Oceans of ink have been written about the eternal appeal of Hollywood legend Cary Grant. How to explain his effortlessness on the screen? His equal appeal to both men and women? His ease with comedy and drama? What was the story behind that casual yet foreboding charm? For gay audiences, of course, the elusive question of Grant's sexuality is perhaps the most tantalizing. None of the film critics and historians that appear on the extra features of a new DVD collection of Grant movies addresses the subject and, of course, none of the films do either. But nevertheless, like so many other movies of the golden era, subtext and imagination offer plenty in the way of GLBT material in each of these wonderful Grant starring vehicles.
The Cary Grant Box Set from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment includes The Awful Truth ( 1937 ) , Holiday ( 1938 ) , Only Angels Have Wings ( 1939 ) , His Girl Friday ( 1940 ) and, my personal favorite, The Talk of the Town ( 1942 ) —five of the films that both made Grant a star and cemented his reputation. For any fan of Grant's work, this set is a must have. Each is a bonafide classic, expertly written, shot and directed.
Grant had already made more than 20 pictures when he finally found what has come to be known as the quintessential Cary Grant character in the cross-dressing comedy Sylvia Scarlet in 1935. This was the debonair clotheshorse who tossed off dialogue at lightning speed and practically trotted into a room. The precise haberdashery and personal grooming was matched by a physical but decidedly wacky grace ( it was nothing to see Grant take a pratfall or do a cartwheel ) .
Though Sylvia Scarlet had been a flop, Grant knew he had found his niche and cemented it in the minds of audiences in 1937. First with the zany Topper and then with The Awful Truth, the first movie included in the set. Grant co-stars for the first time with the delightful but almost forgotten Irene Dunne ( fresh from a triumph in James Whales' Showboat ) . They portray a sophisticated couple that almost flippantly heads for divorce court and then realizes that they truly love one another. Sensible Ralph Bellamy costars. Gay audiences will immediately recognize Dunne's vocal coach ( played by Alexander D'Arcy ) who Grant is jealous of ( perhaps because he wants him for himself? ) as one of their own.
Next up in the set is Holiday ( 1938 ) , which is making its DVD debut at long last. Grant re-teamed with Katharine Hepburn under the helm of gay director George Cukor. Hepburn plays rich girl Linda Seton yearning for a simple life who falls for her frivolous sister's fiancée, Johnny Case ( Grant ) . When Grant enters the impossibly large mansion of the Seaton family for the first time, he's literally like a breath of fresh air. Though Grant and Hepburn match up beautifully on the screen, this early example of the present-day 'dramedy' must have been hard for Depression-era audiences to sympathize with —rich-people problems weren't exactly big box office ( then or now ) .
In 1939 Grant played the hard-bitten pilot at a tiny South American airport high up in the mountains in Only Angels Have Wings. Grant, in shabby clothes with stubble, gives an unusually bitter performance as the stoic, tough Geoff Carter, who calmly talks his pilots through the mists and refuses to allow anyone to mourn those who crash. Jean Arthur plays the incredulous passerby who learns how to love Carter and fit in with the boys without making demands. The sumptuous Rita Hayworth finally broke through in a supporting part as Grant's ex-girlfriend.
When Hawks set about directing His Girl Friday in 1940, again with Grant in the lead, he made the brilliant decision to change the character of tough talking, writing whiz Hildy Johnson to a woman, and had the good fortune to cast Rosalind Russell in the part. Though Grant's verbal sparring with Dunne and Hepburn are a joy to behold, nothing compares to the battle of wits that he and Russell engage in.
Finally, the set includes one of my favorite Grant films, 1942's The Talk of the Town, in which he again co-stars with Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman. This time Grant plays one Leopold Dilg, political activist, escaped convicted arsonist and expert wisecracker out to prove his innocence. The film is essentially a romantic triangle with Colman and Grant representing the two distaff sides of love: good and pure versus hot, sexy and exciting between which the delicious Arthur must choose. A delight in every sense of the word.
Each of the discs include newly created featurettes that focus on the making of the films with the aforementioned critics and historians ( including Peter Bogdanovich and Molly Haskell ) and the set is attractively packaged with reproductions of lobby cards and posters from the films. For completists who already have everything but Holiday, Sony will be releasing that disc separately.
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Harrison Ford, a bit long in the tooth to say the least, plays a technology expert whose family is held hostage by some very cute criminals in Firewall. They want him to break into the bank where he works and transfer a lot of lettuce or else! The ringleader has the required British accent and actually says things like, 'You bore me' to one of his henchmen. Later he withholds the gasping little boy's medication when he purposely feeds him something he's allergic to. The plot turns on the use of an iPod and a barking dog tracked through an ID collar ( this brought howls of laughter from the audience of critics ) , but never relies on its biggest asset: Virginia Madsen, cast as Ford's wife. The movie's biggest crime is trapping her in the house while Ford is free to roam around. Had the formula been reversed, things might have gotten pretty interesting instead of awfully ( accent on awful ) predictable.
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Local Screenings of Note:
Chicago Filmmakers ( 5243 N. Clark Street ) hosts 'Something Romantic,' another in their popular Dyke Delicious Series, this time as an homage to Valentine's Day on Saturday, Feb. 11. A program of three lesbian-themed love stories include Everything Good about a Midwestern couple on vacation in Amsterdam, Attack of the Bride Monster, a romantic comedy parody of '50s monster movies, and the longer Some Real Fangs, which focuses on a young vampire in training. The evening kicks off at 7 p.m. with a social hour, followed by the screenings and an after party. Call ( 773 ) 293-1447 or see www.chicagofilmmakers.org
The University of Chicago presents two nights of offbeat screenings beginning with a film by Coco Fusco's A/K/A Mrs. George Gilbert, a recreation of the FBI's search for activist Angela Davis in the late 1960s. Fusco, an artist whose work focuses on race and gender, will be present for a discussion and reception following the screening. Thursday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m. at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center Auditorium, Cobb Hall, Room 307, 5811 S. Ellis Ave. ( parking available on the Midway ) .
On the second night, Friday, Feb. 10 ( this time at 8 p.m. ) , experimental filmmaker Jose Rodriguez-Soltero will introduce his queer-themed short films Jerovi ( 1965 ) and Lupe ( 1966 ) as part of the University's 5-week film series with the very long title, 'Beyond Warhol, Smith and Anger: Recovering the Significance of Postwar Queer Underground Cinema, 1950-1968.' Warhol's Lupe ( 1966 ) will also be shown. Screening at the same location as above. This series is organized by the University of Chicago Lesbian and Gay Studies Project.
Both events are free and open to the public. Disabled persons should contact ( 773 ) 834-1077 to make arrangements.
