Cary Grant (1904-1986)
Cary Grant
was Hollywood's favourite romantic leading man for over 30 years, he
was just as suave in his
sixties as he had been in his thirties. He was
also probably the finest light comedian ever, his unpretensious acting
style wasn't flashy at all and he never won an a regular acting Oscar
but Grant was a unique personality with many imitators but no equals
(director Billy Wilder always wanted him for one of his films and made
a back handed compliment to the actor with the Tony Curtis imitation in
Some Like It Hot (1959)).Early on Grant seemed to attract Hollywood's leading actresses. Marlene Dietrich and Mae West were among his early co-stars but Katharine Hepburn became his perfect partner starting with Sylvia Scarlett (1935). Grant was one of the first actors to be a free agent and not tied to a particular studio, his prowess with light comedy was first demonstrated in The Awful Truth (1937) directed by Leo McCarey co-starring Irene Dunne. He made two more films with Dunne : another comedy My Favourite Wife (1940) and the drama Penny Serenade (1941), interestingly he was nominated for an Oscar for this film and None but the Lonely Heart (1944) two of his more serious works but ignored by the Academy for his comedy roles.
Two of his greatest comedy roles came opposite Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby (1938) and The Philadelphia Story (1940), he was also good in the slightly more dramatic Holiday (1938) again with Hepburn. Gunga Din (1939) was one of his rare action films. His Girl Friday (1940) saw Grant as Walter Burns trying to cling onto his star reporter Hildy Johnson played superbly by Rosalind Russell. It was one of his best films for director Howard Hawks who used Grant in a lot of his comedies.
Another important director in Grant's film career was Alfred Hitchcock. In their first film together Suspicion (1941) Hitchcock explored the darker side of Grant's persona by suggesting to the audience he was a sinister murderer. It has been suggested that Hitch liked using Grant because the dashing actor was what he would have liked to have been, their association included three more films : Notorious (1946) with Ingrid Bergman, To Catch A Thief (1955) with Grace Kelly and best of all North by Northwest (1959).
Director Stanley Donen caught some of the atmosphere of the Hitchcock films in Charade (1963) a thriller in which Grant co-starred with Audrey Hepburn, despite the difference in their ages Cary Grant remained the perfect romantic leading man. It was his last really good film though he continued working till 1966 then probably sensibly retired.
The fact that Bristol born Archibald Leach became the great romatic comedian Cary Grant is a minor miracle all true movie fans should be grateful for.
FILMOGRAPHY
1932 BLONDE VENUS performer
1932
DEVIL AND THE DEEP performer1932 HOT SATURDAY performer
1932 MADAME BUTTERFLY performer
1932 MERRILY WE GO TO HELL performer
1932 SINNERS IN THE SUN performer
1932 THIS IS THE NIGHT performer
1933 ALICE IN WONDERLAND performer
1933 THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK performer
1933 GAMBLING SHIP performer
1933 I'M NO ANGEL performer
1933 SHE DONE HIM WRONG performer
1933 THE WOMAN ACCUSED performer
1934 BORN TO BE BAD performer
1934 KISS AND MAKE UP performer
1934 LADIES SHOULD LISTEN performer
1934 THIRTY DAY PRINCESS performer
1935 ENTER MADAME performer
1935 THE LAST OUTPOST performer
1935 SYLVIA SCARLETT performer
1935 WINGS IN THE DARK performer
1936 AMAZING ADVENTURE/ THE AMAZING QUEST OF ERNEST BLISS/ROMANCE AND RICHES
performer1936 BIG BROWN EYES performer
1936 PIRATE PARTY ON CATALINA ISLE performer
1936 SUZY performer
1936 WEDDING PRESENT performer
1937 THE AWFUL TRUTH performer
1937 THE TOAST OF NEW YORK performer
1937 TOPPER performer
1937 WHEN YOU'RE IN LOVE performer
1938 BRINGING UP BABY performer
1938 HOLIDAY performer
1939 GUNGA DIN performer
1939 IN NAME ONLY performer
1939 ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS performer
1940 HIS GIRL FRIDAY performer
1940 THE HOWARDS OF VIRGINIA performer
1940 MY FAVORITE WIFE performer
1940 THE PHILADELPHIA
STORY
performer1941 PENNY SERENADE performer
1941 SUSPICION performer
1942 ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON performer
1942 THE TALK OF THE TOWN performer
1943 DESTINATION TOKYO performer
1943 MR. LUCKY performer
1944 ARSENIC AND OLD LACE performer
1944 NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART performer
1944 ONCE UPON A TIME performer
1946 NIGHT AND DAY performer
1946 NOTORIOUS performer
1946 WITHOUT RESERVATIONS performer
1947 THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER performer
1947 THE BISHOP'S WIFE performer
1948 EVERY GIRL SHOULD BE MARRIED performer
1948 MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE performer
1949 I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE performer
1950 CRISIS performer
1951 PEOPLE WILL TALK performer
1952 MONKEY BUSINESS performer
1952 ROOM FOR ONE MORE/ THE EASY WAY performer
1953 DREAM WIFE performer
1955 TO CATCH A THIEF performer
1957 AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER performer
1957 KISS THEM FOR ME performer
1957 THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION performer
1958 HOUSEBOAT performer
1958 INDISCREET performer
1959 NORTH BY NORTHWEST performer
1959 OPERATION PETTICOAT performer, executive producer
1960 THE GRASS IS GREENER performer
1962 THAT TOUCH OF MINK performer
1963 CHARADE performer
1964 FATHER GOOSE performer
1966 WALK, DON'T RUN performer
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Written content of the Golden Age of Hollywood Website (except where indicated) copyright Derek McLellan, 2007.