Cary Grant DVD Box (part 1)
The Cary Grant Box Set:
His Girl Friday, The Talk of the Town, The Awful Truth, Only Angels Have Wings, and Holiday
(Sony Pictures)
Cary Grant will forever be known as one of Hollywood's most seductive and interesting stars. Even twenty years after his death, Grant still owns the imaginations of film lovers. Perhaps it's because there's still more charisma hidden within Grant's scattered ashes than there is in any major leading actor today. Or perhaps it's because the old silver screen air of mystery is now officially dead, and icons such as Grant can no longer exist outside our memories. Society today is overburdened with the slightest minutiae of a celebrity's life; teenage girls can rattle off attractive movie star facts faster than young boys of our parents' generation could recite baseball stats. Today's public seems to thrive on the image of the tarnished star; gossip magazine sales have skyrocketed from last year's high-profile celebrity break-ups and unfortunate trials. In a world like this, such a character as Grant would never have existed. The rumors of his bisexuality would have either been proven or disproven by the height of his fame; there would have been more of a public outcry against his use and approval of LSD; and every bit of glamour would have been stripped away from his image, until no longer could Cary Grant, the character, and Archie Leach, the man within, have been separate.
To celebrate this long-dead Hollywood image - as well as Sony's DVD box set, released this Tuesday - the Modern Pea Pod devotes this week to Cary Grant. Day by day, we'll show you some of the best and some of the worst of Grant's canon. So bust out a nicely tailored suit, make yourself a nice drink, and drop some acid. It's time to remember our man Archie Leach.
His Girl Friday
(Director: Howard Hawks, 1940)
Without doubt the most high-profile entry in the set, His Girl Friday is a delightful (if confusing) film where Grant plays his quintessential role of the jilted husband. While it isn't as well-written or well-acted the same year's award-winning Grant release The Philadelphia Story, it does have its charms. The film centers around a divorced husband, Walter Burns (Grant), and his ex-wife Hildy Johnson, (Rosalind Russell) who work together at a newspaper based on the City News Bureau of Chicago until Hildy decides to retire in favor of domestic bliss with an insurance salesman (veteran "other man" actor Ralph Bellamy). Through a series of comic hijinks perpetrated by Burns, however, Johnson is tricked into covering the biggest story of the year.
The biggest problem with this film is honestly the speed at which its characters talk. There are moments when Russell and Grant are speaking so quickly to each other that the words overlap and become unintelligible. And while the sound of their dialogue is extraordinarily lulling - this reviewer caught herself almost nodding off during several of Grant's and Russell's scenes - it does detract from the movie's overall enjoyability. Much like Hitchcock, Howard Hawks gave his lead actors free range with the dialogue; this allowed them to improvise hilarious moments that can't be found in today's more scripted films. So it's really a shame that Grant and Russell are speaking so fast that a viewer who wants to get in on the joke has to start the scene over on their DVD player...but at the same time, it's worth it just to spend five extra minutes with Cary Grant.
Also worth applying to His Girl Friday is a little historical context. The film is rooted in an era just preceding the rise of McCarthyism, and was released a year before the United States entered World War II; it's fascinating to see just how immersed in its time Friday is. There are interesting societal references, with Earl Williams (John Qualen), the condemned convict at the heart of Hildy's big story, being used as a pivot point for corrupt mayor Fred (Clarence Kolb) to be reelected. Williams is a known Communist who, despite his mental health, is going to be executed for the accidental murder of a black police officer. It's interesting to view the connotations of being a Communist in the 1940s in this situation.
And then there's the telling reference to Hitler, where Burns, in the midst of discussing the placement of Williams' story on his paper's front page layout, says excitedly, "Put Hitler on the funny pages!" It's not particularly surprising, of course, to hear that dreaded name in a movie from 1940; but it is interesting to think about what such a statement suggests about the news media - particularly with our retrospective knowledge of just what Hitler was up to back then. Elsewhere, several hilarious moments depict the newspapers giving their own blatantly fabricated spins to a story; these scenes are funny, but they are also brutally honest in exposing the real way newspapers sell. Every event takes a darker twist, and can lead a more paranoid viewer to consider truly, how much has today's journalism evolved from that time?
But His Girl Friday is also a Cary Grant film. And we all know that, despite any historical or artistic significance to be found in the plot, it will also be incredibly funny. So, the next time you go to the video store and you want a taste of the debonair, the witty, and the intriguing, give His Girl Friday a chance.
Sony's Cary Grant DVD box set will be released tomorrow, February 7. Our coverage of these five classic Grant movies will also continue tomorrow, with The Talk of the Town and The Awful Truth.
The Ultimate Cary Grant Pages
His Girl Friday
Buy The Cary Grant Box Set
or His Girl Friday (single disc) on Amazon
See Also: the essay that made the walls melt
His Girl Friday, The Talk of the Town, The Awful Truth, Only Angels Have Wings, and Holiday
(Sony Pictures)
Cary Grant will forever be known as one of Hollywood's most seductive and interesting stars. Even twenty years after his death, Grant still owns the imaginations of film lovers. Perhaps it's because there's still more charisma hidden within Grant's scattered ashes than there is in any major leading actor today. Or perhaps it's because the old silver screen air of mystery is now officially dead, and icons such as Grant can no longer exist outside our memories. Society today is overburdened with the slightest minutiae of a celebrity's life; teenage girls can rattle off attractive movie star facts faster than young boys of our parents' generation could recite baseball stats. Today's public seems to thrive on the image of the tarnished star; gossip magazine sales have skyrocketed from last year's high-profile celebrity break-ups and unfortunate trials. In a world like this, such a character as Grant would never have existed. The rumors of his bisexuality would have either been proven or disproven by the height of his fame; there would have been more of a public outcry against his use and approval of LSD; and every bit of glamour would have been stripped away from his image, until no longer could Cary Grant, the character, and Archie Leach, the man within, have been separate.To celebrate this long-dead Hollywood image - as well as Sony's DVD box set, released this Tuesday - the Modern Pea Pod devotes this week to Cary Grant. Day by day, we'll show you some of the best and some of the worst of Grant's canon. So bust out a nicely tailored suit, make yourself a nice drink, and drop some acid. It's time to remember our man Archie Leach.
His Girl Friday
(Director: Howard Hawks, 1940)
Without doubt the most high-profile entry in the set, His Girl Friday is a delightful (if confusing) film where Grant plays his quintessential role of the jilted husband. While it isn't as well-written or well-acted the same year's award-winning Grant release The Philadelphia Story, it does have its charms. The film centers around a divorced husband, Walter Burns (Grant), and his ex-wife Hildy Johnson, (Rosalind Russell) who work together at a newspaper based on the City News Bureau of Chicago until Hildy decides to retire in favor of domestic bliss with an insurance salesman (veteran "other man" actor Ralph Bellamy). Through a series of comic hijinks perpetrated by Burns, however, Johnson is tricked into covering the biggest story of the year.The biggest problem with this film is honestly the speed at which its characters talk. There are moments when Russell and Grant are speaking so quickly to each other that the words overlap and become unintelligible. And while the sound of their dialogue is extraordinarily lulling - this reviewer caught herself almost nodding off during several of Grant's and Russell's scenes - it does detract from the movie's overall enjoyability. Much like Hitchcock, Howard Hawks gave his lead actors free range with the dialogue; this allowed them to improvise hilarious moments that can't be found in today's more scripted films. So it's really a shame that Grant and Russell are speaking so fast that a viewer who wants to get in on the joke has to start the scene over on their DVD player...but at the same time, it's worth it just to spend five extra minutes with Cary Grant.
Also worth applying to His Girl Friday is a little historical context. The film is rooted in an era just preceding the rise of McCarthyism, and was released a year before the United States entered World War II; it's fascinating to see just how immersed in its time Friday is. There are interesting societal references, with Earl Williams (John Qualen), the condemned convict at the heart of Hildy's big story, being used as a pivot point for corrupt mayor Fred (Clarence Kolb) to be reelected. Williams is a known Communist who, despite his mental health, is going to be executed for the accidental murder of a black police officer. It's interesting to view the connotations of being a Communist in the 1940s in this situation.
And then there's the telling reference to Hitler, where Burns, in the midst of discussing the placement of Williams' story on his paper's front page layout, says excitedly, "Put Hitler on the funny pages!" It's not particularly surprising, of course, to hear that dreaded name in a movie from 1940; but it is interesting to think about what such a statement suggests about the news media - particularly with our retrospective knowledge of just what Hitler was up to back then. Elsewhere, several hilarious moments depict the newspapers giving their own blatantly fabricated spins to a story; these scenes are funny, but they are also brutally honest in exposing the real way newspapers sell. Every event takes a darker twist, and can lead a more paranoid viewer to consider truly, how much has today's journalism evolved from that time?
But His Girl Friday is also a Cary Grant film. And we all know that, despite any historical or artistic significance to be found in the plot, it will also be incredibly funny. So, the next time you go to the video store and you want a taste of the debonair, the witty, and the intriguing, give His Girl Friday a chance.
Sony's Cary Grant DVD box set will be released tomorrow, February 7. Our coverage of these five classic Grant movies will also continue tomorrow, with The Talk of the Town and The Awful Truth.
The Ultimate Cary Grant Pages
His Girl Friday
Buy The Cary Grant Box Set
or His Girl Friday (single disc) on AmazonSee Also: the essay that made the walls melt
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