Growing up in the 70s and 80s I watched a lot of TV. If I wasn't reading a book, I was watching some old show or movie on the very limited number of channels available to us in those days. And what I really loved, was when there would be old movies from the 30s, 40s or 50s on. It was even more exciting if the movie happened to star Cary Grant. While many of the characters he portrayed were all very similar, I loved them none the less. Growing up in a blue collar, middle class family there weren't too many people I knew who were as sophisticated and sauve as Cary Grant. Plus he was funny! Of course, he was handsome, but that wasn't really important to me when I was 10.
So to mark the anniversary of the birth (January 18) of Archibald Leach (a.k.a. Cary Grant) here some DVDs (which will include some of my personal favorites) and books to check out:
This is one of Cary Grant's most famous and memorable movies, mostly for its importance in the film Sleepless in Seattle. Two people, while engaged to other people, meet and fall in love on a cruise. They agree to meet 6 months later on the top of The Empire State Building, but unfortunately one of them doesn't make it there. This is one of the all time great tear jerkers, so if you haven't already seen it, or even if you have, make sure you have plenty of tissues on hand!
In this film, one of many made with director Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant plays a hapless New York advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive. Also stars Eva Marie Saint.
When a reformed jewel thief is suspected of returning to his former occupation, he must ferret out the real thief in order to prove his innocence. Filmed on location on the French Riviera, which only makes Grant and his glamorous co-star Grace Kelly, look even more beautiful.
A man and his wife decide they can afford to have a house in the country built to their specifications. It's a lot more trouble than they think! If you've ever hired someone to do any kind of renovations on your house, or had your own house built, you will understand the problems Mr. Blandings and his wife (the marvelous Myrna Loy) encounter on the way to their dream house.
A high school girl (Shirley Temple) falls for a playboy artist with screwball results. This is a very silly movie, with a very silly premise, but I love it all the same. And once again, Mr. Grant stars with Myrna Loy.
An easy going drama critic discovers that his kind and gentle Aunts Abby and Martha have a bizarre habit of poisoning gentleman callers and burying them in the cellar. This is a charming movie despite the odd premise.
Captain Henri Rochard is a French officer assigned to work with Lt. Catherine Gates. Through a wacky series of misadventures, they fall in love and marry. When the war ends, Capt. Rochard tries to return to America with the other female war brides. Zany gender-confusing antics follow.
And now to my all time favorite Cary Grant film: when a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned 2nd marriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself. This is a fantastic combination of Grant, Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart. Some of the funniest scenes are actually between Grant and Stewart. This is a movie not to miss!
And, if you'd like to read about Cary Grant's life, here are a few biographies of note:
Cary Grant, A Life in Pictures edited by Yann-Brice Dherbier
Dear Cary: A Memoir by Dyan Cannon
Good Stuff: A Reminiscence Of My Father, Cary Grant by Jennifer Grant
Cary Grant: A Biography by Marc Eliot
-- Post by Tracy
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