Cary Grant | Hollywood Yesterday

Movie Review: In Name Only (Carole Lombard, Cary Grant, Kay Francis)

July 27, 2019 By Joi Leave a Comment

I have a confession to make – I have always watched movies based upon who is in them. For example, if one of my favorite actresses or actors is in a film, I will pop the popcorn, pour the raspberry tea, round up my cats and head for the den. I will plop in my favorite chair and escape with said favorite or favorites.

The great news is I have a lot of favorites, so I eat a lot of popcorn. However, there have (over the years) been a lot of wonderful gems I’ve come across simply because they were on when I needed a movie to watch – whether a favorite stars in it or not!

This was the case, recently with In Name Only. Don’t get me wrong, I have VERY MUCH liked Cary Grant and Carole Lombard for some time, now- they simply hadn’t reached the same “absolute favorite” rarefied air of, say Lucille Ball, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Maureen O’Hara, Buster Keaton, James Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Ava Gardner, John Wayne, Robert Montgomery, Clark Gable, Marion Daviess… the stars I make time in my schedule for – even if it’s a movie I’ve seen a million and thirteen times…. looking at you, Sabrina and The Quiet Man.

Funny thing is, though, I often “meet” new favorites who ascend to the rarefied air this very way. Cary Grant and Carole Lombard just landed themselves smack in the middle of the aforementioned favorites and I’m now on a mission to see their complete filmographies.

In Name Only is a movie that had never been on my radar – as in, AT ALL. When I saw that it was on TCM recently, I actually had to look to see who starred in it! See? Completely OFF my radar. I’ve recently become a big fan of Cary Grant and needed to see Carole Lombard in something else (I’d only seen her in three), so… you guessed it.. popcorn was popped while the raspberry tea was being poured.

It didn’t take long for this fun and engaging movie to pull me in. Carole Lombard, even without the wonderful assistance from Cary Grant and a solid cast, has a way of luring you in. There’s a certain vulnerability about her that makes you want to enter into her world and help her fight her fights and clear the path to happiness for her.

Cary Grant is Alec Walker who is in a horrible marriage to gold digger, nasty Maida (played sublimely by Kay Francis). Alec meets and falls for beautiful widow (and mother) Julie Eden, played perfectly by Carole Lombard. Even though the nasty wife certainly doesn’t love him, she refuses to give him a divorce. Far too much money involved for that!

The movie then takes you on a roller coaster ride as you hope Maida gets her comeuppance as much as you hope Alec and Julie get their happy ever after.

I am not about to give anything away, but I do want to say this is a roller coaster ride of emotion… and one I enjoyed completely.

Find In Name Only on Amazon – it’s truly a hidden gem.

Bringing Up Baby with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant: Why I Am Obsessed with this Movie

May 11, 2019 By Joi Leave a Comment

Ever watch a movie and think, “You are perfect in every way!“? Of course you have! I think these very words every time I watch Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. There’s nothing about this movie I don’t love to distraction. Truth be told, it’s one of those delicious classic old movies that I am completely and utterly obsessed with.

I could talk for hours and hours about this movie without ever taking a breath…

director Howard Hawks’ brilliance
the perfection of Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant’s performances
the hilarious dialogue
the way the film is perfectly timeless – as hilarious today as it was then and as enjoyable the 100th time you watch it as it was the first
the phenomenal way Katharine Hepburn NAILS comedy, in spite of this being her first comedic role
the fact that this is my favorite Cary Grant role
the chemistry between Hepburn and Grant
the beautiful leopard!
how perfect Barry Fitzgerald is in every single movie he’s in
the clothes from this era

See what I mean? Obsessed.

Those of use who are Old Hollywood enthusiasts (addicts, fanatics… whatever word you use, I’ll answer) have lists we carry around in our heads of movies we recommend to those who aren’t as deep into old movies as we are. Bringing Up Baby is high on my own mental list.

I also keep it in my mental files on lists for people who only think they don’t like Katharine Hepburn or people who don’t think Cary Grant can do screwball comedy.

Heck… get out of here with that… he helped invent it.

Plot: Katharine Hepburn beautifully (absolutely beautifully) plays Susan, an eccentric heiress who happens to have a pet leopard named Baby. She falls hard (literally a few times) for nerdish paleontologist David – played brilliantly and hilariously by Cary Grant. Problem is, she is making a total mess out of his prim and proper life and he just wants to get away from her.

Or, so he thinks.

Not only is this movie an absolute joy to watch, I’m in love with the fact that the stars, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant had such a wonderful time making the film. I’ve read that they enjoyed it so much they’d frequently show up to the set early, just to get started working on their scenes. Some colorful “scenes,” no doubt as entertaining as the movie, carried out during the making of the movie as well!

The following is from the WONDERFUL Katharine Hepburn biography, I Know Where I’m Going by Charlotte Chandler:

“I make an effort to get along with all of my costars, the director, everyone on the set,” Cary Grant told me, “but I did not wish to establish a relationship with Baby.” He was referring to the leopard in Howard Hawks’ film Bringing Up Baby.

“I felt she might, at some moment, remember the call of her genes that told her she was a wild animal. Or she might like me too much and want to play. I hoped she’d had a good manicure, short claws, but I wasn’t going to be the one to take a close look. Now, Kate was never as worried by Baby. She like to pull her tail, fearless girl that she was, and Baby seemed to enjoy it. Kate didn’t pull very hard.”

“The was I saw my character, Susan,” Kate said, “was, I did anything that came into my heart. There was a great deal of the way I see myself in Susan,” Kate told me.

Ironically, frustratingly, and bewilderingly (pulling out all the stops with the -ly words here, aren’t I?), Bringing Up Baby was a box office bomb. I don’t understand it in the least, but there you have it. Equally {insert all of the previous -ly words here} is the fact that Katharine Hepburn seemed to get the blame!

WHAT?!

In 1938, the Independent Film Journal published an editorial to the Hollywood studios from the National Theatre Distributors of America. It included a list of stars (wait unitl you read the names) the writer of the letter, Harry Brandt, called “Box Office Poison.” The Hollywood studios ridiculously put a lot of stock in this idiocy.

On the list were…

Katharine Hepburn
Bette Davis
Joan Crawford
Marlene Dietrich
Greta Garbo

Hahaahahahahahaa. They’re household names, today, and I just had to glance back to see Harry Brandt’s name again, even though I’d typed it mere minutes ago!

Spoiler: The ladies would survive Harry’s list.

When RKO attributed the failure to the “poisonous” Katharine Hepburn’s, they had NO idea how popular and beloved the movie would one day become. This is considered one of the original “screwball comedies” and, for my money, it’s also one of the best.

In addition to phenomenal performances by Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, the movie also stars Barry Fitzgerald (although he doesn’t appear onscreen as much as you’d like…. does he ever??), Charles Ruggles, Walter Catlett, Leona Roberts, and May Robson.

“We were both crazy. Bringing Up Baby has always been called a screwball comedy. Well, we were the two screwballs!” ~ Cary Grant

Find Bringing Up Baby on Amazon and add it to your collection today… this is one of those movies that’ll be your “go to” movie when you need a little lift or just feel like escaping with a couple of lovable screwballs.

Cary Grant: A Biography (Cannot Wait to Read this Book!)

July 17, 2017 By Joi Leave a Comment

Before I get to the next book I plan to buy, I have to heap a little praise on Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple. I recently re-watched the adorable romp of a movie, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (19447) and these stars chewed up the scenery. The movie also starred Rudy Vallee and Lillian Randolph. Lillian was born in my state of Kentucky (Louisville) – that’s something I’ve always been proud of.

If you don’t remember this ground-breaking actress from The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, I’m sure you’ll remember her as Annie in It’s a Wonderful Life or Sister Sara in the 1977 miniseries Roots. Outstanding actress with an especially strong screen presence.

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a movie that kind of epitomizes WHY I’m so obsessed with old movies. For one thing, everything was so much simpler then – there was an innocence in the world that’s more than a little alluring. While we’ll never get that innocence back, it’s a joy to visit as often as possible.

I’m also crazy in love with seeing old clothes, cars, houses, furniture, buildings, etc. I actually record most of the movies I watch on the DVR (if I don’t own them on DVD, that is) because I’m always wanting to rewind to take a closer look or to relive a favorite scene.

I did this A LOT of times in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer because of the fashion and cars – and also a few times because this particular role really gave Cary Grant the opportunity to ham it up… an opportunity he embraced with both arms!

Cary Grant: A Biography

As a huge (go ahead and pronounce that yuuuuuuuge) fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood, there are few things I love as much as cuddling up with a classic movie. However, snuggling up with a star’s biography (or autobiography) is right up there – especially when it involves one of my personal favorites. When it comes to Cary Grant: A Biography, I think it’ll be almost as good as watching one of the legend’s movies.

From Amazon: Rigorously researched and elegantly written, Cary Grant: A Biography is a complete, nuanced portrait of the greatest star in cinema history. Exploring Grant’s troubled childhood, ambiguous sexuality, and lifelong insecurities, as well as the magical amalgam of characteristics that allowed him to remain Hollywood’s favorite romantic lead for more than thirty-five years, Cary Grant is the definitive examination of every aspect of Grant’s professional and private life and the first biography to reveal the real man behind the movie star.

One of the things I love most about Hollywood biographies and autobiographies is this: You not only get to take an intimate look into the star on the cover’s life, you’re able to get up close and personal with the stars who were in their circle. That’s actually one of my favorite parts of these books- learning what sort of relationship different stars shared. You just never know what name will turn up in the pages or what they’ll be doing when they turn up!

As soon as I read Cary Grant: A Biography I’ll review it here on Hollywood Yesterday. I know it’s really going to be something special.

Read more about my Old Hollywood Book Reviews.

Find The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer Movie Poster on Amazon.