Cary Grant

I first have to talk about Cary Grant. My all-time favorite actor. He can do comedy, drama and even thriller, he does it all. Many people may not know this, but his real name is Archibald Leach. Before Grant moved to California to act, he was part of a stage troupe. They did vaudeville type acts and Leach was a stilt walker who did all sorts of acrobatic tricks. What an interesting beginning for a famous Hollywood actor.

I'd like to take this opportunity to showcase a few of his films. If you are familiar with Cary Grant than you'll know his more famous films. Which would Include, His Girl Friday, The Philadelphia Story, To Catch a Thief, An Affair to Remember and North by Northwest. I'd like to talk about some lesser known films that really showcase Grant's talents as a charismatic, funny yet serious actor.

In 1937, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne began a great working relationship in The Awful Truth. That's what is so great about Grant, is that he had wonderful leading ladies. Grant and Dunne portray a husband and wife team who go their separate ways only to find out how much they love each other. 

In this movie, Grant is seen as a young energetic sometimes clumsy man. An example of this, is when Grant's character Jerry, crashes his soon to be ex-wife's recital because he thinks she had an affair with her voice coach. He sits down and immediately causes a ruckus. His chair falls and breaks a part and his legs get caught in the chair. After, he looks a fool, because their was nothing between the voice coach and his wife all along.

This movie also shows Irene Dunne as a wonderful actress in her own right. She has great comedic chops. Especially, when she pretended to be Jerry's sister Lola, after answering his telephone when his soon to be fiance called.

I would recommend this film to anyone. It's lighthearted and shows two great actors playing-off each other.

Next, I'd like to jump ahead fourteen years to one of my all-time favorite films with Cary Grant called People Will Talk. Co-starring along side Grant, is Jeanne Crain who plays Grant's love interest, Hume Cronyn and Walter Slezak.

This movie combines all what I love about Grant. Grant plays Dr. Noah Praetorius a warm, funny yet caring doctor. Praetorius, is under scrutiny by a fellow doctor , who disagrees with they way Praetorius shows compassion to his patients. This film tugs at your heart-strings for how caring and decent Praetorius is.

The plot of this story is two-fold. The first half of the story is about Cronyn's character investigating Praetorius and his assistant Shunderson, played by Finlay Currie. The second part of the film is a story of an unwed expecting mother named Deborah played by Crain. Deborah hurts herself because she's afraid of the scrutiny she'll get. Praetorius finds the woman and lies to her that she lost the baby to save her so she wont harm herself again. When Deborah discharges from the hospital, Praetorius finds her and tells her the truth. They end up getting married.

A very hilarious and yet childish scene in this film is the train scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iawx33OHVRU

Now, what I find so heart warming and funny about Cary Grant's character are some scenes that stand out as excellent. When Deborah finds out she's been pregnant all along, she becomes upset. She thinks Praetorius will not love the baby as his own. Praetorius surprises her and says, "It's time you stop thinking of yourself and start thinking about my baby." This movie is very ground-breaking for 1951. People Will Talk is very socially aware of idle gossip and humanity.The last of which can be seen in the unveiling of Shunderson.

Shunderson tells his story of being a convicted murderer who had been sentenced to death twice. His last of which is when he met Preatorius. After telling his story, the panel agrees the inquisition was a waste of time. The panel disbands and Shunderson and Cronyn's character Professor Elwell are left alone. Shunderson says, "Professor Elwell, you're a little man. It's not that you're short. You're...little, in the mind and in the heart. Tonight, you tried to make a man little whose boots you couldn't touch if you stood on tiptoe on top of the highest mountain in the world. And as it turned out...you're even littler than you were before."

Shunderson, although dim-witted at times, has excellent insight. Shunderson's words strike a core with Professor Elwell and might have made a difference in the future of how he treats and perceives people. 

People Will Talk Trailer: 

That's all for now, next I'll showcase the wonderful Katharine Hepburn(don't be surprise if Cary Grant makes an appearance.)