Actor Spotlight: Cary Grant

Yes, it's Christmas-time, so I figured, for these 12 Day so Christmas I'd bring you 12 Days of Spotlight. I'll discuss music, movies, actors, & authors that interest me. They won't all have to do directly with a Christmas theme in any way. I'm taking this opportunity to share with you all my interests outside of the many, many, many different books I read and have read this year. With that said, I bring you Cary Grant for Day 1 of my 12 Days of Spotlights!

What can I say about a man such as Cary Grant? He's acted in dozens upon dozens of movies and had hit after hit from the 40's on. As I spoke with a close friend about the various Cary Grant movies I've seen I never realized just how many I've seen! He's so well rounded with his acting, doing comedies, dramas, suspense, and romance without breaking a sweat. He has a charm about his stance and his voice that make women swoon and men want to be him.

If I could have the personality of any actor, past and present, I'd probably want it to come closest to Cary Grants. Unlike Fred Astaire & Gene Kelly who had to dance or Bing Crosby & Frank Sinatra who had to sing, to get their women, Cary never had to do anything of that. He did more to move a woman to fall in love with him just by the way he looked at her. Just watch any of the movies I've seen (listed in released order) below and you'll know exactly what I mean. I've taken the liberty of including the leading lady he acted beside. I don't think there was any woman of his acting era who he didn't get to easily sweep off his feet. He is truly every man.

She Done Him Wrong (1933) - Mae West

Topper (1937) - Constance Bennett

The Awful Truth (1937) - Irene Dunne

Bringing Up Baby (1938) - Katherine Hepburn

Holiday (1938) - Katherine Hepburn

His Girl Friday (1940) - Rosalind Russell

My Favorite Wife (1940) - Irene Dunne

The Philadelphia Story (1940) - Katherine Hepburn

Penny Serenade (1941) - Irene Dunne

Suspicion (1941) - Joan Fontaine

The Talk of the Town (1942) - Jean Arthur

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) - Priscilla Lane

Notorious (1946) - Ingrid Bergman

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) - Myrna Loy

The Bishops Wife (1947) - Loretta Young

People Will Talk (1951) - Jeanne Crain

Monkey Business (1952) - Ginger Rogers

To Catch a Thief (1955) - Grace Kelly

An Affair to Remember (1957) - Deborah Kerr

Houseboat (1958) - Sophia Loren

North by Northwest (1959) - Eva Marie Saint

Charade (1963) - Audrey Hepburn

Father Goose (1964) - Leslie Caron

Now I tell you, name another actor who has had a line-up of women like that on THEIR resume of movies? And those are JUST the movies I've seen. He's got SO many others with other leading ladies I'm sure. I hope I get to see them all! I've noticed in the beginning he did a lot of movies with Katherine Hepburn and Irene Dunne (due to contracts with the studio at the time) but his friendship with Alfred Hitchcock put him in several of his movies. Unfortunately he declined to be in my favorite Hitchcock movie, Rope, because he was rumored to be gay and felt if he were to appear in the movie then critics would have that as proof that the rumors were true. Rope is laced with homosexual undertones throughout the movie. James Stewart stepped into the role and the rest is history.

Of all the Cary Grant movies I've seen I'd have to say the ones I love the most are His Girl Friday, The Bishops Wife, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Bringing Up Baby. They are all truly great but these four are by far my favorites. I can watch them each every single day and never get tired of them.

Which Cary Grant movie(s) have you seen?

Bringing Up Baby (1938) (Movie Review)

 



Director: Howard Hawks

Screenwriter(s): Dudley Nichols & Hagar Wilde

Producer: Cliff Reid & Howard Hawks

Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures

In Theaters: February 18th, 1938

Run Time: 102 minutes

Starring: Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant

Genre(s): comedy/romance

Storyline: Mild mannered zoology professor Dr. David Huxley is excited by the news that an intercostal clavicle bone has been found to complete his brontosaurus skeleton, a project four years in the construction. He is equally excited about his imminent marriage to his assistant, the officious Alice Swallow, who is interested in him more for his work than for him as a person. David needs the $1 million endowment of wealthy dowager Mrs. Carleton Random to complete the project. Her lawyer, Alexander Peabody, will make the decision on her behalf, so David needs to get in his favor. However, whenever David tries to make a good impression on Peabody, the same young woman always seems to do something to make him look bad. She is the flighty heiress Susan Vance. The more David wants Susan to go away, the more Susan seems not to want or be able to. But David eventually learns that Alexander Peabody is her good friend…

Movie Trailer:


My Review: I remember the first time I watched Bringing Up Baby. I was lucky enough to have a mother who brought home VHS tapes of countless classic movies, and not just starring Katharine Hepburn. For me, when it came to my understanding of comedy, it came from actors like Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn before I even discovered Lucille Ball. But being able to see a movie like this on the big screen just can’t compare. If you ever get a chance to see a classic on the big screen I cannot stress enough how much you should jump at the opportunity to see whatever it is.

These two have done a few others movies together but this one is my favorite. It truly showcases Katharine’s sense of humor, something many, including herself, have said she never truly had. In fact it was Cary who showed her the art of timing. And boy did she master it beautifully. Unlike other duos of their day (Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland or Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers) they didn’t have singing or dancing that made them flow together so well. It was their fantastic acting ability and it didn’t hurt that they both have larger than life personalities on the screen. It’s hard to notice anyone or anything else other than them when they are on the screen but do try because the ensemble cast in this movie just helps in so many ways to move this comedy along.

My Rating: ★★★★

The Bishop's Wife (1948) (Movie Review)

The Bishop’s Wife (109 minutes, B&W)

directed by Henry Koster

Robert Nathan (novel), Writer

Samuel Goldwyn, Producer

RKO Radio Pictures, Distributor

February 16th, 1948 (in theaters)

comedy/drama/fantasy/romance

My Rating:

Starring

Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley, Elsa Lanchester

Storyline: (IMDb.com) An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family’s affections, as Christmas approaches.


Movie Trailer:
 

My Review: From the moment I started this movie I was hooked. I’ve always been an admirer of Cary Grant’s work. If you’ve seen any of his movies, his comedies are my favorite. And although this movie does have some laughs and humor, it’s underlying theme that miracles can and do actually happen, is present from beginning to end. To me, this will easily become a timeless classic. How I’ve never seen this movie before is beyond me.

I am not familiar with Loretta Young’s work but when Monty Woolley appeared on the screen I gasped and smiled simultaneously! His portrayal of Mr. Whiteside, alongside Bette Davis, in The Man Who Came to Dinner is a riot on so many levels! But I’m straying off topic.

The other surprise “star” in this movie was Elsa Lanchester. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a starring role but she is a presence in any movie that demands to be recognized, and do I ever! This is one of the smallest roles I’ve seen her play but her eyes are what make her scenes all the more important to the movie.

Movies from the 1940’s were about more than what we over use today in movies. Back then you HAD to be a good actor! And every person in this cast was great. Now onto the movie itself!

David Niven who plays the Bishop seems to be battling his own “demons” if you will when an angel comes to him. The Bishop thinks he’s there to help him secure his precious cathedral he’s been working on, but when he feels everything is NOT going his way he quickly tries to “pray away” this angel. Little does he realize it’s his wife that brought the angel there and it is only she who can send him on.

The most memorable scene for me in this movie would have to be when Cary Grant, who as you may have guessed, plays the angel, is telling little Debby (the daughter of the bishop and his wife) a story. I’ve never heard a bible story told quite like that before and I was hanging on his every word the entire time he told it. I won’t spoil it for you by telling you which story he tells the little girl. Just watch the movie and witness the miracles that unfold in all the lives the angel touches.