernie is a combination of dark brooding and sanguine pathos - but all the cast
are excellent and bring the poetic language of the script to life / Be a victim or be a
thug. Suppose you don't want to be either? A great movie / Painful but interesting,
memorable but depressing / This earnest turn at portraying Cockney life quickly
becomes a fascinating story with strong characterisation. The initial narration, a touch
overdone, gives a tantalising glance at future events that never appear in the film. At
first, Grant seems to be playing his part with a strange over-zealous streak but we
rapidly understand that this is the nature of his Ernie Mott - a happy-go-lucky sort with
a brooding sense of social injustice. Everything bad comes with a dose of sugar, a kiss
if you like, to sweeten the experience and make life seem better than it really is. This is
one of those pictures that plays out like a languishing soap opera - insightful and
compassionate with moments of excitement. This would probably work today as a
remake, though I suspect the directors would play up the sex and violence to such a
level that the real essence of 'want and need' would be lost / A unique film, showing a
side of Grant rarely seen, though his charm still comes through, even without the usual
polish / Probably the closest thing to an Art film that Grant ever did, Heart oozes with
atmosphere and character study while remaining strangely static in terms of dramatic
thrust / Not your typical funny or adventurous Grant film but, rather, a serious and
touching portrait of a man trying to do the right thing for the first time in his life. A
well made drama in which Grant (Oscar nominated for the second time) gives one of
his greatest performances / Grant's talent shines through despite a weak screenplay and
ham-fisted direction. As you watch the film you sense that he wasn't acting so much as
revealing who Cary Grant truly was - not the suave, debonair gentlemen cat burglar
seducing Grace Kelly but the street-wise kid who grew up in the rough, a sweet
Cockney hustler with a talent for joyful mimicry. This was the real Grant, no acting,
and, on that level, this is a most wonderful film and a fans' must-see / When Grant tried
something different, something closer to his roots, as the poor East End drifter in None
But The Lonely Heart, he was working against a persona so implanted and perfected
that his characterisation seemed ineffective and forced / Ethel Barrymore, returning to
the screen for the first time in a decade as Ernie's mother, is superb / Like the equally
typecast Tyrone Power in Nightmare Alley, Grant here drew great critical reviews only
to find the public wouldn't buy it / Grant's ineptness, because so rare, is revealing. It
suggests a conflict, seen especially early in the film, between being "Cary Grant", being
that Archie Leach-type character he spent his entire life disguising and delivering what
the part required. Maybe something personal was at stake, but that doesn't necessarily
result in a good movie, as this unsatisfying vanity-project flop confirms.
NIGHT AND DAY (1946)
Directed by Michael Curtiz (Angels With Dirty Faces, Casablanca etc), this soft
focus, saccharine, drama-lite Cole Porter biopic was released two years before
the composer's best-remembered musical, Kiss Me, Kate and eighteen years
before his death in 1964, aged 73, making it not only heavily fictionalised (in
respect of his war record and sexuality especially) but incomplete. Grant, always
easy on the eye - and now in colour! - turns in his usual polished performance
but non-Porterheads would do well to pass. With Jane Wyman. 128 minutes.
IMDb: Long on great music and everything looks wonderful in glowing Technicolor but if you want a Porter bio, try the library / You might think that, with 27 Cole Porter
songs to exploit and a large cast of top-flight singers and dancers to present them,
Hollywood couldn't miss - yet this purported biography of the composer-lyricist
responsible for possibly the best popular music of the 20th century sinks to a level of
mediocrity, so far as the "dramatic" material is concerned, rarely equalled in the long
history of bad films about real people / That Hollywood biopics pick and choose facts
for presentation should be no surprise, but this movie actually perverts circumstances.
A very poor effort / The acting, sets, songs and music are pleasant enough - but hardly
anything shines / Though the biographical aspects of this quaint movie fall way short of
accuracy, that should not affect one's enjoyment of watching a well directed musical
with Cary Grant and lots of other very good actors, including Jane Wyman, a smart
looking Ginny Simms, many fine specialty dancers and, of course, "Introducing Mary
Martin" even though hers was a small part / Lavish but plodding. Fails even as fiction /
Keep an open mind and enjoy / Porter, flawed as he was, deserves a less flawed biopic
than this / Check this picture out to see a prime example of screenwriters, a director
and a star who work hard to suggest what they cannot actually say.
NOTORIOUS (1946)
Grant's second Hitchcock turn casts him as Devlin, an American Secret Service
agent tasked with escorting Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman, second left
above) down to Rio so she can infiltrate a clique of German businessmen to
find out what they're up to. Alicia is chosen for the job following her German
father's conviction for treason against the U.S. (though she herself is loyal). She
quickly not only establishes herself within the group but agrees to marry boss
man and former admirer Claude Rains (above - see also The Last Outpost). After
discovering her true allegiance, he and his mother (Leopoldine Konstantin,
above) set about poisoning her. Alicia becomes aware she is being poisoned,
but what can she do? Can Cary save the day? Written by Ben (Gunga Din, His
Girl Friday) Hecht, Notorious is weakly plotted (though Hecht and Rains were
both Oscar nominated) and fails to thrill - though many love it. 97 minutes.
IMDb: Thrills, romance, humour and compelling drama - the very definition of a perfect
film / Grant gives one of the great understated performances of this or any film. He lets
subtle things such as the way he moves his eyes or tilts his head convey more than
words ever could and his chemistry with Bergman is all the more erotic for being so
subtly expressed. Less is definitely more / Grant, who could be charming, sophisticated,
urbane, serious, funny and downright goofy in the many roles he played, was one of
the most underrated actors of his time. His "wooden" acting here was required by the
part and (presumably) director / An enjoyable film spoiled by its ending / The ending is
perfect: suspenseful, quietly poignant and quietly powerful with a sense of irony that is
subtle through rich. Brilliant / Ignore the "uranium ore" guff. Hecht's highly symbolic,
literate and penetrating script is nothing less than a dark fugue on alcoholism and the
invasion of privacy with the Oedipus complex in all its ardour woven in too.
THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER (aka The Bachelor Knight) (1947)
Fun story about 17 year old Shirley Temple (above, centre) getting a crush on
Grant, a footloose artist twice her age. In the course of scheming to get her
over it, elder sister Myrna Loy, a judge (above, right), falls for him herself. The
worst thing about this film - the best of the three Grant-Loy pairings (see also
Wings In The Dark and Mr. Blandings) - is its clunky title. 95 minutes. Good.
IMDb: An all-star cast deliver the Best Original Screenplay of 1947 / Nothing terribly
original but a pleasant diversion. Grant is entertaining as always and Loy fits the judge
role nicely. Hard to believe that this movie, in which Shirley Temple plays a high
schooler, was actually toward the tail end of her film career. What a waste that we
didn't see more of her later / The only problem with the film, given its great cast and
very funny script, is that the comedic element triumphs at the expense of the romantic.
There aren't half as many scenes between Grant and Loy as I would have liked, and
although Loy is convincing in her portrayal of Margaret - you really do believe that her
character has fallen for Grant's - it certainly isn't with the help of the script. The film
really belongs to Grant and Temple, who both get to show off their comic talents to
great effect. While Loy makes an excellent straight woman, it is a shame that we didn't
get to see more of her, or more of her character interacting with Grant's. All in all,
great fun, laughs and cast - but romance? Well, that would probably have to come
from another film / Loy does wonders with her role as Judge Turner, Grant brings his
natural elegance to the part of Richard Nugent - just watch him in the picnic
competition - and Temple is a sweet Susan, the girl infatuated with Dickie. In minor
roles, Rudy Vallee and Ray Collins are perfectly cast / One of Grant's best comic roles,
and Loy is excellent. Temple absolutely shines as the wilful yet innocent little sister full
of romantic dreams of an older man, and steals quite a few of the laughs. If you fancy a
light-hearted caper, this truly delightful film is for you! / A bit dated. I don't think you
could make it today with the same charm and innocence, but a joy to watch on its own
terms. Highly recommended / Clever without being profound, with characters that are
unusually believable and well-developed / Grant gets many chances to show off his flair
for physical comedy, Temple is no less grating as a young adult than she was as a child
and Loy, though in the movie a lot, is never given much to do. I've long since decided
that Myrna Loy was one of the most underused actresses of her time. I'm still looking
for a film that really allows her to strut her stuff / Good, old-fashioned, silly fun. Not
one of the deeper or more sophisticated films Grant ever made, but cute and enjoyable.
Playing his part very broadly, Cary is, at times, quite immature and goofy - and it is in
these moments that the film is at its best. Not Arsenic And Old Lace - but what is?
Ah, the 1940s: a simpler, more innocent time … sort of. Can you imagine a
studio today greenlighting a project in which, say, Tom Hanks is sentenced by a
judge to date Hilary Duff? Neither can I. Imagine the protests by incensed
parents and religious groups. While The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer steers
clear of the more prurient possibilities inherent in its setup, it is hardly ignorant
of them. Grant's gadfly, Richard Nugent, has less than pure motives in
suggesting to Susan Turner she'd make a good model for his artistic study of
American youth, but said motives don't involve the seduction of an underage
girl. He just wants to get rid of her. Nugent is a man clearly accustomed to
manipulating women both with his looks and by telling them what they want
to hear. This time, his little white lies land him in a heap of trouble. And that's
the secret charm of the film. This is not, after all, a romantic pairing of Cary
Grant and Shirley Temple, but Grant and Myrna Loy. Judge Turner's method of
torturing and humiliating Nugent proves she's his equal in both intellect and
playfulness. Like all screwball couples, Nugent and Turner are opposites - she
the rational legal scholar, he the impetuous and intuitive artist - and we
recognise immediately how perfectly they match. Ultimately, the film is an
extended metaphor about the youthful exuberance of romantic love, the idea
that a gloriously unselfconscious willingness to look and act a giddy fool is the
lone province of children and lovers - even when those lovers are attractive
and successful professionals in the throes of middle age.
The Bachelor And The Bobby-Soxer's first great asset is an Academy Award
winning script by Sidney (I Dream Of Jeannie) Sheldon. Silly as the film's conceit
is, Sheldon so packed his script with sharp, snappy dialogue, the actors aren't
compelled to linger on funny lines or play them up like punchlines. The laughs
unfurl almost continually and seemingly without effort. This consistently droll
tone tides us over between the set pieces that offer the film's big laughs,
including an opening courtroom sequence in which the hung-over patrons of
the Vampire Club spar verbally with one another, and it becomes clear to
audience and Judge Turner alike that the source of all the strife is Richard
Nugent's carefree romantic manipulation of nearly every woman in his sphere
of influence. One of the funniest sequences in the film, it also quickly and
effortlessly establishes character and sets us up for the introduction of
Nugent's entanglement with the underage girl. But the scene that ensured the
film's fame and prestige (and probably won Sheldon the Oscar) is Nugent and
Judge Turner's first date. As the two attempt to have dinner at the Vampire
Club, their meal is interrupted by a series of unwanted guests, including Susan
and her would-be boyfriend Jimmy, assistant D.A. Tommy Chamberlain and a
brash couple from the opening courtroom sequence, each of them with his or
her own bone to pick with Nugent. The scene is a perfectly-timed building of
comic chaos and, set in the third act, toys with our eagerness to see Grant and
Loy finally united.
Cary Grant's coupling of leading man good looks with impeccable comic timing
and delivery proves indispensable here. Despite the quality of Sheldon's script,
without Grant, around whom the entire setup coalesces, none of it would have
worked. All of the actors handle the comedy with aplomb, but Grant is the
powerhouse, and he's given ample opportunity to display the full range of his
comic talents, from wry intelligence to goofiness infused with charm by his
looks. And Richard Nugent escapes sleaziness in no small part because of the
actor portraying him. How can we fault Nugent if a 17-year-old girl happens to
fall in love with him? He looks like Cary Grant!
Dan Mancini, DVD Beaver, 28 June 2004
*****
THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947)
Released a year after Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life and covering much
the same ground, this simple, charming, beguiling film (Oscar nominated for
Best Picture and Director) deserves to be much better known. David Niven
stars as a stuffy, conflicted bishop who prays for divine guidance and gets it in
the form of Dudley (Grant), an angel in human form. The bishop's wife (Loretta
Young, above - see also Born To Be Bad), his household and assorted townsfolk
all benefit from Dudley's benign presence. Only the bishop himself resists. From
a Robert Nathan novel, this whimsical Yuletide fantasy warms the heart. Niven
and Grant allegedly swapped roles a few weeks into shooting, which was
inspired thinking on someone's part. 105 minutes. Highly recommended.
IMDb: What a pleasure to revisit this Henry Koster gem. Everything works in the most
unexpected way. The mystic magic of the story is utterly contagious. The unexpected
musical number on ice skates by Grant, Young and James Gleason made me want to
see it again straight away and thanks to the new technologies I was able to do it on the
spot. There was a remake of this movie a few years ago, remember? No, probably not.
Denzel Washington in the Grant part and Whitney Huston in Young's. To see both
films back to back should be a masterclass in film anthropology that proves without a
doubt that with the passing of time we have lost something invaluable. I don't know
what it is. Maybe there isn't a word for it yet. What I would love to share with all of
you is the joy that The Bishop's Wife brought to me. Even Gladys Cooper's upper class
monster has a moment of exquisite redemption. Not to be missed / Everyone loves
Dudley, the bishop's new assistant - especially the bishop's wife! What follows is a
joyous film that showcases the best talents of each of its three stars: Grant gets to flash
those pearly whites of his and be charming, Young gets to look beautiful while torn
between a depressed husband and fun-loving Dudley and Niven (below, left) gets to
showcase his British stiff upper lip while displaying some very funny slapstick pratfalls.
It's a charming movie with lots of holiday atmosphere - boys' choirs singing, park
skaters skating, city shoppers shopping, etc. Only a Scrooge wouldn't love this film! /
Movie books classify The Bishop's Wife as a fantasy, but there is so much more to it
than that. It is a love story, a comedy, a drama and an all around inspiring 100 minutes
rolled into one. A film to treasure, indeed / A sweet little romantic dramedy, perfect for
a Christmas night curled up before the TV, that tells a story genuinely intelligent and
real / Grant's Dudley is just a little bit roguish, a little bit dark - a very human sort of
angel. It's mostly the smaller moments he sneaks into the film and his performance that
make The Bishop's Wife compelling. Fans of his won't leave it disappointed.
This is the sermon written by Dudley and delivered by the Bishop at film's end:
Tonight I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking. Once upon a
midnight clear, there was a child's cry. A blazing star hung over a stable and
Wise Men came with birthday gifts. We haven't forgotten that night down the
centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, the sound of bells and
with gifts - but especially with gifts. You give me a tie, I give you a book. Aunt
Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Harry could do with
a new pipe. We forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled. All,
that is, except one. We have even forgotten to hang it up - the stocking for the
child born in a manger. It's His birthday we are celebrating. Don't ever let us
forget that. Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most and then let
each put in his share: loving kindness, warm hearts and the stretched out hand
of tolerance - all the shining gifts that make peace on earth.
MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE (1948)
This inconsequential comedy takes 20 minutes to establish that the Blandings'
NYC apartment is too small for them and doesn't get any more interesting (or
amusing) after that. Old hands Grant and Loy (above, left) play commendably,
but in a piece so uninvolving that it's hard to care. 94 tedious minutes.
IMDb: Pleasant entertainment / Not "screwball" or "madcap" but witty and intelligent /
I hate to quibble over movies like this that don't try very hard to be anything other than
light comedy, but I wish there was more Grant and Loy and less Melvyn Douglas
(above, centre). I like him well enough, but anything that keeps the other two from
trading banter is just taking up space. This also includes the first ten minutes, with its
quotidian silence and very, very, very low-intensity humour / This classic movie feels
more manufactured than others of this period / Good old fashioned comedy without
the cursing and gratuitous sex / Slick and perfectly paced. One for the whole family /
Bland bland bland. Mr. Blandings never takes off. There's a bunch of ideas but none is
pushed so far as to arouse more than some condescending smiles. Everyone does his
job but to no avail. The script is poor and directing ineffectual, which you feel from the
very first scenes. A minor, thoroughly forgettable, family comedy / A light and airy film
showcasing how life should be / A fantastic showcase for Grant's bewildered man of
America, a part he always played so well / The script has a perfect ear, the director's
timing is impeccable, and the sophisticated style of the stars gives the entire production
a polished sheen. Grant, Loy and Douglas are all brilliant, but this is much more than a
star vehicle. It's one of the best sophisticated comedies Hollywood ever committed to
celluloid. And 66 years on, the story is all too true / Grant had the knack of making the
wildest situations seem believable at the time, and even somewhat sophisticated. Loy's
charm and elegance complement him well / Frivolous entertainment at its best / A real
disappointment. The only thing that makes Mr. Blandings worth seeing is the short
segment near the beginning that brilliantly satirises life in the Big Apple / There are
very few old movies I dislike, but this one just doesn't work for me / Far better than
godawful '80s remake The Money Pit / Myrna choosing her colours is a hoot!
EVERY GIRL SHOULD BE MARRIED (1948)
If you make due allowance for its more innocent 1940s take on life, Every Girl ...
is a mild romantic comedy about a woman who sets out to prove to a man that
he's not better off being a bachelor, as he thinks he is, and succeeds to their
mutual benefit. But taken at 21st century face value, it's a creepy tale of lying,
stalking and calculated manipulation in which the woman schemes to get what
she wants no matter what, with a result that makes no dramatic or moral
sense. Nonetheless, making her screen debut, Betsy Drake (above) does indeed
land her man (Grant), using her mutt of a boss Franchot Tone (see also Suzy) as
a cat's paw - and in a case of life imitating art, on Christmas Day 1949, the
same Betsy Drake became (until August 1962) the third Mrs Cary Grant. The
two appeared together in one further film (Room For One More), the fifth of
her eleven career screen credits. 84 minutes. Poor.
IMDb: Grant goes from bemused to betrothed in the space of 80 minutes, but to the
viewer it seems an eternity. Possibly the worst film ever made / A product of its time,
this film made me very uncomfortable as a woman of the new millennium / Drake plays
the stalker, an unabashed user of people, alternately pathetic and manipulative, Grant
her victim, alternately angry and oblivious. Vastly disturbing - I haven't been able to
look at classic romances with the same suspension of disbelief since / This was a big
success when new, but today isn't even worth putting on DVD / I'm among millions
who consider themselves Grant fans, but I can't think of a single reason to recommend
this abysmal film / An anachronism, but fun. Highly entertaining / Drake ruins any
humour in this drier than mummy-dust stinker / A cute and intelligent comedy. Give it
a break / A quaint depiction of a bygone era with different social mores / Delightful.
I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE (1949)
After an hour or so's vapid flimflam in post-war Germany, French army captain
Grant marries U.S. army interpreter Ann Sheridan (above). When she is posted
home, red tape decrees that the only way Grant can travel with her is as a
returning soldier's "bride". Cue lots of tedious "Where do I sleep?" nonsense
and a short Cary-in-drag sequence that, whilst amusing, is far too little pay-off
for all that's gone before. From the director of Bringing Up Baby and His Girl
Friday, this Howard Hawks "comedy" is woefully leaden. 105 minutes.
IMDb: This mediocre comedy needs faster pacing, funnier lines and for Grant to act
more like a man and less like a sheepdog. His "I'm not even going to try to behave like
a French officer" attitude didn't convince me of the reality behind his situation. His costar was also rather a non-presence in the film / Wow, did I hate this movie / This is a
stultifyingly slow, dated, clichéd, predictable film, a horrible waste of time for anyone
hoping to discover another great Grant picture. The set-up is laboured, the twists are
forced and Sheridan's performance is deadly boring. It's inconceivable that this star
(Grant), director (Hawks) and screenwriter (Lederer) also teamed up on the sublime
His Girl Friday. The one thing War Bride has going for it is the on-location shooting
but it's as if Hawks spent all his energy capturing that and forgetting about comic
timing. The worst of Grant. A stinker / It does not belong in the Grant canon, but is
worth one viewing / Average to poor / The only drag in this movie is the feeling of
sitting through it / Twenty minutes of funny plus eighty of failed jokes and sad filler /
An incredibly weak wartime farce with a slight screenplay seemingly written around
the title (and the commercially comic idea of placing a peculiarly butch and graceless
Grant in drag) / A total travesty parading as Art / A big disappointment / Not a great
film, perhaps, but an important lesson in how to ground satirical comedy in reality and
reap the benefit / Grimly fascinating, though don't expect to laugh / Unwatchable.
CRISIS (1950)
Whilst holidaying in an unnamed Latin American country, renowned U.S. neurosurgeon Grant and his wife are taken into custody by the despised ruling junta.
Tyrannical president Farrago (José Ferrer, above) has a brain tumour, but since
his unpopularity makes it dangerous for him to leave his HQ, Grant is ordered
to operate on the spot. He is willing to do his best for his patient. Unfortunately,
however, the revolutionaries snatch his wife and declare that either Farrago
must die or she will. A decent though unexceptional drama. 96 minutes.
IMDb: Unusual and curious / The informed, eloquent script and surprise ending make
for worthwhile entertainment. A remarkable film / A tense and often intelligent drama,
slightly out of Grant's usual debonair range, that doesn't deserve the obscurity it seems
to be buried in / A strong, forthright piece of work / A nice little political thriller, ahead
of its time in dissecting Latin American political reality / A tense little film, not typical
of Grant's oeuvre, with a pleasing climax / When, in None But The Lonely Heart, Grant
attempted to break away from his light leading man image and do something with more
drama, the film drew great critical notices but died at the box office. In Crisis, he tried
again, with the same result / Excellently played, by Grant and Ferrer especially / This
plodding, ham-fisted drama that rushes from climax to climax before ending abruptly
without any real resolution or conclusion is single-handedly salvaged by Grant, whose
blockbuster performance successfully draws the viewer away from the plot to focus on
his character alone. Towering above indifferent material, he is a joy to watch / Ordinary
and dull / Interesting though not very exciting / Begs to be remade / The screenplay's
main weakness is the fact that Grant does not receive the message such that his moral
dilemma is not as harsh as it could have been. Nevertheless, Crisis is a strong debut
from great director Richard Brooks / A solid little drama that has held up over time.
PEOPLE WILL TALK (1951)
Based on Curt Goetz's play Dr. Praetorius, this film takes an intriguing tale, told
in its last twenty minutes, and prefaces it with an hour and a half's implausible
and unengaging guff. Written and directed by Joseph L. (All About Eve, Julius
Caesar) Mankiewicz, with Walter Slezak (Once Upon A Honeymoon) and Finlay
Currie (above). An incongruous message movie, dated and overrated. 110m.
IMDb: Grant is smooth and relaxed and the film gets better with each viewing / A very
well hidden film that should be up there with North By Northwest, Citizen Kane and
the like. For its time, People Will Talk took on the most controversial topics of the day
including abortion, unintended pregnancy, HUAC and McCarthy-style witch hunting,
taxpayers subsidising farmers not to grow food - the list goes on. Perhaps most up front
is the defence of American individualism which was then (and may be now even more)
under attack. All of this is presented very cleverly, often with wholesome comedy. A
great, nearly perfect film / This is unique film is superlatively written, offering amusing
dialogue, social insight and enlightened views of science, women's issues, social mores,
the nature of success, materialism and the urge to destroy what we can't comprehend.
Grant is at his warm, compassionate and wryly witty best / Contrived dialogue, poorly
drawn characters and clichéd, unmotivated scenes obscure the fine arguments it seems
this movie was trying to make. Hokey and unbelievable / This beautiful film, far ahead
of its time, presents a thoughtful, intelligent commentary on the issues of the time,
eerily relevant not only to the conservative '50s but to just about any era since / Superb
Grant was never more star-like than in this unheralded picture. I can't remember a
performance of his that touched me so / A pretentious museum piece / It might have
been fine back in the McCarthy era but sixty years on just doesn't work / A strange and
off-putting film, clumsily trying to be all things at once. Not recommended / Sweet.
ROOM FOR ONE MORE (aka The Easy Way) (1952)
Grant and real-life wife Betsy Drake (above, left - see also Every Girl Should Be
Married) play soft-hearted foster parents in this sentimental film based on an
Anna Perrott Rose memoir. She's thankfully less gushy this time around and he's
his usual assured, irreproachable self, but the material is bland. 95 minutes.
IMDb: Enjoy seeing the kind of lives people used to lead when life was honestly worth
living / Terrific family fare / Very entertaining and touching in its own way, though it
plays like a well written sitcom / Unless you're totally jaded, you and your children will
enjoy this heart-warming tale / Below Grant's best, but worth viewing / This plays less
like a Grant film and more like a pilot episode of some less interesting version of The
Waltons. Mediocre / Grant is one comical guy, but sexy too! / I really liked the movie you'll laugh and cry - but the book is better / Pretty depressing. What is it about us that
we need to be reassured in such reduced terms? / One of a series of films in which the
married and domesticated Grant is more in evidence. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream
House and Houseboat fall into the same bracket. It was a new dimension for an older
star and Grant handles it well / Professionalism gets it by, but it's a sticky haul / An
enduring family classic / Grant is more relaxed in this film than any other. A rare role
departure that works / A nostalgic film, showcasing the best of human kindness and
dignity, that will tug at your heart. You'll have a tear in your eye, but come away
feeling better / I've been a grouchy, childless curmudgeon for 40 years, so why I tuned
into this I don't know. The listing (children, family, adoption, disability ...) warned me
not to. Once on, though, I was hooked. Yes, it was freighted with sentimentality and
blatant homilies about adoption and the Scouts, with eye-stinging scenes enough for
anyone - but written so deftly and performed with such perfect understatement
(children included) that I was easily able to forgive the more obvious "message
moments". It melted my icy heart, dammit. Next Sunday I'll watch the golf.
MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)
Screenwriter Hecht (His Girl Friday) and director Hawks (Bringing Up Baby etc)
are back on form in this innocent but wholly delightful farce about a dreamy
research chemist (Grant) struggling to concoct an elixir of youth. By escaping
from its cage and randomly mixing chemicals at a bench, one of his chimps not
only hits upon the right formula but also manages to introduce it into the office
water cooler. Cue hi-jinks involving a haircut, a sports car, a night in the bridal
suite, a young Marilyn Monroe, a paint fight, a baby and, best of all, a scalping.
With Ginger Rogers (see also Once Upon A Honeymoon). Excellent.
IMDb: Classic comedy with no foul language or crudity. Oh, joy! / A laugh-a-minute
marathon of science fiction hocus-pocus brought to life by Grant, who is outrageous in
his antics especially when reverting to childhood, Rogers, who gets to cut a rug in what
becomes almost a parody of her dances with Fred Astaire, and the always wonderful
Charles Coburn. Sex pot Marilyn Monroe adds spice, with all pretty much upstaged by
Esther the chimp / The humour is fast-paced, the lines fly like a buzz saw. If you don't
find this film hysterical, your funny bone is out of whack. See a laugh doctor right
away. Oh, and as a bonus you get to hear Cary croon / Grant is evidently one of Hawks'
favourite actors, and for good reason - he makes the trippiest dialogue sound perfectly
natural and plays science geeks and debonair reporters with equal conviction. His
Barnaby here recalls to mind Bringing Up Baby’s David Huxley. Just as David is kickstarted to life by Susan, so Barnaby is youthened by the elixir and in both films it's
enchanting to watch the transformation take place. Initially, Grant's Barnaby is stuffy,
absent-minded and somewhat stern - in effect, all 'grown-up'. But the moment the elixir
takes hold, the change is miraculous yet believable. Watch in delight as Barnaby flips
an effortless cartwheel, drives like a daredevil and conducts a chorus of children in a
rousing war song. The joie de vivre Grant infuses his character with is almost palpable
- a wonderful performance from a superb actor / Classy Grant is inspired / Love it.
DREAM WIFE (1953)
Grant and Deborah Kerr (above) play an engaged couple who fall out when he
feels she puts her work at the State Department before their relationship. So
instead he seeks the hand of a young and traditionally compliant Arabian princess he met whilst in Burkistan on business. Her father accepts and sends the
girl to America to prepare for the wedding. A limp and predictable "comedy"
with Walter Pidgeon (see also Big Brown Eyes). 95 long minutes.
IMDb: Grant and Kerr make a wonderful screen couple and the first thirty minutes are
good but from then on it's obvious where it's going, the funny scenes become scarce
and I just wanted it to end / Utter junk / This is where Grant and Kerr - marvellous to
watch - first displayed the chemistry that worked so well in An Affair To Remember.
This plot, however, is silly and the comedy lacklustre / A concept (Islam's quirks are
seen as comic and innocently charming) and script so incompetent one wonders just
what they were thinking / Miserable / A shallow film in which Grant gives a very
subdued performance. Once the plot becomes kooky, you can't help but want it all to
end. A second-rate effort filled with lousy writing, clichés, sitcom-like plotting and
dumb situations - but it's still Cary Grant! / Putrid / Really boring with a stupid,
unbelievable plot. Worse than that, Grant looks and acts so peculiar. He appears to be
bone thin - his suits just hang on him - and in some sequences his expressions and body
language border on the effeminate. This is not the dashing, debonair, sophisticated man
we've all become accustomed to seeing in so many films / There's no excuse for such
schlock. What a mess / A fascinating look at our culture's post-WWII attitude towards
women and the Middle East. The movie showcases the big message of get-the-womenback-into-the-kitchen that followed the War and also Hollywood's gross ignorance of
Islamic peoples and their religion. Dated, implausible, silly, fascinating fun.
TO CATCH A THIEF (1955)
Grant stars with Grace Kelly (above) in this tale, from a David Dodge novel and
set on the beautiful Côte d'Azur, of a former expert jewel thief turned heroic
French Resistance fighter now suspected of carrying out a series of daring cat
burglaries in and around Cannes. In order to clear himself, Grant has to catch
the real thief before the police take him. In I Was A Male War Bride, Grant
plays a Frenchman without making any attempt at an accent or "European"
mannerisms. Here he not only does the same, but is also able to pass himself
off as an Oregon lumberman with no questions asked. That Grant, now over
fifty, should court Kelly, 25, does not seem incongruous, which is testament to
the care he patently took of himself throughout his career. And he continues to
act with such ease, grace and charm that he remains a treat to watch, even
when the story, as in the costume ball sequence and elsewhere, gets a little
slow. With Jessie Royce Landis as Kelly's mother. 106 minutes. Good.
IMDb: A bit of a departure for Hitchcock, somewhat lighter and with less of his trademark suspense, thoroughly enjoyable just the same. Cary Grant was playing Cary Grant
by this time, and no one could do it better. And Grace Kelly, what eye-candy! The
snappy dialogue with the sexual innuendo is done perfectly and huge kudos to Brigitte
Auber (Danielle) who was gorgeous and very good. As an interesting aside, Grant's
character, while pretending to be someone else, claimed to have been an American
circus acrobat, which Grant sort of was early in life (albeit English, not American).
With his accent, Grant could really never be mistaken for an American, even though he
usually played one. Also, it was a little eerie to see Kelly driving so fast along those
Riviera cliff-side roads, in light of what happened to her later. Anyway, this film is a
must for fans of Hitchcock, Kelly or Grant / This somewhat languid romantic thriller is
probably Hitchcock's most beautiful film. Grace Kelly is well displayed in delicate and
perfectly fitted summer dresses and evening gowns that show off her exquisite arms
and shoulders with, opposite her, one of Hollywood's most dashing leading men. The
cinematography (which won the film's only Oscar) is clear and sparkling, bright as the
dream of a princess to be, always focused without a hint of darkness anywhere. Even
the night-time rooftop scenes seem to glow / Escapism at its most delicious.
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957)
Co-writer / director Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth etc) and Deborah Kerr (The
Grass Is Greener etc) both pop up again in this visually pleasing but super
schmaltzy romance with musical interludes. After taking an hour to fall in love
whilst crossing the Atlantic, playboy Cary and devoted fiancée Debs part with
their significant others and begin supporting themselves, only to miss their prearranged meeting atop the Empire State Building (an idea recycled in Sleepless
In Seattle) when she's hit by a car on the way there. The script then has Grant
take off back to Europe without even bothering to find out what went wrong,
which rings very false. Otherwise matters play out exactly as one would expect.
115 minutes. Hopeless romantics will enjoy thoroughly, others not so much.
*****
Hailed as one of the most romantic and passionate films of all time, An Affair
To Remember is a remake of a 1939 film called Love Affair. Both films were
directed with flair by Leo McCarey. Critics seem to be divided on which is
superior, though to many audiences there is no contest. The latter version from
1957 starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr has become (to them) a beloved
classic, and its status was given a boost in the early 1990s when Nora Ephron
worked it into the story of her Sleepless In Seattle. On top of that, the film was
remade yet again in 1994 with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening under its
original title. Several years ago, the American Film Institute named the film in
the top five of their 100 Years, 100 Passions list. That's quite an honour, but is it
really deserved?
The film is primarily centred around the relationship of two people, with the
first half showcasing their growing attraction on a luxury liner and the second
presenting the inevitable obstacles that keep them from coming together.
Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) is a suave, sexy playboy who always had the
problem of generating a monogamous relationship. Terry McKay (Deborah
Kerr) is a mature, mesmerising nightclub singer who is in a serious relationship.
Despite the fact that Nickie is travelling back to the U.S. to marry an American
heiress, he is unsure if the relationship will remain stable because of his Don
Juan reputation. Terry is charmed by Nickie, though she doesn't want to
become a target of the paparazzi by getting involved with him. Both try to
avoid each other, but it doesn't last for long.
The story takes an interesting turn when Nickie invites Terry to meet his
grandmother in a brief stop in France. Grandma Janou (Cathleen Nesbitt) takes
an immediate liking to Terry and the film's high point comes when Janou plays
the piano and Terry (actually it was Marni Nixon) sings sweetly in French. Soon
after getting back on the ship going to New York, Nickie and Terry surrender
themselves to each other, though must face the reality of going separate ways
when the cruise comes to a close. So, they make a pact: after six months, if
they are still in love, they will meet at the top of the Empire State Building.
Nickie shows up, but while he's waiting, something happens to Terry on the
street below and the reunion never happens. Will their love truly bring them
together again and make their affair one to remember? Duh!
While that last word sounds kind of harsh, even I have to admit - as a fan of
films, including romantic ones - that An Affair To Remember is, if anything,
awfully clichéd. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad film. On the contrary, I
thought it was two-thirds of a great movie and can obviously see why it has
generated a genuine following over the years. The stars are mighty and
magnetic, the music is truly romantic and the direction is tender and punctual.
Plus, even as a guy, I refuse to label this film as a "chick flick," as other critics
like to say, largely because I think the term is equal parts stereotypical and
sexist. Yes, I do think some guys would like An Affair To Remember, despite its
age and familiar story. Still, I can't go so far as to call the film a classic, for
reasons I will explain later.
One thing I wish I had done before sitting down to watch it for the first time
was to watch Love Affair (the original 1939 version) to make comparisons.
However, perhaps it's a good thing I didn't as I can be a staunch purist when it
comes to remakes. That being said, I barely remember watching the 1994
version and couldn't get into it. Mind, I was still in high school then. While I
was listening to the audio commentary on An Affair To Remember, I discovered
more or less why director Leo McCarey (who had won Oscars for Going My
Way and The Awful Truth) had decided to do a remake of Love Affair: first
because he felt the story deserved a treatment not only in colour but in Cinemascope, which was quite a popular process throughout the 1950s, and second
because he felt a remake could connect more with younger people.
In addition, the role of Nickie seemed tailor-made for a major star such as
Grant, who you could say is playing a version of himself. Grant's trademark wit
and charm is here in full force, and he is irresistible to watch, though I think the
film belongs to the luminous Kerr. While she certainly made her mark in the
1950s, she is not really all that remembered today. True, she is probably
recognised more in this film than any other, though we must note that she
raised so many eyebrows (particularly in the decade of Marilyn Monroe) with a
certain beach scene in From Here To Eternity. While I did empathise with both
Nickie and Terry, I think that Kerr's character was much more interesting,
considering that she was emotionally confused nearly every step of the way
when it came to Nickie. Nominated for six Oscars, Kerr sadly passed away last
October after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
While the soundtrack may never catch up with Dirty Dancing (or even Breakfast
At Tiffany's) in terms of sales, the songs and music can't be overlooked.
However, what many audiences seem not to notice - which is mostly
unintentional, of course - is the work contributed by Marni Nixon. Known by
many as The Great Dubber, she dubbed much of Kerr's singing not only in An
Affair To Remember but also in The King And I. She later went on to do some of
the greatest musicals, dubbing stars such as Natalie Wood and Audrey
Hepburn - and yet was never given onscreen credit. Nixon's powerful soprano
voice is present every time Kerr is singing, and on the commentary track, she
remembers how bitter she was when she got shafted by the studio more often
than not. Sure, Vic Damone may be singing the title tune over the opening
credits, though Nixon is the one that stands out when it comes to this quasimusical version. As with many Fox pictures of the era, the cinematography,
costumes and art-set decoration are all world class.
So why is An Affair To Remember not a classic in my book? In a nutshell, while I
do think the film delivers enough as a love story, where it stops short is being a
tearjerker. Now before everyone starts raising the cynic flags, I do love
romantic / love stories that are done well. Two of my absolute favourites are
Gone With The Wind and An Officer And A Gentleman and others like Children
Of A Lesser God and The Quiet Man never fail to move me. But the difference
between An Affair To Remember and those other films is that never once while
watching it did I shed a tear. Yes, Grant and Kerr had chemistry, and yes, I did
empathise with them, but ultimately I felt the story became too clichéd and
predictable such that I saw the ending a mile away. I've cried at many love
stories, too, even if they are a little predictable. (Anyone who remembers Ice
Castles will know exactly what I'm talking about.)
Ultimately, I think that An Affair To Remember is overrated. The stars are
there, the romance is there, the music is there and the story, while simplistic, I
still accept. However, some of the believability is skewed when Kerr is
attempting to get to the Empire State Building and is stopped short for
circumstances I will not reveal. I just cannot see how this film could have
gotten in the top five AFI Passions, when other films like City Lights, An Officer
And A Gentleman and The Apartment (all with far more powerfully romantic
endings) are lower on that list. Finally, I think the film just goes on too long for
such a simple, sweet story and some of the scenes (particularly in the second
half) could have been cut down or dropped altogether. For example, were the
two sequences with the children's choir really necessary? (Perhaps this is why
some critics prefer the 1939 version, which is nearly a half hour shorter!)
Christopher Kulik, DVD Verdict, 15 January 2008
*****
THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION (1957)
Spain, 1810: Iberian resistance to Napoleon's conquering hordes centres on an
outsized cannon that "natives" Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren, assisted by
British naval envoy Grant (all above), have pushed and pulled 1,000 kilometres
across country to the French central Spanish stronghold at Avila. Based on C. S.
Forester's novel The Gun and clearly made with pride (plus lots of extras, work
and money), this part patriotic paean, part smouldering love triangle nonetheless evokes too little passion and rather too much tedium. Sinatra's conviction
and wig are equally grim, the French (militarily very successful at this time) are
portrayed as incredibly stupid and a huge Spanish army suddenly appears from
nowhere. Grant rises magisterially above the dust and brouhaha but not even
he can save this big budget, small beer damp squib. 127 minutes. Dull.
IMDb: Truly amazingly bad. Everybody overacts, even the donkeys / A stupendously
mounted action romance with just two problems: Stanley Kramer doesn't know how to
direct action and Grant seems too bored to provide much romance / Some films belong
to Hollywood rather than the stars in them, and this epic spectacular is one / Spare
yourself this big bore and try instead Kramer follow-ups The Defiant Ones or On The
Beach / Well-meaning historical pageantry, but Spartacus it ain't / A somehow likeable
but overlong and totally ludicrous period piece / Thoroughly mediocre / The passionate
affair between Grant (53) and Loren (23) off screen sparks no fireworks on / Giant
cannon in historic misfire / Sinatra just didn't care and it shows / A dark spot on the
career of three fine actors. Not worth your time / Viewed as an action drama rather
than a character study, the film has its good points. The photography of the wild
Spanish landscapes is magnificent and many of the individual scenes generate a sense
of excitement, as when the cannon is manoeuvred up then down a steep hillside, nearly
ending in disaster, or when it is hidden in a cathedral under the noses of the French /
Somewhat dated and slightly corny, but good entertainment still / Grant seems carved
out of wood / Visually arresting but too poorly cast and scripted to succeed.
KISS THEM FOR ME (1957)
Honolulu, 1944: three navy pilots snatch four days shore leave in San Francisco,
determined to have a good time. They cook up various schemes to extend the
leave or quit service altogether, only to find, when it comes to it, that, though
war may be hell, duty trumps liberty and they'd sooner return to Pearl after all.
From a Frederic Wakeman novel and Luther Davis play called Shore Leave and
Kiss Them For Me respectively, with Suzy Parker (above), pneumatic Monroe
clone (and every bit as irritating) Jayne Mansfield and Leif (Big John) Erickson.
Dated, frivolous, by the numbers pap. 102 minutes.
IMDb: I was very disappointed with this weak film. Grant's usual charm and effortless
comedy are AWOL throughout. He seems strained, bored and not himself. Mansfield
looks more like an obscene blow-up doll than a Hollywood sex kitten and confirms
beyond doubt her lack of talent / Entertaining but ultimately unsatisfactory / Former
model Parker "acts" with a woodenness, a deadness, a cluelessness beyond belief / Not
a bad film, but an uneven one. Grant saves it from being a total waste of time, together
with an Epstein script that has some wonderful gems scattered here and there / A
cheap, weakly written film with little energy and some very broad performances / This
movie is a diabolical waste of everyone's time with the exception of Suzy Parker who
is the only thing in it as feeble as the material. Many people blame Mansfield and her
grating performance for the film's poor returns at the box office and while she is a pain,
she can only do her best with what she's given. After a handful of good dramatic and
comedy turns her ambitions were set ten steps back by agreeing (simply for the sake of
appearing with Grant) to portray this squealing, idiotic menace. Her character is a
complete cartoon bimbo and although she looks good enough to eat in a boiler suit,
her every appearance in the film jangles your nerves. A real shame. Steer clear of this
so-called comedy. It's more depressing than funny / Thanks to its meandering, dreary
and wholly pointless script, which drags itself lamely along and drags the viewer's
interest and patience down with it, this leaden melodrama (it would be wrong to call it
a comedy) sinks without trace / Up there with Grant's worst / I've long thought it a loss
that Grant did not do more edgy roles and his harder, edgier characterisation here is a
delight to watch / Overall a silly mess, but with some terrific little parts and a terrific
Grant / A comedy with serious overtones that reminds us of our patriotic duty.
INDISCREET (1958)
Scripted by Norman Krasna from his own play Kind Sir and directed by Stanley
Donen (Kiss Them For Me, Charade), Indiscreet reunites Grant at the top of his
game with Ingrid Bergman (above - see also Notorious) to present a slight but
entertaining tale of romantic intrigue. With Cecil Parker. 100 minutes. Good.
IMDb: Fun fluff from Bergman and Grant. The story leaves something to be desired
and there is too much silence between them - but just watching these two together on
screen is reason enough to enjoy the film / Delightful / These incomparable stars are
always worth watching, with Grant suave, debonair and handsome as ever / Billed as a
comedy but actually a dull-a-thon / An endearing film with elegant sets and costumes.
If only the dewy romance had been played down and the comedic element up, in the
style of My Favorite Wife or The Awful Truth. Grant is at his supreme best in this type
of comedy. His highland fling here is hilarious / Star trifle wastes Grant and Bergman
on stuffy, inferior material / A bit of a "Much Ado About Nothing" type of flick, but
still a pleasant way to pass a quiet evening / Star power at its best / A perfect little
gem, undeniably slight but with the elegant simplicity of a fine Swiss watch / A good
old classic / A wonderful light comedy with no messages or meaning - just enjoy! /
Indiscreet points up the multiple advantages of filmed over live performance. The film
was taken from Kind Sir, a Broadway play with Charles Boyer and Mary Martin that
ran for almost a year, with all the action set in the apartment of the leading lady. But
Stanley Donen didn't settle for that. Rather, he used the entire city of London as a set
and photographed its day and night life in glittering Technicolor. Though the film has
only seven speaking parts, all the glitz hides that beautifully / Charming / The superior
dialogue sparkles and the sense of important lives being lived with some intelligence is
a welcome change from the content of most films, then and especially since 1958.
Moviegoers need to thank Donen for yet another cinematic delight / After a first half of
pure poetry, the second falters before its crowd-pleasing end. Flawed, perhaps, but a
gem nonetheless! / The genre of "drawing room comedy" has sadly passed but we are
fortunate to have this fine example showing exactly why it succeeded for decades.
HOUSEBOAT (1958)
After mom dies, a dysfunctional family of absentee father (Grant) and three
young children gradually relearn how to get along after fate sends them Sophie
Loren (above - see also The Power And The Glory) for a maid and a derelict
houseboat on which to live. Even more contrived and unexceptional than it
sounds, or innocent fun from a more tolerant age? You choose. 110 minutes.
IMDB: A throwback to the kind of sweet, happy comedies Grant did in the late '40s
and early '50s. A warm, family-friendly film / Excruciatingly cute slapstick mixed with
some ham-handed satire, not to mention the sitcom idiocy of Grant's obliviousness to
Loren's beauty. Then he notices. Pure formula junk / That rarity, a sitcom done right /
The Sound Of Music in miniature / Recommended to anyone who needs to focus on
the beautiful things of life. A pleasure to watch / Sweet, smarmy and predictable but in
a nice, safe, comfortable way / Saccharin-averse viewers might bail early, but give it
time. I was genuinely entertained by this jewel with surprising emotional resonance / A
cosy romp / Not just a bad movie, but offensive: Loren is made to look ugly, the film is
full of poorly drawn characters, there's a cheap Keaton rip-off (when the train destroys
the house) and a vapid appeal to Saturday Post notions of religion and the script's
romantic dynamics are completely valueless and nonsensical. Every element reflects the
worst of the Hollywood formula system / Watching Grant in a role written for a B or C
list actor is always painful. As a romantic male lead there's never been anybody better
but comic dad parts are best left to the Paul Dooleys of this world. The three kids are
charm-free, the novelty of the houseboat quickly gets tiresome and the plot is entirely
predictable. If you like Sophia Loren, however, then feast your eyes / A nice family
comedy and hasn't aged a bit / Cute but inconsequential / Hesto, presto, one of Cary's
besto / A feeble, predictable film wasting two great talents / Has all the charm of a
sugary half-hour sitcom stretched out to feature length. Only Grant's most loyal fans
will want to see it more than once / Aside from his Hitchcock films and Charade, this
is virtually the only watchable movie Grant made after 1944. It's really just one more of
the bland family-friendly sitcoms that blight his later career, but more interesting than
most for a couple of reasons. One is the passel of motherless kids who, for a change,
are convincingly sullen, bitter and unreachable until a brief last-minute conversion. The
other is the presence of Sophia Loren - raw-boned, gauche, gorgeous and in real life
determined not to become the fourth Mrs. Grant. The movie is contrived and totally
unconvincing, but the two stars' tortured feelings for each other keep seeping through,
giving many scenes an edgy tension you can't shake off. Loren's artless singing of the
fine ballad Almost In Your Arms is haunting and the couple's subsequent dance has an
emotional fierceness that practically burns a hole in the screen.
This one-idea dud is of the "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" variety of wholesome family
corn, irritating and crappy from the first frame. The story is a saccharine homily. Dad
loses mom in an accident and hires a hot nanny. I'll give you nine seconds to figure out
that mommy replacement is the agenda. Is there any other way that storyline can go?
The script is quite rotten and the direction very horrible, with dollars visibly saved by
getting ninety per cent of the movie in the can via rear-screen projection. We gave up
the conceits of noir in the '40s for this? For 1950s commie-hating, child-obsessed,
nuclear-familifying propaganda? Like most everything from the '50s, Houseboat tries to
naturalise your patriotic duty to reproduce via the inclusion of major roles for children,
despite the fact that very few children can act (see also The King And I, An Affair To
Remember, South Pacific, The Man Who Knew Too Much etc) - and the unwelcome
"Dad's a jackass around kids" routine rears its ugly head. The movie starts weird with
twee hand-drawn credits over one of the film's moppets sulking and walking in circles
on the floor, while the colour process switches inexplicably between tints. The film
then starts running backwards and forwards. Loren looks bizarre - shaded down to
Indian tones and made up like a voluptuous cat, she looks like she may eat the children
at any moment. Just like everything else in this film, her part is written for maximum
irritation. She sings a stupid song over and over and generally demonstrates why
Italians will be absent from Hollywood for the next five decades / Don't let the critics
discourage you. If you analyse production values, Houseboat may seem pretty weak
but if you look for its more enduring qualities there's a lot of pleasure to be had /
Enjoyable as a time capsule - otherwise uncreative, naive and unfunny / I never tire of
watching this gem / An oldie and goodie. Its story and issues are timeless.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
Top-notch Hitchcock, all the way through to its cheeky last shot. A fit and feisty
Grant plays well under his 55 years. With James Mason and a slightly bloodless
though still effective Eva Maria Saint. 131 minutes. Fine.
*****
"Now you listen to me. I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job,
a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon
me and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed!"
Pretty much any list of "great Hitchcock films" is going to include North By
Northwest, but one doesn't usually find it at the top. People tend to veer
towards Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds and Notorious when it comes
to selecting a single masterpiece among masterpieces. However, I have a
friend who once told me that he felt North By Northwest was not only Hitchcock's greatest film, but one of the greatest films of all time by any director.
When I asked him why, he answered without hesitation: "It has absolutely
everything an audience could want in a mainstream movie. It has comedy, it
has action, it has romance, it has suspense, it has mystery, it has colourful
locations, it has a great score, it has terrific cinematography, it has great
dialogue, it has great acting, and absolutely everything works." He is correct.
While I may not be quite so confident in declaring the movie Hitch's unquestionable best (the man made so many brilliant films), I can certainly say that it
does the best job of showing off the director's skills as an entertainer. North By
Northwest is indeed a movie that has everything.
Like many of Hitchcock's films, North By Northwest is primarily remembered
today for its big set pieces, most notably the tremendously intense sequence in
which Cary Grant attempts to escape the deadly crop duster and the thrilling
climax at Mount Rushmore. To be sure, these are great moments, deserving of
their iconic status in cinematic history. But what some viewers might have
forgotten is just what a rich piece of entertainment this film is from start to
finish. There isn't a single moment that bores or fails to be engaging. Hitchcock
juggles a lot of elements in the film, and a lesser director surely might have
dropped the ball or pushed too hard in one particular direction. By some
miracle, North By Northwest is more or less pitch perfect, being light on its feet
when it needs to be and dramatically gripping during other moments.
Cary Grant is a huge key to the film's success, as there was perhaps no other
actor of the era who could have made the role work so well (Jimmy Stewart
lobbied for the role, but was turned down). Despite the fact that his age was
starting to show, Grant was still the ultimate movie star in 1959. When we're
first introduced to Roger Thornhill, we recognise the character as being the
usual sort of man that Cary Grant plays: witty, charming, intelligent and
friendly. His dialogue is the sort of playfully hilarious material that Grant
mastered over the years. However, Thornhill is quickly thrown into a rather
desperate situation and Grant excels at conveying a sense of genuine fear and
tension during these moments. Though he never loses his silver tongue ("Not
that I mind a slight case of abduction now and then, but I have tickets for the
theatre this evening, to a show I was looking forward to, and I get, well, kind of
unreasonable about things like that"), there's clearly an element of vulnerability in Grant's character. He is bold and charming in spite of his fears, not
because he doesn't have them.
It's particularly impressive to note just how quickly many of the scenes in North
By Northwest can slip between comedy and drama with ease. Consider the
moment in which Grant desperately attempts to convince the police officers
that he has been abducted and drugged by evil men. The humour generated by
the fact that Grant's story sounds very much like the typical ravings of a
drunken bum plays devilishly against the fact that Thornhill is indeed a man
stuck in a very troubling situation. Likewise, the confrontational scenes
between Grant and James Mason (marvellously cool and sinister) crackle with
that intoxicating blend of wit and danger. Hitchcock loved the "Innocent Man
Wrongly Accused" plot element, but never was it as playfully entertaining as it
is in North By Northwest. Even Thornhill's own mother (a very amusing Jessie
Royce Landis) clucks disapprovingly when she hears Roger's ludicrous story.
Though North By Northwest may seem strikingly different than much of
Hitchcock's work, many of the director's trademark elements are still in place.
In addition to the Innocent Man Wrongly Accused protagonist attempting to
convince everyone around him of the truth (not to mention the fact that he is
yet another one of Hitchcock's everyman detectives), we have the icy yet
immensely alluring blonde female lead (Eva Marie Saint, quite good if not a
match for Kim Novak), a vivid Bernard Herrmann score that not only comments
on the action but adds its own subtext and a perilous climax in which at least
one character will fall to their death. Oh, and let's not forget the director's
trademark cameo.
It's a small problem, but there are a couple of casting issues that made me
raise my eyebrows. First of all, Landis was actually a year younger than Grant
when the film was made, so the idea that she could be his mother was nothing
short of absurd. Additionally, I couldn't help but laugh out loud when the 35
year old Eva Marie Saint tells Grant that she is 26. She may be attractive but
there's no way she can pass for a day under 30.
A great film that belongs in any movie lover's collection
Clark Douglas, DVD Verdict, 3 November 2009
*****
OPERATION PETTICOAT (1959)
Directed by Blake Edwards (Breakfast At Tiffany's, the Pink Panther films etc)
this is typical fifties "light comedy" - i.e. a couple of mildly amusing and a
couple of quasi-dramatic moments all but lost in an excess of stultifyingly witless and pointless tedium. The story, such as it is, concerns a patched up WWII
sub, commanded by Grant, that picks up five female service personnel followed
by two pregnant native women plus children and a goat - oh, and gets painted
pink. Grant still just about defies the years and Tony Curtis (above) and a pig
provide some knockabout fun, but it's all hard going. Surprisingly, both Maltin
(three and a half stars) and IMDb (7.3/10) rate this highly! 120 minutes.
*****
As WWII comedies go, Blake Edwards' Operation Petticoat is among the silliest
and most lightweight. The plot is exceptionally thin and contrived and the
comic scenarios the film concocts require a considerable suspension of disbelief.
None of that really matters, however, because Operation Petticoat never once
asks to be taken seriously. It's a fun, playful movie anchored by a pair of fun,
playful performances and expecting anything more than that is a recipe for
disappointment. If simply watching Cary Grant and Tony Curtis effectively
employ their charisma and comic timing sounds like a decent way to spend a
couple of hours, then you're in luck.
As the title suggests, Operation Petticoat might as well be called Wacky Hijinks:
The Movie. Nearly all of the film's running time is occupied by a series of silly
confrontations, silly wartime strategy and silly pranks. For instance, consider
the sequence in which Holden is caught stealing a pig from a Filipino farmer.
Sherman recognises that the situation needs to be resolved quickly and quietly
but also sees this as an opportunity to really irritate his chief rival. So he brings
the poor farmer to Holden's quarters and begins handing him all of Holden's
most prized possessions as payment. Holden is in no position to argue, of
course, so he's left to despair as his precious trinkets are cheerfully given away.
The scene goes on for an eternity, which would be a detriment if we were
actually invested in the ongoing narrative. However, the film realises that what
we're really interested in is watching the two leads spar with each other, so
that's what we get.
Cary Grant is clearly too old for the part he's playing, but the film makes a halfhearted effort at excusing that fact by having the whole film play as a flashback (a pair of bookend sequences are set nearly twenty years after the events
of the film). They needn't have bothered, really. In a film filled to the brim with
so many silly elements, Grant's age is hardly a problem. He's absolutely as
charming and funny as he needs to be (despite the fact that he's in the
"straight man" role), even if he's never too convincing as a military leader.
Tony Curtis has always been a bit more hit and miss for me, but he's on his
game this time around, preening for the camera and veering satisfactorily
between nervous fretfulness and amusing smugness. A handful of talented
supporting players - Joan O'Brien, Dick Sargent, Virginia Gregg and more - turn
up, but Grant and Curtis own the film.
Clark Douglas, DVD Verdict, 5 August 2014
*****
THE GRASS IS GREENER (1960)
Stanley Donen directs Grant for the third time (of four) alongside Deborah Kerr
(above, right - see also Dream Wife, An Affair To Remember), Robert Mitchum
(second right above), Jean Simmons and Moray Watson in this splendid fivehanded play adapted for the screen by authors Hugh and Margaret Williams.
Grant and Kerr are happily married members of the impoverished British
aristocracy until she falls for American oil tycoon Mitchum. All is resolved in
civilised and pleasingly literate style. Grant shines. 104 minutes. Excellent.
IMDb: Fine, funny and recommended / A strong script wasted with only Jean Simmons
seeming to fit her part. Still, anything with Grant in is worth watching / A top notch
script and fantastic cast combine to create a funny, moving, cracking film that seems to
have been overlooked by most / This delightful film's script is a descendant of the sort
of archly witty portrayals of British upper-class life that came from the pens of
Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward. The atmosphere of this sort of comedy may be
a bit foreign to American tastes but as a devotee of British drama I enjoyed the movie
hugely. All the cast shine, right down to Moray Watson in the small but delicious part
of the befuddled butler Sellers. Jean Simmons is especially enjoyable in her out-ofcharacter portrayal of the vampish Hattie. Despite what others have said, Grant fills the
part of this down-at-the-heels English Lord like old brandy fills a crystal decanter. The
sumptuous setting of the baronial manor and the high production values make the film
beautiful to look at, to boot. It does stretch the imagination a tad that Victor could
treat the whole issue of his wife's infidelity, going on right in front of his nose, in such a
dispassionate manner, but that is a characteristic of this genre. Further, Grant manages
to convince us that, beneath his outer imperturbability, his wife's disloyalty has pained
him deeply and he could not stand to lose her. Though the appeal of this little known
film may be somewhat niche, it's a minor gem / An enjoyable cast and often deliciously
witty dialogue succeed in enlivening this otherwise rather static comedy. It can't shake
off its staginess, resulting in occasional moments of slight weariness, but for the most
part, The Grass Is Greener is quality entertainment / A movie that glows brighter with
the passage of time / Elegant Grant shows once more what a master he was / Erudite
and delightful. Radiant Kerr dazzles, bovine Mitchum doesn't / A very intelligent script
provides plenty of innuendo and moments for each of the stars to shine / Great fun.
Pandora's Box
Bookmarked by a cheery chorus extolling the joys of "the stately homes of
England", Stanley Donen's The Grass Is Greener at first promises to be a
pleasantly rich, thoroughly British comedy of manners, repartee and archly subtle
barbs ready to go. The film elicits so comfortable a viewing state, in fact, that it
takes some time to clue into the slow, inextricable escalation evolving on screen.
The final result is an impressive transformation indeed: a sly, witty affair (pun
intended) that, while unpacking the virtue of old-fashioned sensibilities,
demonstrates a markedly modern undercurrent of risqué subtext and the place of
tradition and posterity in the twentieth century. Donen's film is a charming and
sophisticated satire that never becomes stuffy or unengaging. Most importantly,
it is highly enjoyable through and through.
The film's clever script by Hugh and Margaret Williams, nimbly repurposing their
own play, keeps the plot plugging along at a slow but subtly rising pace, with an
opening poking fun at vacant tourists and the upper class elite stubborn enough
to cling to the antiquated decadence of their heritage while begrudgingly
opening their historic homes to the riff raff for sustainable income. However, as
the conflict settles in, enough genuinely surprisingly twists and turns and pockets
of action pop up for the film to never feel excessively talky. It's also impressive
how cavalier the film is about its central infidelity conflict and (arguably more
controversial) the motivations behind sustaining a strained marriage. Mercifully
absent is the implicit judgement in many comparable narratives released in the
thick of the Hays Code, making the film feel much more like a story than an
ideologically spring-loaded cautionary tale.
Unsurprisingly, the film's main draw is its trifecta of Hollywood megastars
comprising the central love triangle, the allure of whom Donen cheekily
demystifies by introducing them as squabbling babies over the opening credits.
However, rather than awards-baiting scene-chomping, Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr
and Robert Mitchum all turn in restrained, deadpan performances - this is a
British comedy of manners, after all, and overacting would be intolerably
uncouth. Nonetheless, all three possess such natural star magnetism that, armed
with the script's arsenal of clever zingers and double entendres, they remain
eminently watchable throughout.
An uncomfortable situation unwound to its full satirical potential, The Grass Is
Greener unpacks social performativity with deft ease. Fans of the stars, or those
seeking an old-fashioned jaunt with a slyly contemporary edge are cordially
invited to experience the distinct pleasure of visiting this stately home of England.
Pyrocitor, 31 July 2015
*****
THAT TOUCH OF MINK (1962)
Grant stars with Doris Day (above - thankfully no songs) in this visually fine
(indeed Art Direction Oscar nominated) and otherwise pleasant rom-com that,
but for a weak central premise and a couple of silly plot developments could
have been something special. With Gig Young (last seen in 1942 Stanwyck
vehicle The Gay Sisters) plus cameos from Yankees aces Mickey Mantle, Roger
Maris and Yogi Berra. 99 minutes. Amiable, anodyne fun.
IMDb: Grant is the greatest actor who ever lived, whose mask-like suavity concealed
astonishing depths and darkness and who starred in more genuine masterpieces than
any other performer. He retired early because the quality of material put his way was
severely diminishing. With this film you can see why / A few special moments in this
movie almost mask the rest of its mediocrity / Surprisingly refreshing / It could have
worked had the film not been based entirely on a single joke / You'll like yourself and
the human race better after enjoying this one / These actors are too mature for this
embalmed version of burlesque, glossy and colourful though it may be / Flimsy but fun
/ Grant is good but laconic and Day is kind of annoying. Some funny moments and
pleasing atmosphere but with a phoney sentiment / One of the best of the "perpetual
virgin" genre, of which Day was the leading star. The script sparkles and the supporting
players really add to the total package. Enjoy this fantastically silly film! / An easy to
take Day sex romp, I recommend it for the amusement it generates / This "adult and
sophisticated" sleaze just made Grant look like a dirty old man with little class. Give
me the old, real Cary Grant instead / A beautifully filmed fantasy that titillates in a
genuinely charming way / Support players Gig Young, Audrey Meadows (Day's room
mate) and John Astin ("Muscatel for my lady's pleasure") all do fine work / Probably
the unfunniest comedy ever made / Not the best of Grant or Day, but as a pairing piece
it's most entertaining - a brisk, dialogue-driven, humour-laden film that revels in a sort
of smug awareness / Light-hearted and constantly funny with an exceptional main cast
/ Chemistry-lite, with both leads around twenty years too old / Cheesy but nice / Grant,
the absolute epitome of genuine American bachelorhood and Day, the famously sweet
innocent girl-next-door combine to make an early sixties classic / Wonderful.
CHARADE (1963)
Stanley Donen (Indiscreet etc) directs Grant for the fourth and last time in this
tight little romantic mystery thriller that would have done Hitchcock proud. Set
in Paris, it concerns the whereabouts of a missing $250,000 stolen during the
war by one of five friends. After he dies before the opening credits, his mates
turn their attention to his unknowing wife, played by Audrey Hepburn (above).
The CIA also take an interest. Regina's problem is, whom can she trust? Grant,
still performing at 59 with immaculate conviction, must have known, like his
audience, that his screen days were numbered, but he's not finished yet. With
Walter Matthau, James Coburn and George Kennedy. 113 minutes. Good.
*****
It's hard to imagine how you can go wrong when a film's cast is led by Cary
Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Indeed, the funny and suspenseful romp that is
Stanley Donen's Charade doesn't make imagining any easier. Donen began his
career in musicals, directing the famous Gene Kelly / Jerry the Mouse song and
dance number from George Sidney's Anchors Aweigh (1945) before sharing
lead direction with Kelly in movies like 1949's On The Town and the big daddy
of all Hollywood musicals, 1952's Singin' In The Rain. With Charade, he decided
to meld screwball comedy's rapid-fire wit with a Hitchcockian tale of suspense
and danger. The resulting film is a warm cinematic ride, an adventure in Paris
whose favouring of posh style over lurid detail must have seemed slightly
nostalgic even in 1963, considering that the James Bond franchise with its
racier brand of intrigue was hitting its stride and Hitchcock himself had moved
on to more explicit terrors in Psycho and The Birds. The movie so overflows
with charm, though, it's difficult to care that it feels more like a product of the
1950s than the '60s.
With its focus on shifting identities, shadowy government agencies and a
woman in distress, Charade is often viewed as a gender-reversed version of
North By Northwest. It suffers by such comparison because its breezier tone
and emphasis on romance over action make it more akin to the lesser Hitchcock thriller and Grant vehicle To Catch A Thief. As scripted by Peter Stone,
Charade's intrigue is merely the skeleton on which the romance - the true meat
of the picture - just as in To Catch A Thief we're far more interested in a GrantKelly hook-up than the cat burglary plot. Even so, Stone, who would go on to
write Grant's penultimate picture, Father Goose and Donen films Arabesque
and The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three, crafted a series of twists and turns
sufficiently coherent that the thrills don't feel either throwaway or a poorly
conceived staging ground for high style romance. Charade sports none of the
gaping plot holes or gross slips in logic one finds in, say, the Bond or Pink
Panther series, the sorts of gaffes that force a viewer to consciously flip the
Suspend Disbelief switch in his brain. Charade's glitzy artifice is eminently and
effortlessly digestible.
Donen could have found no better leading man than Cary Grant, considering
Grant starred in some of the finest and funniest screwball comedies ever made,
as well as topping the bill in four Hitchcock white-knucklers. The actor's looks
(which basically defined the concept of movie-star handsome) along with his
casual grace and impeccable timing make it easy to underestimate his
enormous talent as an actor. Grant's turn in Charade appears so effortless,
without coming off as rote or phoned-in, one could almost believe assuming
top bill in a romance/thriller/comedy is such a simple thing that Donen could
have plucked any Joe Schmo off the street to do it. All the more impressive is
that Grant was on the cusp of 60 when he played Peter Joshua, yet doesn't
come off the slightest bit like an old goat trying to hang onto his former glory.
He's as vital and believable a romantic lead here as he was in the '40s and '50s.
For all Grant's debonair charm, though, the show really belongs to Hepburn.
Her classic beauty, augmented by the luxurious costume design of Hubert de
Givenchy, melds with her innate intelligence and ability to play convincing
vulnerability to make Regina Lampert a feisty yet deeply sympathetic heroine.
The only incongruity in the character is her increasingly aggressive romantic
pursuit of Mr. Joshua despite her growing distrust of his motives, a weird flaw
attributable to Grant's discomfort with the 25 year age difference between
himself and Hepburn. Before accepting the role, Grant, who found the notion
of a man his age pursuing a woman Hepburn's age unseemly, insisted Stone
alter the script to make the actress the pursuer. Rest assured, though, that
Hepburn has little problem charming her way past this little inconsistency. In
her hands, Lampert's fears become our own, and it's this character identification that lend the thriller portions of the film their substance.
Dan Mancini, DVD Verdict, 26 April 2004
FATHER GOOSE (1964)
Grant sets aside his boulevardier image to play a hard-drinking, island-hopping
drop out in this WWII comedy set in the Malay archipelago. As the Japanese
advance and the Allies fall back, spotters are left behind to report on enemy
movements and Grant reluctantly becomes one such. His radio call sign
(whence the film's title) is Mother Goose. Initially alone, he's soon encumbered
with a diplomat's daughter (Leslie Caron, above) and seven young schoolgirls in
her care. He's a bum, she's a self-confessed "picture-straightener". Will shared
adversity bring them together? Have a guess. The screenplay won an Oscar.
Pleasing, playful sport. With Trevor Howard. 116 minutes.
IMDb: If you haven't seen a Grant movie before, this is a perfect place to start. One of
his very best / Vintage Grant, reminiscent of his earlier romantic comedies / They don't
make stars like Grant anymore. His combination of maturity, good looks and comedic
timing makes this a triple treat / Touches all the right buttons / A simple film, not very
deep, but endearing, with just the right amount of silliness and predictable heroism /
Lots of fun and goes down smooth / My favourite Grant comedy is 1937's The Awful
Truth and it is an amazing tribute to his talent that in Father Goose, made 27 years
later, he seems to have aged very little and has not lost one iota of the spark or zest
that graced his performances throughout the decades. The rest of the cast are excellent
too, most notably Trevor Howard who relishes this rare chance to take on a comedic
role - but what makes this film really stand out is the clever writing / Grant, at the very
top of his game, gives his best comedic performance. Every movement, every gesture
is well nigh perfect. It looks effortless but is all well thought out. Film historian David
Thomson called him the finest actor in Hollywood history and Time critic Richard
Schickel once called him "a technician of genius". Watch Grant closely in this fine film
and see why / By his only admission, one of Grant's own favourite projects.
WALK DON'T RUN (1966)
Grant brings his magnificent career to a close with this innocuous rom-com set
in Tokyo during the 1964 Olympics. With accommodation throughout the city
in very short supply, he's forced to flat-share with a British Embassy attaché
(Samantha Eggar, above). He then sub-lets half of his half share to an athlete
on the American team (Jim Hutton, above) and, when the young couple show
signs of mutual attraction (despite her engagement to someone else), decides
to play Cupid. Inoffensive though forgettable fun. 114 minutes.
IMDb: He was old and greying and saddled with a weak script, but in many ways this
film displays the magic of the great Cary Grant. Rising once more above lame material,
he single-handedly makes the unwatchable watchable / Grant's swansong is done in his
inimitable style, subtle and understated / Grant plays a graceful supporting role and the
final scene with him giving Eggar to Hutton in marriage is symbolic of him handing
over the baton to the next generation of stars / For Grant's swansong, stick with the
terrific Father Goose rather than this half-baked fluff / The droll, dry, witty and acerbic
humour of this light-hearted, feel-good comedy gem has a sense of we're-all-in-thistogether that keeps the film on the fun side of the line between confusion and conflict /
An infuriating experience, so dated and pedestrian, with morals already out of fashion
when the film was released / A breezy, slick, amusing and frequently involving story
filled with characters that seem unusually real. Grant in the walking race is a hoot! / A
dull remake of the far funnier The More The Merrier from 1943 / Eggar and Hutton
are unattractive and irritating. Grant still commands the screen but is fighting a losing
battle with inferior material / Tired work. No wonder Grant called it a day immediately
afterwards / Lightweight but likable / Grant retired from screen acting at just the right
time, not going on like so many of his contemporaries into decrepit old age, doing
humiliating cameos and character roles. He alludes to his age here by not getting the
girl at the film's end for the only time in his leading man career. The last scene, in
which he waves goodbye to the two children before climbing into the car to be driven
away, is touchingly done. Though it would have been nicer to see one of cinema's
greatest stars sign off on a higher note, Walk Don't Run is still a pleasant and reasonably dignified swansong to Grant's memorable contribution to film history.
*****
Cary Grant once described his screen persona as "a combination of Jack
Buchanan, Noel Coward and Rex Harrison. I pretended to be somebody I
wanted to be and finally I became that person. Or he became me." In fact, in
the process of constructing his cool, sophisticated movie star persona, Grant
became not only the illusory presence he would have liked to be but the
perfect, debonair Hollywood star. In Charade, Audrey Hepburn poses a question
to her co-star and then answers it herself: "Do you know what's wrong with
you? Nothing." Cary Grant was the true iconic movie star, his suave outward
style and external sheen masking an inner reserve and aloofness, and in that
reserve and seeming unconcern lies the Grant mystique. The plots of most
Grant films revolve around this mystique and the efforts of a female (a short
list includes such disparate types as Irene Dunne, Jean Arthur, Ingrid Bergman,
Katharine Hepburn, Eva Marie Saint, Leslie Caron and Grace Kelly) to break it.
And the audience can only guess at Grant's seeming abandonment and
surrender to these women, whether it's symbolised by the door slamming shut
at the end of The Awful Truth or the train racing into a tunnel at the end of
North By Northwest. Whatever the final outcome, Grant did not show passion.
That was left to other, more demonstrative actors. His acting was subtle and
seamless, transcending performance altogether. It could be said that Cary
Grant became a state of mind.
James Monaco, The Encyclopedia Of Film (Perigee Books, 1991)
*****
In the last four years of his life, Grant made 36 public appearances at theatres
across the US performing an intimate film clip + Q&A show called An Evening
With Cary Grant. In 1991, Nancy Nelson, the agent who booked these events
and managed Grant's participation, published a memoir (Evenings With Cary
Grant) not just of them but of his life, based on things she heard him say, his
personal papers and the testimony of many associates and friends. Though not
quite hagiography, it is remorselessly upbeat, but imparts nonetheless a
compelling portrait that tells, if not the whole truth, still a warm, winning and
(because first hand) ultimately persuasive approximation. We learn that he was
"religious but not pious", a giggler and a baseball lover; also that, from the age
of thirteen, he had only three upper incisors (having knocked out a fourth after
falling on ice). Below are selected excerpts from the book:
CG, on his choice of career: [My science teacher's part-time lab assistant, an
electrician] was a jovial, friendly man with children of his own and, one day, in
kindly response to my eagerness to learn about anything electrical, he invited
me to visit the newly-built Bristol Hippodrome, in which he'd installed the
switchboard and lighting system. The Saturday matinee was in full swing when
I arrived backstage and there I suddenly found my inarticulate self in a dazzling
land of smiling, jostling people wearing and not wearing all sorts of costumes
and doing all sorts of clever things. And that's when I knew! What other life
could there be but that of an actor? They happily travelled and toured. They
were classless, cheerful and carefree. They gaily laughed, lived and loved.
Gunga Din (1939)
Jack Haley Jr.: He was constantly a maverick, rebelling against what everyone
expected him to do. He had the confidence to say goodbye to Pender [when his
troupe returned home after their American tour] and look for work in the
theatre. Later he'd walk out on [touring theatre company impresarios] the
Shuberts. Then [so becoming the first freelancing major screen star] he walked
out on Paramount, which offered him a great deal of money to stay. And that
was right toward the end of the Depression. It took cojones to do that.
Journalist Roderick Mann (on assuming the name "Cary Grant"): Cary told me
he used to telephone Clark Gable each Christmas and say: 'Did you get any
monogrammed stuff you don't want?' If he said yes, I'd hurry round and we'd
exchange initialled presents.
Five of his films CG disavowed: Singapore Sue (1931), The Devil And The Deep
(1932), Born To Be Bad (1934), When You're In Love (1937) and People Will Talk
(1951). Nor (see below) did he care for Arsenic And Old Lace.
CG: Sylvia Scarlett was my breakthrough. It permitted me to play a character I
knew. Thanks to [director] George Cukor. He let me play it the way I thought it
should be played because he didn’t know who the character was.
My Favorite Wife director Garson Kanin: Cary was not one of those movie stars
who gets out there just because he's handsome and has a flair for playing one
key or another. He worked very hard. I remember that indelibly. Almost more
than any other quality was his seriousness about his work. He was always
prepared; he always knew his part, his lines and the scene. And he related very
well to the other players. He took not only his own part seriously; he took the
whole picture seriously. He'd come and look at the rushes every evening. No
matter how carefree and easygoing he seemed in the performance, in reality
he was a serious man, an exceptionally concentrated man. And extremely
intelligent, too. Still, he played far more on instinct than he did on intellect. I
don't recall him ever intellectually discussing a role or a scene or a picture or a
part. He trusted his own instincts, which had worked for him so well. He just
polished that up and used it.
Destination Tokyo (1943)
Stanley Donen (director of Kiss Them For Me, Indiscreet, The Grass Is Greener
and Charade): Cary was unique. You see it and feel it in the reactions and the
characterisation. There's not a false moment. And it seems like it's just
happening, that he's experiencing it at that moment. He projected ease and
comfort, and he was always concentrated. You never saw any fear in him when
he was acting. His scripts were full of little notes to himself. The minute detail
of it all: that's really what all art is about. The tiniest details: that's what he
was great at. He always seemed real. It wasn't a gift from God, it was the
magic that came from enormous amounts of work.
CG on Arsenic And Old Lace: I did not enjoy the role. It's my least favourite film.
It wasn't my kind of comedy. Frank Capra, who was a great director, thought I
could do it. I tried to explain to him that I couldn't do that kind of comedy - all
those double takes. I'd have been better as one of the old aunts!
The Pride And The Passion (1957)
CG: If you want to be an actor, my advice is to learn your lines and don't bump
into the other actors. Just get out there and act. You have to have the courage
to make mistakes. It takes courage to be bad. You can only be good with
experience. If you are really interested in a film career, you should get all the
training and experience you can. You won't be wasting your time. Practically
all films have someone young and someone old in them. You can work until
you're one hundred years old.
Burt Reynolds, when he was number one at the box office: Cary told me: 'Enjoy
the moment, but understand this is not the summit. You haven't gotten where
you're going.' I thought he was talking about my career, but he was talking
about my life - children and happiness. I wish I could tell him now that he was
absolutely right.
CG: I liked being where I was, in front of the camera, especially when there was
a man I respected on the other side. Directing is a long, long haul. You start
with the script and have to be able to work with everyone connected with the
film: actors, the scenic designer, the cameraman ... And when the picture's
finished, you still have to edit it. That step can take months and months. As a
director you have to spend a great deal of time on one film. An actor, on the
other hand, is in and out. A director gives a great deal of his life to his craft. I
was never attracted to that aspect of filmmaking. I was much more interested
in the economics of the business.
In the period 1960-63, Grant took LSD, under medical supervision, before its
use was banned, more than one hundred times. He said: LSD permits you to fly
apart. I got clearer and clearer. Your subconscious takes over when you take it,
and you become free of the usual discipline you impose upon yourself. I forced
myself through the realisation that I loved my parents and forgave them for
what they didn't know. I became happier for it, and the insights I gained
dispelled many of the fears I had prior to that time. I began to realise that I
was my own worst enemy. You can't blame anyone else for what you've done
in your life. You must keep in mind that you are always part of the action. Once
you realise that, you're home a little freer.
With Ingrid Bergman in Notorious (1946)
Roderick Mann: Most actors are empty. [CG] was a very sage person - almost
like a prophet. A thinking man. What I liked most about Cary was that I could
talk to him seriously, about anything. You could tell your troubles to Cary.
HSH Prince Rainier III: Cary had not been a happy man ... It was only when he
met [his fifth wife] Barbara [Harris] that he found what he had been searching
for - the everyday happiness that lasted all day, all night, day after day, month
after month, year after year.
Gregory Peck: [Cary told me] 'I just want to see [my daughter] Jennifer have a
child. I want to see my grandchild. Then I'll be ready to shuffle off.' I think that
nicely expresses his state of mind at the end. He had no fear. I hope he had a
feeling that he had accomplished a lot with his talent, determination and hard
work. I hope he had an inner feeling of having done a good job and having
made something of himself. I think he did.
CG: There's no point in being unhappy about growing older. Just think of the
millions who have been denied the privilege.
Burt Reynolds: Cary was magical. He was touched by the gods in the sense that
he was different from everyone else. When he walked into a room, you had to
look at him. Men liked him as well as women, and that is incredibly rare. Men
found him non-threatening. If a woman said: 'I'm in love with Cary Grant,'
most men couldn't blame her.
Journalist Abigail Van Buren: Most celebrities are concerned with how they
look and how people react to them. Cary reacted to other people. His success
never went to his head. There are people who walk into a room and say: 'Here
I am.' Cary walked in and said: 'There you are.'
Gregory Peck: He was comfortable in all aspects of show business: acrobatics,
singing, music, comedy, drama, the circus. Underneath that suave manner and
sophisticated style he was dyed-in-the-wool, grass-roots, down-to-earth show
business. A performer. He might have been a vaudevillian or he might have
been a band singer. In one way or another he was going to entertain people.
But he finally weaved his way through and found he could be Cary Grant, the
film star. He discovered that for himself.
*****