The Silver Screen Oasis

I run like crazy away from Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp. But I'm loving the large landscape of "Lawrence..." "Giant" "Gone With the Wind" etc. Tell a good story - that's all we ask of filmmakers. Tell a good story.

Nope, you're not alone Brother Rat. But I'm liking Lomm's point about how landscape can play another character in a story. It takes real skill to paint an intimate story on a large canvas.

I was feeling like a romantic fix last night so I rewatched An Affair to Remember. (A small bonus was because I visited New York for the first time last year, I got to look at the backgrounds.)

One of the things that struck me was how much the film was about adults. It must have been the audience they were aiming at ( unlike modern films) but from taking hard times on the chin, to the way they interacted, it is fun watching grownups at play. And I guess Cary Grant was the most grown up of all. I know that is part of his charm, being sophisticated enough to handle situations that mere mortals would crawl away from with aplomb. Yet he was obviously so good with kids and dogs. Sigh.

And anyone who says he could not act. The emotions he carries without a word as he leans back against the door when he sees the painting in the bedroom. I think it comes down to nobody but Cary Grant could do that.

One of my favourite Cary Grant films is Operation Petticoat. I know its a comedy but if you ever wanted to show a film about Grace under Pressure or keeping your cool as a leader that has to be it. And once again no-one but Cary Grant could do it.

I know unique is an over worked word these days but I think Cary Grant is one actor for whom it is safe to use.


dee

kingrat wrote:Maven! I thought I was the only one who tended to avoid Robert Downey, Jr. and especially Johnny Depp. Depp seems to adore his own cleverness so much that an audience (this one, anyway) is unnecessary. Cary Grant knew how to let us adore him.

Depp is self-parody at this point. He's been playing the same guy (Hunter S Thompson as a pirate/indian/etc) for ages. Tired, and not as much fun as it was the first time or two around. RDJ is just a lot of fun for me, and I enjoy watching his performances. Another current actor with a love/hate fan base is Leonardo DiCaprio, who I find to be a fantastic actor, but I know many people dislike him intensely.

An excellent point above about story over spectacle, and one that every filmmaker should note. Spectacle has its place, but have some meat to the film! Action movie doesn't have to mean "throw your brain away for 2 hours". It didn't in the heyday of cinema. North By Northwest, anyone?

I think Depp, Downey and DiCaprio are excellent actors. That doesn't make me watch a movie that doesn't otherwise appeal to me. But I admire the skill of these players.

I'm liking Lomm's point about how landscape can play another character in a story. It takes real skill to paint an intimate story on a large canvas

Yeah, yeah. I suppose. But almost inevitably, I find those movies less effective than the smaller stories with confined focus. Is "Lawrence" as good as David Lean's British films? Does George Stevens' GIANT have the dramatic impact of SHANE? Don't let me offend anybody. That's not my intention. I'm just arguing for the defense. Or am I the prosecution?

Anyone else watch "Hot Saturday" last night?

A very early Grant film that I knew nothing about is only fair. The basic story revolves around a small town girl who stays at playboy Grant's place too late one night. When spotted by a girlfriend arriving at home in Grant's car she manages to start the town talking and jumping to all the wrong conclusions. Too bad for her. Everything starts to come apart.

Randolph Scott costars but he shows up well into the movie and only has one scene with Grant.

A couple of precode surprises are there it may be interesting for that. Performances are okay. Nancy Carroll is good. I liked Grady Sutton. Grant has a nice car too. It's not terribly taxing on anybody.

It was one of the few Grant pictures I had not seen.

This movie is the talk of my classic film circle. Nobody has heard of it! Wish I could have watched, but I don't have TCM. Grady Sutton is my sister's favorite actor!

I thought it was a Grant picture that had been retitled but it wasn't. I pulled out my "The Films of Cary Grant" book that I got in 1974 and there it was. The synopsis is a little off but there was a small review from some source included.

There are a couple of other early Grant films that I only know about from the book but I never thought I would have seen this one so maybe someday......

[u][color=#FF0000]movieman1957[/color][/u] wrote:Anyone else watch "Hot Saturday" last night?

I did. I thought the movie was okay. A little creaky, but I watched it for Cary Grant. My gosh, was he dressed to KILL in this movie or what? He had such an easy way of delivering his lines and being in his own skin. I envy those early thirties gals getting a load of Grant and Cooper and McCrea and Gable and Cortez etc. coming on the scene. But I digress. I could see the plot coming from a mile away; Nancy Carroll didn't really move me. Her situation did though. Gossipy minds did destroy, including her narrow-minded mother, Jane Darwell. Randolph Scott was a wooden but welcomed tin hero. I loved the "Vertigo" moment in the film. That was pretty daring. The ending surprised me and saved the movie for me.

There are lots of early Cary Grant movies I haven't seen and would like to check out. With TCM showing a spate of stars' films during this SUTS, we can see, in one fell swoop, their growth and in most cases their beginnings. Watching Cary Grant pitching woo was swoon-derful.



“May I pay you a compliment? Oh no, not one of those haymakers. Just this. I’ve known many women. Never have I met one so warm, so desirable, so unapproachable. You know, I surprise myself admiring the mind in you. You don’t mind my mentioning it since it’s there, do you? As a matter of fact it all comes down to this. A man would have to be very stupid to...touch you without first knowing your heart.”

Everybody had a moniker back then. There were Sweater girls and Oomph girls and girls who wore Sarongs. Girls with Peek-A-Boo hair or those who had The Look and some with million dollar legs. We classic film fans know who The King, The Duke and the Tramp are. But Cary Grant...

<< Sigh! >>

Cary Grant is THE Movie Star.

Now that’s no small feat folks for a boy from Bristol England with a very difficult childhood. Nothing was handed to him on a silver platter. He is a Capricorn and I think one of the greatest birthday gifts I could have is to proudly say I share my January 18th Earth sign with Cary Grant.

Looking over the list of films TCM will show, I’d say we can have our pick of Cary any which way we want him. We can have him dashingly romantic, screwy and silly, adventurous, cynical or even on the murderous side. We have a Cary for every occasion. He could do comedy or drama with equal aplomb. He was a fine actor.

And his leading ladies...my goodness, some of the great beauties of the classic era. He made several films with a lucky few including Lombard, Loy, Kerr, Arthur, Loren, Dunne, Loretta, Ginger and four-times with Hepburn. They brought out the best in him, and definitely vice-versa. But even the gals who only got one chance to work with him were probably walking on air. Audrey, Eva Marie, Laraine, Priscilla, Constance and Ann Sheridan to name a few. Hitchcock used him four times, my favorite being in “Notorious.” He was never more good-looking and his working opposite Ingrid Bergman is like watching a dream couple. My favorite era for him is the 40’s. My favorite movie is “The Awful Truth.” The chemistry with Irene Dunne is sublime. But I’d have to say the one who really matched him energy for manic energy is Rosalind Russell in “His Girl Friday.”

Elegant, sophisticated, down-to-earth, tall dark and handsome. Women loved him, men wanted to be like him. I can’t imagine being him, walking into a restaurant or studio or movie premiere or into any place in the world. The stir he must have caused. In films, he made it all look too deceptively easy. I’m clearing my Monday nights and have his voice waft through my apartment.

With TCM making Cary Grant the Star of the Month this December, I say they saved the best for last. He aged like a fine wine and left before be asked to leave. He's gone almost thirty years now, and really there is no other movie star like him.

My favorite actor. He could do slapstick complete with with pratfalls, then turn around and play a serious dramatic role, and pull off both. And probably the most classically handsome actor of any era. He was almost so often the first choice for roles that ended up going to the likes of Bogie (once), Gregory Peck, and so on. If he could have been cloned Peck may not have had a career.

We can have him dashingly romantic, screwy and silly, adventurous, cynical or even on the murderous side. We have a Cary for every occasion. He could do comedy or drama with equal aplomb.

The reason for that is in your next sentence. He was a fine actor. That's putting it mildly. The breadth and scope of his talent was no less than amazing. Wayne, Stewart, even Spencer Tracy generally played themselves. And they were excellent in the roles! Cary commits to the variety of personalities you've described as if it's the first time we've seen him. Who is this man? What is he up to? We forget that he's Cary Grant. He's part of the story.

Somewhere there must be young movie fans asking their grandparents, "Why was he such a big star? Was he that good?" I'd like to be there for that conversation. Yes. He was that good! And for decades, every girl named Judy was subjected to a line the actor never really spoke. But that didn't matter. As John Ford said, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend!"

From the top shelf:

HOLIDAY
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART
NOTORIOUS
THE AWFUL TRUTH
And many, many more!

Red - that was wonderfully and beautifully written.