Cary Grant: Holiday / Only Angels Have Wings / Talk Of The Town / His Girl Friday / The Awful Truth (DVD)
5-Disc Box Set
APPROX. 182 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 0 - MPA RATING: NR
" It's hard not to tout this set as a must-have for lovers of American cinema, particularly fans of screwball comedies or Cary Grant.
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"The Talk of the Town" is the real wild card in this set. It begins like an old gangster film, with a prison break, sirens, and "manhunt" headlines splashed across newspapers. Imagine audiences' horror as they watched Grant strangle a guard and look positively desperate in the opening escape scene. But after a tense moment when we watch him spy on a woman inside her house and break in, we realize that in this small town everyone knows everyone else. And just as Miss Nora Shelly (Jean Arthur) is about to order the injured Leopold Dilg (Grant) out of the home she used to live in on the night before a renter is to take up residence, he passes out and she decides to help him up to the attic. In no time at all, Shelly becomes convinced of Dilg's innocence—that, because of his union sentiments and whistleblower actions, he's being set up by the textile baron who runs the town. Enter an esteemed law professor (Ronald Coleman as Prof. Michael Lightcap) one day early, demanding to stay in the house he's rented. And just like that—with a triangular dilemma and a musical transition that's by turns ominous and comedic—the film shifts into screwball mode.
There are moments throughout when the modes collide again, or when the screenplay becomes issue-oriented with debates over the law and legal system, but the flow seems as organic and seamless as this genre gets. The plot turns on a plan by Dilg, his lawyer (Edgar Buchannan as Sam Yates), and Miss Shelly to "thaw" the cold-hearted academic before the Supreme Court nominee takes his place on the bench . . . with the more immediate goal being his intervention in the Dilg case. With the mill owner turning up the heat and firing up the town to lynch-mob intensity and police closing in with dogs, director George Stevens has fun with the odd, three-way domestic situation that develops when Dilg can't keep his left-leaning mouth shut. As the professor dictates to Miss Shelly a chapter from a book he's writing, Dilg blurts out his objection. It turns out that the professor loves a good philosophical debate, especially when it comes from the salt of the earth. Dilg pretends to be Joseph, the gardener, and naturally both men grow to be fond of each other, and of Miss Shelly, and she of them. So there's an interesting love thread, a manhunt thread, a philosophical discourse thread, and an educate-the-professor thread skillfully woven together. The script is accomplished, the direction skillful, and the performances rich and expansive, which is why I give "The Talk of the Town" a 9 out of 10.
"Only Angels Have Wings" is the odd entry in this package-—the only pure melodrama (albeit one with a few humorous lines and moments) in an otherwise comedic bunch. But it's an interesting film because it showcases Grant's range. We watch him act opposite a melodramatic player (Rita Hayworth, as a former flame) and a breezy, fast-talking showgirl (Jean Arthur again). And while Grant handles both adroitly, there's just a chemistry that pops and sizzles when he plays off of the actress who has comic instincts.
Filmed mostly on a soundstage but with real aerial photography cut in and some exterior shots of rough terrain, Howard Hawks' story of maverick flyers features Grant as a top pilot-turned-boss of an operation hoping to land a long-term mail contract. There's a "Heart of Darkness" noir feel to the set, with the fliers based at a hotel/bar/restaurant owned and operated by Dutchy (Sig Ruman, whom you'd swear was a young Karl Malden). Naturally, to illustrate the danger of their occupation, one of them has to bite the dust fairly early in the film. "Rockford File" fans will enjoy briefly seeing Noah Beery, Jr. (Rocky) as the script's sacrificial lamb. Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy, "It's a Wonderful Life") turns in a great performance as the hero's sidekick, a middle-aged flyer needing glasses who still goes by the nickname "Kid."
The plot twists and turns, with the actors barrel-rolling with whatever's tossed their way. Partly it's the quality of acting, but partly "Only Angels Have Wings" is successful because it proves that it IS possible to make a great melodramatic film, one driven by plot and coincidence rather than characterizations. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Hawks' film is easily among the best unabashed melodramas I've seen. You recognize all the conventions as they whip past your viewer's cockpit, but they come so quickly and in such unexpected places that your interest is fixed as intently as if you were the one flying with rain and fog pounding the glass. Umm, and condors--—though that's all I'll say on this point so as not to spoil it for anyone.
Arthur gives a powerful performance in this one, with Grant simply not given as interesting a role. He functions as the Papa he's affectionately called, as well as the taskmaster-—when perhaps his natural inclination is to play one of the maverick's himself. Still, it's an engaging film, and I give it an 8 out of 10.
Video: The films are all presented in black and white, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, with some graininess in all of them. "holiday" is the roughest, with some vertical line action in adition to fuzziness, graininess, and flickering imperfections. But the fact that we have this excellent film on DVD is something to celebrate. The other films aren't nearly as rough, and there's nothing that would indicate a poor transfer. Overall, the quality is very good.
Audio: The audio in all five films is Dolby Digital Mono, and the key here is that there isn't all that much in the way of hiss and other distortions—except, st times, in "Holiday." Overall, the quality is good.
Extras: The extras are modest, with one short feature per disc that covers, probably no more than two handsful of talking points. Most offer film critics talking about the legacy of a movie, though George Stevens, Jr. is the lone commentator in the one recalling his father's method. Remarks by people like Molly Haskell and Peter Bogdanovich are literate enough, but they feel like teasers or short features thrown in just to placate fans or to tip the hat in the direction of film classics. But in truth, the films deserved more.
Bottom Line: The popular Cary Grant really lends himself to box sets. Last year's "The Cary Grant Signature Collection" offered five films from 1940-48 ("My Favorite Wife," "Destination Tokyo," "Night and Day," "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer," "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House"), while "The Cary Grant DVD Collection" (2001) featured five films from later in Grant's career(1958-64's "Indiscreet," "Operation Petticoat," "The Grass is Greener," That Touch of Mink," "Father Goose." But this boxed seat is the strongest package yet, because it shows that young Grant was more than a box-office icon or pretty face. It more than amply showcases what the actor could do with strong scripts, wise direction, and talented co-stars.
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