Cary Grant: Holiday / Only Angels Have Wings / Talk Of The Town / His Girl Friday / The Awful Truth (DVD)

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"Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant"
—Cary Grant


That wonderful quote from the man who was born Archibald Alexander Leach just about says it all. Cary Grant was handsome, suave, debonair, clever, youthful, manly, and such a "babe magnet" that he never, ever had to make the first move. Grant was outgoing, glib, and seldom at a loss for words. Onscreen, things seemed to come easy for him. But that wasn't the case with the man who would become Cary Grant.

Born to an impoverished family in Bristol, England, Leach ran away from home at age 13 to join an acrobatic troupe, and when the group played New York in 1920, he decided to stay. He didn't make it his first time in America as a song-and dance man, lifeguard and walking billboard, so he returned to England to work in musicals. His big break came when Arthur Hammerstein brought him back to New York for a Broadway musical. When Leach went Hollywood, he played bit parts and supporting roles until he was cast opposite Marlene Dietrich in "Blonde Venus" (1932). But it was another quote that really launched his movie career. When Mae West pursued Grant in "She Done Him Wrong" (1933) and purred, "Come up and . . . see me sometime," the image of the ladies man who inspired women to make the first move was born.

It's appropriate that Sony used Grant's famous quip on this set, because the actor's onscreen persona was really shaped during the late '30s and early '40s, when he starred in mostly screwball comedies for Columbia. The new Cary Grant Box set features five films on five discs from those breakthrough years, four of which are screwball comedies and one of which is being released on DVD for the first time. And what a set this is. Though it's not a critic's job to tell readers what to buy or what not to buy, 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.

The five films are: "The Awful Truth" (1937), a sophisticated comedy about a husband and wife (Grant and Jean Arthur) who file for divorce, then sabotage each other's dating attempts; "Holiday" (1938), which paired Grant with Katharine Hepburn as two free spirits who eventually find each other, despite Grant being engaged to her sister; "Only Angels Have Wings" (1939), a melodrama with comedic moments about mail pilots plying their dangerous trade in remote Banana Republic locations, with Rita Hayworth and Arthur upping the testosterone levels; "His Girl Friday" (1940), a fast-moving, faster-talking screwball comedy about a newspaper editor who cons his ex- into sticking around and covering one last story about an escapee from death row; and "Talk of the Town" (1942), which paired Grant and Arthur again in an unusual blend of melodrama and screwball comedy about an escaped falsely-accused arsonist and murderer who takes refuge in a house rented to a Supreme Court nominee they hope to persuade to get involved.

John J. Puccio has already posted an excellent review of the Howard Hawks-directed "His Girl Friday," so I won't cover the same ground twice. Let me just say that I agree with everything John wrote except for his final rating. He gave it an 8, but since it's one of the flawless, legendary screwball comedies, I'd have to give it a 10. I'd award a 9 to "Talk of the Town," an 8 to "Holiday" and "Only Angels Have Wings," and a 7 to "The Awful Truth"—ironic, perhaps, because the lone Oscar for Best Direction in this group went to "Awful Truth" director Leo McCarey. But a 10, a 9, two 8s, and a 7 is some kind of collection. Not a weak film in the bunch, and collectively they chart the development of a screen legend who had just begun to hit his stride.

We're apparently fortunate to even have "Holiday" on DVD, because it's presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and is visually rough, compared to the other offerings. But once the witty script kicks in like a slick placebo, we forget all about the graininess and become absorbed in the characters. Make that "players," as the credits called them, back when everyone was conscious of film's partial evolution from the stage. But the nice thing about that stage kinship mentality was that more emphasis and work seemed to routinely go into the writing and performances. There's a lot going on, and a lot to savor.

"Holiday" features a delightful script that offers the acrobatic Grant as John Case, a free spirit who just finds out the girl he met and proposed to is stinking rich. Rather than treat money with reverence or ignore the family's opulent digs, as polite company would, he revels in it. "Oh boy!" he rubs his hands together, remarking how lucky he is to be marrying into money. This, of course, rankles his prospective father-in-law, Edward Seton (Henry Kolker) and bride-to-be, Julia (Doris Nolan), but he's exactly the breath of fresh air that her jaded, alcoholic brother (Lew Ayres as Ned) and equally free-spirited sister, Linda (Hepburn) have been looking for. Set completely in the Seton mansion, the "Holiday" turns on an engagement party that reveals a few things to everyone.

Grant is at home as a free spirit connecting with other strange "birds," and "Holiday" has plenty of energy, charm and some dynamite lines. Case: "When I'm in a position like this I usually ask myself, What would General Motors do? And then I do the opposite." He's an orphan whose best friends are married, eccentric academics (Edward Everett Horton and Jean Dixon). Case has been working since he was 10 and wants an extended holiday from work while he's still young enough to enjoy it, so that he can return to work knowing WHY he's working. That doesn't match Julia's plans for him, which has him becoming part of the family's wealth-generating juggernaut. But "Holiday" is a classic example of a stage-centric screenplay that manages to convey great complexity despite a surprisingly simple plot. It's all in the lines and engaging performances. Yes, it's predictable, but Grant, Hepburn, and the other "spirits" are a joy to watch. As I said, I give "Holiday" an 8 on DVD Town's 10-point scale.

"The Awful Truth" is actually quite similar in it's staged quality, with limited sets and a small, core cast. Grant and Irene Dunne play an upscale couple who are the subject of infidelity rumors--—ones that are hard to dispel when, for example, Lucy Warriner walks in with a handsome "friend" thinking her soon-to-be-ex, Jerry, not around. But Mrs. Warriner isn't as much of a swinger as everyone thinks. Lucy moves in with a free-spirited aunt (yes, it was a convention in screwball comedies to pit the free spirits against the stuffed shirts), played by a dry-witted Cecil Cunningham. As a woman accustomed to going out more, Aunt Patsy complains, "If I knew we were going to be buried side-by-side, I never would have taken this apartment with you." Then she meets a wealthy Oklahoman (Ralph Bellamy, as Daniel Leeson), and that's where the screenplay takes a dip in the shallow end of the pool.

Many will respond better to Bellamy's aw-shucks naivete than I did, but I found it a bit too easy—the equivalent of hitting a bulls-eye on the side of a barn—to make jokes at the rich "bumpkin's" expense. There are also moments where the target broadens even more uncomfortably, as when Jerry turns to a showgirl with a southern accent and quips, "How long have you been talking like Amos 'n' Andy?" And there are a few head-snapping details, like the revelation that this sophisticated New York couple owns a coal mine, and has fossil fuels in common with the oilman. In typical screwball fashion, there's a full complement of misunderstandings and mishaps that eventually land the unhappily-near-divorced couple in court . . . in a custody dispute over their terrier, of all things. Overall, while the writing is crisp and the performances are solid, I found the script to be not as fresh as "Holiday," despite being similar in structure and tone—which is why I give it a 7 out of 10.