I took part in the discussion about the actors and the action. Someone mentioned that he didn’t care about Grant, because he always played the same parts. This surprised me because one of the reasons I consider Cary Grant the greatest actor ever is because of his versatility.
One of the reasons I think people see Cary Grant as a single is because his whole persona was an act. As Cary Grant (formerly Archibald Leach) famously said, “Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. I want to be Cary Grant too.” He became what he accomplished, and the role he frequently played in films—the debonair, polite, but surprisingly funny man. This man may be played over and over again to justify his description as a well-known actor. But in the film, which subverts the persona and sometimes casts it completely, he played in his career. Here is a list of some movies that show the many faces of Cary Grant.
My guess: Alfred Hitchcock was a master teacher, and he managed to turn Cary Grant’s character on its ear. In this case, there was no brown color. On the surface, Johnnie Aysgarth could easily be named “Cary Grant” because he embodies everything that people expect from the name. It’s nice and salty and makes women feel bad. but lurking beneath the surface is a great threat. There is a scene where Johnnie watches his friend being strangled, and coldly says that there is nothing he can do to help, that he will either recover or die.
What makes it more sinister is that right before, Johnnie is joking and playing and is completely delighted. Suspicion is flawed. There have been various opinions that Cary Dona’s unwillingness to take control is too far from what the audience expected from him, and to deceive the story. But, Grant contributed to Johnnie’s actions and behavior. What made him dangerous and creepy was that he wasn’t mad or even hateful. That such a shadow of evil had just flown in, that made it so terrifying.
Raising a Baby: This movie is made with Katharine Hepburn. They made three other films at the same time. In this movie, Grant saved one of the essentials of Cary Grant’s character. He was a great man. But this time it is very different from usual. There is no such thing as David Huxley, who is so confident in himself that he can fall from a meadow like a man carrying a symphony. David is your typical absentee professor.
He’s not smart, he’s not polite, and he’s completely mad at Susan Vance (Hepburn). David, when something falls, it happens as awkwardly as it should. There was still some charm in character, but it is not the charm of a man who knows that he is charming, the usual manner: Dona would know the type of character.
Father Goose: a Cary Grant movie later. It was actually the second to last film he ever made. When the fact was learned, the worries that had been present in the suspicion were withdrawn. Walter Eckland was nothing like what you would expect from Cary Grant. It’s borderline, it’s raw, it’s crude, and it’s drunken at the top. And although he falls in love with Catherine Freneau (Leslie Caron) and grows in character through it, he never changes his character. He is still a very dirty beast.
The Awful Truth: This movie is probably the movie that shows Cary Grant at his fullest. Jerry Warriner is sophisticated, classy, and goes through some ridiculous situations trying to get his first ex-wife (played by Irene Dunne) to be married to someone else. But, even in the most uncomfortable situations he finds himself in, it is easy to imagine him sipping champagne and enjoying himself in front of society.
So, those are the short list of films where Cary Grant played different types of characters. Like this movie, sometimes he dropped the Cary Grant style factor, sometimes he kept everything, and added a twist, sometimes he had nothing in common that made him look like Cary Grant. But there was no one.
