Great On Screen Couples: Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

You know Cary Grant is my favorite actor of all time and he has paired with some of the most legendary actresses of all time. And they all usually have great chemistry with the debonair chap. But for me, his best on screen partner has to be Irene Dunne. They made three films together, 2 screwball comedies and 1 drama. The first film they made together was 1937's wonderfully wicked comedy, The Awful Truth which cast the twosome as a married couple going through a divorce. This is one of the earliest of the screwball comedies and while it  may be rough around the edges in some scenes, it's one of the funniest films I have ever seen. And Grant and Dunne are perfect together in their first outing. Their constant plans to sabotage each other's chances at remarriage will have you gasping and laughing the whole time. And check out Irene's wonderfully screwy performance. I believe the great Katherine Hepburn must have saw this film and had to base her performance in Bringing Up Baby on Irene's terrific role of Lucy Warriner. Or is it just me?

Cary and Irene worked so well in The Awful Truth, they had to be paired up for another wonderful screwball comedy in 1940's My Favorite Wife, which I enjoyed even more than I did The Awful Truth. Once again the two play a married couple, with a slight difference. After being lost at sea for 7 years and declared dead Ellen Arden (Irene) returns home to find her husband Nick (Cary) remarried to Bianca (the wonderfully underrated Gail Patrick). So Nick has a huge problem to deal with. Who to choose: Ellen or Bianca? Once again Irene Dunne steals the show but her chemistry with Cary is also once again perfect. Their comic timing by now is a match made in heaven.

For their third and final film together, Irene and Cary made the tearjerker/comedy Penny Serenade (1941) which gave the twosome an opportunity to flex their dramatic muscles as a couple who faces one crisis after another once they get married after a short courtship. There is some humor in this film to keep things from getting too dark and depressing and Cary gets to give one of his best screen performances ever. His scene with the judge arguing to keep his adopted daughter in his care is heartbreaking and touching. Serenade was the last film Irene and Cary would do together and they go out with another great film. I know Cary had several other wonderful screen pairings beside Irene like with Myrna Loy, Grace Kelly, and Deborah Kerr. But for me, it's his pairings with Irene that were the best of his team ups. And I would say the same for Irene as she never had a better partner than Cary Grant.

Happy Birthday: Cary Grant!

Cary Grant.(January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986). With his distinctive Mid-Atlantic accent, he was best known as the most debonair of leading man.



Quote:
My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.

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Cary Grant Official Home Page.

TCM is celebrating Cary Grant's birthday with the movies featured below:

Sylvia Scarlett (1935) . A female con artist masquerades as a boy to escape the police. Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Edmund Gwenn. Dir: George Cukor.



Toast Of New York, The (1937) .A 19th century con artist rises from medicine shows to Wall Street. Cast: Edward Arnold, Cary Grant, Frances Farmer.

Bringing Up Baby (1938). A madcap heiress upsets the staid existence of a straitlaced scientist. Cast: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Charlie Ruggles. Dir: Howard Hawks.

Gunga Din (1939). Three British soldiers seek treasure during an uprising in India. Cast: Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Victor McLaglen. Dir: George Stevens.

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) . A team of flyers risks their lives to deliver the mail in a mountainous South American country. Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth. Dir: Howard Hawks.

Night And Day (1946). Fanciful biography of songwriter Cole Porter, who rose from high society to find success on Tin Pan Alley. Cast: Cary Grant, Jane Wyman, Alexis Smith. Dir: Michael Curtiz.



Cary Grant: A Class Apart (2004). Documentary that explores the life and career of leading man Cary Grant through film clips and interviews.

I'm No Angel (1933).

I'm No Angel (1933). Cast: Mae West's third motion picture and Cary Grant. This was one of the few Mae West films that was not subjected to heavy censorship.

I'm No Angel" was released immediately after, She Done Him Wrong. Mae West's films saved Paramount Pictures from bankruptcy. Depression era audiences loved to see a woman rise from the wrong side of the tracks. Cary Grant stars opposite her for the second and final time. Film historians believe she was one of the reasons for the strict Hollywood production code that soon followed. The Hays Office forced a few changes including the title of the song "No One Does It Like a Dallas Man", changed to "No One Loves Me Like a Dallas Man".

Even though, West character lives with Ralf Harolde, she dates other men. When Harolde runs into trouble with the law, West becomes a dancer and a lion tamer. Soon she is "discovered" by playboy, Kent Taylor. She accepts his gifts, but she only has eyes for Taylor's cousin, Cary Grant. She finds a way to sue Grant for breach of promise. When Grant allows her to win the case, she realizes she's in love with him.

I'M NO ANGEL, is memorable for one quip after another as she cracks whips and dances with her maids ("Peel me a grape!"). If you've never seen a Mae West movie but have always wondered what made her a great star, this is the film to see!

Soundtracks:

"They Call Me Sister Honky-Tonk"
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harvey Brooks
Lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison
Sung by Mae West

"That Dallas Man"
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harvey Brooks
Lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison
Played on a record with Mae West Singing

"I Found a New Way to Go to Town"
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harvey Brooks
Lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison
Sung by Mae West

"I Want You, I Need You"
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harvey Brooks
Lyrics by Ben Ellison
Played on piano and sung by Mae West

"I'm No Angel"
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harvey Brooks
Lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison
Sung by Mae West at the end and during the closing credits.

Fun Facts:

When Rajah the Fortune Teller gives Tira (Mae West) her horoscope, he gives her birthday as August 17, which is West's actual birthday.

Considerable problems arose with the censors, mostly about the suggestive lines in some of the songs. The song "Nobody Loves Me Like a Dallas Man" was originally "Nobody Does It Like a Dallas Man". After the songs were toned down, the Hays office approved the film, and it was passed by the National Board of Review.

In 1935 and 1949, the production code was more rigorously enforced, and the film was not approved for re-release.

Mae West's famous line in this film, "Beulah, peel me a grape," was inspired by West's pet monkey, Boogie. The monkey loved grapes, and one day West noticed that although he would eat grapes by the dozens, he would always peel the skin off each one before popping it into his mouth.

Dorothy Peterson (December 25, 1897 – October 3, 1979).  Made her screen debut in the film, Mothers Cry(1930), where the 29-year-old actress aged nearly three decades in the course of the film. Mothers Cry instantly typecast Peterson in maternal roles.  She is best known for her supporting roles in the film, Treasure Island (1934). In 1942, she replaced Olive Blakeney as Mrs. Aldrich in the comedy series Henry Aldrich for President. Her last screen appearance was as the mother of Shirley Temple in, That Hagen Girl (1947).

Dorothy Peterson remained active on the New York TV and theatrical scene until the early '60s. She appeared in 83 films, and made several television appearances between 1930 and 1964.

Filmography:
Way Back Home (1931)
Forbidden (1932)
The Beast of the City (1932)
Business and Pleasure (1932)
So Big! (1932)
Night World (1932)
Life Begins (1932)
The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
Payment Deferred (1932)
Call Her Savage (1932)
The Mayor of Hell (1933)
I'm No Angel (1933)
Treasure Island (1934)
Confession (1937)
Dark Victory (1939)
Too Many Husbands (1940)
Lillian Russell (1940)
Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941)
Saboteur (1942)
This Is the Army (1943)
Mr. Skeffington (1944)
The Woman in the Window (1944)
Sister Kenny (1946)
That Hagen Girl (1947)

Lili Damita

Lili Damita (July 10, 1904 – March 21, 1994) was a French actress who had appeared in 33 movies between 1922 and 1937. She was educated in convents and ballet schools in France, Spain and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opera de Paris.

She performed in several silent films before being offered her first leading role in, Das Spielzeug von Paris (1925) by director Michael Curtiz, whom she married in 1925 (they divorced a year later). She was an instant success, and Curtiz directed her in two more films: Fiaker Nr 13 (1926) and Der Goldene Schmetterling (1926). Damita also performed in, (Die Grosse Abenteuerin(1927), The Queen Was in the Parlour(1927).

In 1928, at the invitation of Samuel Goldwyn she went to Hollywood, making her American debut in a film titled, The Rescue. Her films include: The Cock-Eyed World (1929), the semi-silent, The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) and This Is the Night (1932). A comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle. It based on the play Pouche (1923) by Henri Falk and René Peter, and the English language adaptation, Naughty Cinderella (1925), written by Avery Hopwood. Cast: Lili Damita, Charles Ruggles, Roland Young, Thelma Todd, Cary Grant, and Irving Bacon. It was a remake of the 1926 film, Good and Naughty with Pola Negri. This is Cary Grant's first motion picture.

The story begins...While having a night of fun in Paris with her lover, Gerald Gray. Claire Mathewson loses her skirt in a limousine door, arriving home only in her slip, Claire is met by her husband Stephen, a javelin thrower who is supposed to be in Los Angeles for the Olympics. Gerald and Claire insist the trip was to find Gerald a wife. Stephen, hires the down on her luck Germaine, as Chou-Chou, a glamorous actress. After watching them together, Claire becomes jealous, demanding that Germaine leave Venice. Germaine, refuses to give up her wonderful vacation.

This Is The Night, the first of the Screwball comedies that Cary Grant becomes famous for later on. The humor is wonderful and Cary is very funny in this film. It may remind you a little of the silent film format.

In 1935 she married her second husband, Errol Flynn, with whom she had a son, Sean Leslie Flynn (born 1941). Following the marriage, she retired from the screen. The couple divorced in 1942. (Barbara Hershey portrayed her in the TV film My Wicked, Wicked Ways (1985) based on Errol Flynn's biography.)

Room for One More (1952)

Room for One More (1952). Comedy/drama. Cast: Cary Grant and Betsy Drake. Directed by Norman Taurog.

After Anna Rose, mother of three, shows interest in becoming a foster parent during a tour of a children's home, the director, Miss Kenyon, visits their home unannounced with a troubled girl, Jane, who needs a place to stay for a couple of weeks. Anna's husband George, is not to happy at first to add another child to his already overly crowded home. But... after seeing "the gleam in Anna's eye," he agrees to let Jane stay. Anna realizes that Jane is resentful of her dependence on others, finds her a babysitting job to help build up her self confidence. After two weeks, she fits in nicely with the the Roses, who want her to stay permanently. Later, Anna arranges with Miss Kenyon for a young handicapped boy, Jimmy-John, to join them on a beach vacation . George, who had hoped to spend some alone time with Anna, insists that his engineer's salary cannot afford another child, but changes his mind after seeing the conditions in which Jimmy-John lives.

If you want to watch a feel good movie, this movie is for you. It shows the closeness of family and how they overcome obstacles.

Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907- May 28, 1986) was a character actress, who made transitions from vaudeville to radio, to films and television. She was best known as one of network radio's most versatile actresses. Often appearing in 15 shows a week, comedies, dramas, thrillers, soap operas, and crime dramas.

My Favorite Wife (1940).

My Favorite Wife(1940). Comedy produced and co-written by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. Cast: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott and Gail Patrick. The story is an adaptation of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Enoch Arden"; in tribute, the main characters' last name is Arden.



After seven years, lawyer Nick Arden has his missing wife Ellen declared legally dead and now plans to marry Bianca. Ellen was shipwrecked all this time and was living on a deserted island. After being rescued she returns home and learns that Nick has just left hours before on his honeymoon.

Ellen finds him before his wedding night and Nick does not know how to break the news to Bianca. Meanwhile, Bianca becomes upset by Nick's behavior and calls her psychiatrist, Dr. Kohlman. Things become more complicated when an insurance adjuster shares the rumor that Ellen was not alone on the island, but was living with another man and that they called each other "Adam" and "Eve".

Nick tries to explain the situation to Bianca and Dr. Kohlmar, but they do not believe him ... until he is arrested on a charge of bigamy. In court, Judge Bryson , the same judge who had Ellen declared legally dead and also married Nick and Bianca, annuls the second marriage. By this time, Ellen is no longer sure of Nick's feelings for her. Stephen asks her to marry him and return with him to the island, but she still loves Nick and hopes that he will sweep her of her feet..

My Favorite Wife, is a wonderful movie. I do not know which version I like the best..Doris Day and James Garner,may not reach the sophistication of Grant and Dunne, but both films are worth seeing. Cary Grant's facial expression on the elevator when he sees Dunne for the first time after 7 years is very memorable.


Fun Facts:


The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Story, Best Score and Best Art Direction by Van Nest Polglase and Mark-Lee Kirk.

20th Century Fox began filming a 1962 remake starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, and Cyd Charisse under the working title of Something's Got to Give, which was to be directed by George Cukor. There were problems from the beginning, mostly due to Monroe's failure to show up on time for work. Monroe was fired and Martin backed out when the studio attempted to recast Monroe's role with Lee Remick. Following Monroe's death in August 1962, Doris Day and James Garner were cast, and the new version was released by Fox as Move Over, Darling (1963)

Second of three movies that paired Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.

Gail Patrick (June 20, 1911 – July 6, 1980), appeared in 62 movies between 1932 and 1948, usually as the leading lady's rival. Some of these roles include the second wife in, My Favorite Wife (1940) with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, Anna May Wong's competitor in, Dangerous to Know (1938), and Carole Lombard's spoiled sister in, My Man Godfrey (1936), Wives Under Suspicion (1938) and Disbarred (1939).

Patrick retired from acting in films in 1948 and later, with her third husband Thomas Cornwell Jackson, became a producer of the Perry Mason television series (1957–1966).

Cary Grant.

Archibald Alexander Leach(January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986), better known by his stage name Cary Grant. He moved to Hollywood in 1931, where he used the name Cary Lockwood. He chose the name Lockwood after the name of his character in a recent play called, Nikki. After he signed with Paramount Pictures, the studio wanted to change his stage name. They decided that the name Cary would work, but Lockwood had to go because it was similar to another actor's name. Grant chose his name because of the initials C and G had already proved lucky for Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.

Already having appeared as leading man opposite Marlene Dietrich in, Blonde Venus(1932), in a story about a woman who was a popular nightclub singer turned housewife, but when her husband needs a life-saving operation, she decides to resume her career.  Soon she has to make a choice between her singing career and her husband. Third video of nine.

May West, picked him for her leading man in two of her most successful films, She Done Him Wrong a Pre-Code (1933). Comedy romance film. cast: Mae West and Cary Grant. Others in the cast include: Louise Beavers, Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery, Sr., and Rochelle Hudson. The film was directed by Lowell Sherman and produced by William LeBaron. The script was adapted by Harvey F. Thew and John Bright from the successful Broadway play Diamond Lil by Mae West. Original music was composed by Ralph Rainger, John Leipold and Stephan Pasternacki. Charles Lang was responsible for the cinematography, while the costumes were designed by Edith Head.

The movie is famous for West's many double meaning quips, including her seductive, "I always did like a man in a uniform. That one fits you grand. Why don't you come up sometime and see me? I'm home every evening."



Followed by, I'm No Angel (both 1933). His first major comedy hit was when he was loaned to Hal Roach's studio for the film, Topper(1937). A story about a fun-loving couple, finding that they died and are now ghosts, decide to shake up a friend of theirs.

Grant starred in many classic screwball comedies: Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Katharine Hepburn, His Girl Friday (1940) with Rosalind Russell, Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) featuring Priscilla Lane, and Monkey Business (1952) opposite Ginger Rogers and Marilyn Monroe. Monkey Business, is similar to the film, Bringing Up Baby (1938), which also starred Cary Grant and was directed by Howard Hawks, but had a leopard instead of a chimpanzee. The plot, involving a chemical that causes a board of directors to act like children, is similar to the film, Lover Come Back(1961), with Doris Day–Rock Hudson, although in that film the chemical causes everybody to get extremely drunk.


Hawks said he did not think the film's premise was believable, and as a result thought the film was not as funny as it could have been. Peter Bogdanovich has noted that the scenes with Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe work especially well .

It was the film, The Philadelphia Story (1940), with Hepburn and James Stewart, that made him a star. A story about socialites Tracy Lord and C.K. Dexter Haven, who married impulsively. They brake up when Dexter's drinking became too excessive. Two years after their break-up, Tracy is about to remarry, a politician by the name of, George Kittredge. The day before the wedding, three unexpected guests show up at the Lord mansion: Macaulay Connor, Elizabeth Imbrie. Dexter, who is now working for a tabloid magazine.



Grant was a favorite of Alfred Hitchcock, who said that Grant was "the only actor I ever loved in my whole life". Grant appeared in the Hitchcock classics Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959).

Biographer Patrick McGilligan wrote that, in 1965, Hitchcock asked Grant to star in, Torn Curtain (1966), only to learn that Grant had decided to retire after making one more film, Walk, Don't Run (1966).

In the mid-1950s, Grant formed his own production company, Grantley Productions, and produced a number of movies distributed by Universal: Operation Petticoat (1959), Indiscreet (1958), That Touch of Mink (co-starring with Doris Day, 1962).Please click here to read Touch of Mink review.

In 1963, he appeared opposite Audrey Hepburn in the film, Charade (1963). Directed by Stanley Donen, written by Peter Stone and Marc Behm. Cast: Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It also features Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy, Dominique Minot, Ned Glass, and Jacques Marin. It spans three genres: suspense thriller, romance, and comedy.


The film is notable for its screenplay, the relationship between Grant and Hepburn and for being filmed on location in Paris. Also, for Henry Mancini's score and theme song and for the animated titles by Maurice Binder. Charade has been referred to as "the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made."

Cary Grant ... enjoyed poking fun at himself with statements such as, "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant.. even I want to be Cary Grant".

FUN FACTS:

His only child is Jennifer Grant whose mother is Dyan Cannon. Actress Jennifer Grant, the only child of screen legend Cary Grant and his fourth wife, actress Dyan Cannon, gave birth to her first child on August 12, 2008, in Los Angeles, California. Jennifer,  named her son Cary Benjamin Grant.

Ian Fleming modeled the James Bond character partially with Grant in mind.

Turned down the role of James Bond in Dr. No (1962), believing himself to be too old at 58 to play the character.

Donated his entire salary for Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) to the U.S. War Relief Fund.

Arsenic and Old Lace, his least favorite film.

Said Indiscreet (1958), to be his personal favorite film.

Was a great fan of Elvis Presley, and attended his Las Vegas shows. He is seen discussing Elvis' performance with him backstage during the closing credits of "That's The Way It Is" (1970).

 

The Talk of the Town(1942).

The Talk of the Town(1942). Cast: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman, Edgar Buchanan, and Glenda Farrell. The movie was adapted by Dale Van Every, Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman from the story by Sidney Harmon. It was directed by George Stevens.

Mill worker and political activist Leopold Dilg is accused of burning down a mill and causing the death of the foreman. In the middle of his trial, Dilg escapes from jail and finds shelter in a house owned by his old friend Nora Shelley.



Shelley has the house rented for the summer to law Professor Michael Lightcap, who plans to write a book. When Dilg is seen by Lightcap, Shelley introduces him as her gardener. Lightcap and Dilg quickly become friends.

Over some things that had been said during one of their lively discussions over politics, Lightcap becomes suspicious of what is really going on and begins to investigate. He finds that the former foreman is still alive and hiding in Boston. Dilg is persuaded to return to town and admit his guilt. Will Lightcap convinces Dilg give himself up and be set free?

The acting is very good. Cary Grant, plays a very different roll than I'm used to seeing him in..  Ronald Coleman is also good as his rival and Jean Arthur is great she steals scene after scene.

Fun Fact:
Lloyd Bridges' tiny role was one of 20 film appearances he made in 1942 .

Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971), came to Hollywood towards the end of the silent era. Farrell began her career with a theatrical company at the age of 7. She played Little Eva in, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

She was in the cast of ,Cobra and The Best People with actress Charlotte Treadway, in 1925.

Farrell was first signed to a long-term contract by First National Pictures in July 1930. She was given the feminine lead in, Little Caesar.

Warner Brothers signed her to re-create on film the role she played in, Life Begins on Broadway. Farrell worked on parts in twenty movies in her first year with the studio. She was known a the wise-cracking, dizzy blonde of the early talkies, along with  Joan Blondell, with whom she often would be paired with.

She went on to perform in, Little Caesar (1931) opposite Edward G. Robinson, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Havana Widows (1933) with Blondell, Bureau of Missing Persons (1933) opposite Pat O'Brien, Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) opposite Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray and The Big Shakedown (1934) with Bette Davis.

She became one of Warner Brothers most popular actresses of the 1930s, solidifying her success with her own film series, as Torchy Blane, "Girl Reporter". In this role Farrell was promoted as being able to speak 400 words in 40 seconds. Farrell would portray the character Torchy Blane in eight films, from 1937 to 1939 when the role was taken over by Jane Wyman.

In 1937 she starred opposite Dick Powell and Joan Blondell in the Academy Award nominated Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley directed musical Gold Diggers(1937).

When her Warner Brothers contact expired in 1939 she focused more on her stage career once again. She said that working in plays gave her more of a sense of individuality whereas in films you get frustrated because you feel you have no power over what you're doing.

Farrell went out of vogue in the 1940s but made a comeback later in life, winning an Emmy Award in 1963, for her work in the television series, Ben Casey.

Holiday(1938).

Holiday(1938). Directed by George Cukor, a remake of the 1930 film of the same name. Romantic/comedy. The movie was adapted by Donald Ogden Stewart and Sidney Buchman from the play by Philip Barry. Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Doris Nolan, Lew Ayres, and Edward Everett Horton, who played the same role he had played in the 1930 version. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction by Stephen Goosson and Lionel Banks.

This is a very charming, hilarious, comedy where Grant plays Johnny Case, a self-made man who is already tired of the rat race at the age of 30. Wanting to make enough money to retire on to travel around the world in search of adventure. Johnny proposes to his girl friend Julia in Lake Placid, but it isn't until he visits her and her family in New York, that he learns she's the daughter of a wealthy banker. He soon wins over the whole family hearts especially, Julia's sister Linda, who finds herself irresistibly drawn to him. Can Johnny live the life where responsibility is already laid out for him or will he have the courage to break free of society and follow his heart? There's more going on here than a fluffy romance. If you love witty and intelligent romantic comedy, then this film is for you.



Fun Facts:

The character of Linda Seton played by Hepburn was loosely based on a socialite named Gertrude Sanford Legendre.

Although the film was originally intended to reunite The Awful Truth co-stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, George Cukor decided to cast Hepburn instead.





Doris Nolan, performed in films in the late 30s after earning a contract from Fox. Best known as Katharine Hepburn's, high-society sister in the comedy classic, Holiday (1938). She was gone within the decade and returned to theatre.

Suspicion (1941).

Suspicion (1941).  Romantic/ psychological /thriller. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. It also stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nigel Bruce, Dame May Whitty, Isabel Jeans and Heather Angel.

Playboy Johnnie Aysgarth,  in a whirlwind romance sweeps Lina McLaidlaw, off her feet and convinces her into marrying him, even though her family does not want her to. After their honeymoon, she soon learns that Johnnie was hoping to live off her father. She tells him that he has to get a  job and he goes to work for his cousin, estate agent Captain Melbeck .

Lina soon learns that Johnnie has been  gambling on the horses and that he has sold her family heirloom chairs. Next, She goes to visit him at work and finds out that he has been  fired from his job. Johnnie's best friend Beaky tells her that her husband is a good man, but without much success.

Johnnie convinces Beaky to finance a land development project, Lina tries to talk Beaky out of it. Johnnie overhears and warns his wife to mind her own business, but later he decides to cancel the deal. When Beaky leaves for Paris, Johnnie travels with him. Later, Lina hears Beaky's died in Paris and she begins to suspect Johnnie in his friend's death.

Soon, she begins suspect she is next on her husband's list, so he can collect on her life insurance. Johnnie brings Lina a glass of milk before bed, but she is too afraid to drink it.



She makes up a story about staying with her mother for a few days and Johnnie insists on driving her there. He drives recklessly beside a cliff. Suddenly, Lina's door opens, will she be saved?

If you are a Hitchcock fan I think you will want to see this film.  Fontaine's believable performance allows the viewer to really feel her fear. I have read some negative reviews about the surprise ending, but it is worth seeing and deciding for yourself .

Nigel Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953), was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Doctor Watson in a series of films and in the radio series, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes). Bruce is also remembered for his roles in the Alfred Hitchcock films Rebecca and Suspicion. During his film career, he worked in 78 movies.

Betsy Drake, third wife of actor Cary Grant.

Betsy Drake (born September 11, 1923) is a French-born American actress and writer. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant.

Betsy went to twelve different schools, both private and public, before going into theatre and acting at junior college in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C.. She met the playwright, Horton Foote who offered her a job as understudy in his play, Only the Heart.

After winning the attention of the producer Hal Wallis, Betsy was pressured by her agent to sign a contract. She hated Hollywood and managed to get herself released from the contract by declaring herself insane. She returned to New York and in 1947 read for the director, Elia Kazan, for the lead role in the London company of the play, Deep are the Roots.

Cary Grant first met Drake in 1947 while she was performing in London. The two, were returning to the USA on the ship the RMS Queen Mary and quickly became friends. Drake was signed to a movie contract by RKO and David Selznick, where she performed in her first film, Every Girl Should Be Married (1948), opposite Grant.


On Christmas Day 1949 Drake and Grant married, in a private ceremony organized by Grant's best man, Howard Hughes. In 1952, they performed together in the film, Room for One More, and Drake performed in a number of leading roles in England and the United States, and a supporting role in the 1957 film, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?.

Grant and Drake separated in 1958, remaining friends, and divorced in 1962. Their marriage was his longest union. Drake had no children with Grant but has 2 goddaughters - Tessa Dahl, daughter of actress Patricia Neal and Tracy Granger, daughter of actress Jean Simmons.

Drake gave up acting in order to focus on her writing. In 1971 Atheneum published - under the name Betsy Drake Grant - her novel Children You Are Very Little. She also worked as a practicing psychotherapist in various psychiatric hospitals in Los Angeles, California and earned a Ed.M. degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her most recent screen performance was in Cary Grant: A Class Apart, a documentary about the time they spent together.

Filmography:
Every Girl Should Be Married (1948)
Dancing in the Dark (1949)
The Second Woman (1950)
Pretty Baby (1950)
Room for One More (1952)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
General Electric Theater as Ellie
Intent to Kill (1958)
Next to No Time (1958)
Wanted: Dead or Alive as Lucy Fremont in "The Spur"
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965)
Cary Grant: A Class Apart (2005)

His Girl Friday(1940).

His Girl Friday (1940). Comedy film directed by Howard Hawks. Cast:Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy. It is best known for its rapid-fire dialogue.

Newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson, recently divorced from newspaper editor Walter Burns, stops by his office at the Morning Post, to tell him that she is planning to marry insurance salesman, Bruce Baldwin. When she gets there, Walter is working on a story about Earl Williams, who has just been sentenced to die for killing a policeman. To keep Hildy from leaving, he tells her the paper needs her to cover the story. Hildy at first refuses, saying that she is tired of being a newspaperman and now wants to be a wife.

While having lunch, Walter learns that the couple are leaving with Bruce's mother, on the four o'clock train to Albany. Wanting to quickly come up with a plan to win Hildy back, Walter convinces Bruce that only a story written by Hildy can save Williams. Hildy agrees to write the story if Walter will purchase a life insurance policy from Bruce. Walter agrees and when he returns to the newspaper office with Bruce for a medical examination, Hildy goes to the press room at the criminal court's building, where she is welcomed by the other reporters, who warn her that she will never be able to give up the newspaper business. Walter does everything he can to keep Hildy from leaving. Will Walter prevent Hildy's up coming marriage and will Hildy get the big story?

This is a very charming/funny film. Cary Grant is, of course better than ever, and I've never seen Rosalind Russel in a role that suited her more perfectly. The supporting actors, down to the bit-players, are all perfect for this film.

Fun fact: Ginger Rogers wrote that she was offered the role of Hildy Johnson. She read the script, but this was before Cary Grant was cast, and she turned it down. After learning that Grant was cast, she regretted it.

Great Dramas: An Affair to Remember(1957)

An Affair to Remember (1957). Cast: Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, and directed by Leo McCarey.The movie was a remake of the film Love Affair(1939). Cast:Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. An Affair to Remember was almost identical to Love Affair on a scene to scene basis. McCarey used the same screenplay as the original film, which was written by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart.

The theme song "An Affair to Remember (Our Love Affair)' was composed by Harry Warren with lyrics by Leo McCarey and Harold Adamson. The song is sung by Vic Damone during the opening credits and then sung later by Deborah Kerr's character, a nightclub singer. Kerr's singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who also dubbed for Kerr in the film The King and I.



Ladies man and artiest Nickie Ferrante, meets Night Club singer Terry McKay, aboard the SS Constitution traveling from Europe to New York. Each is engaged to someone else. They soon begin a love/friendship. One of my favorite scenes is when Terry joins Nicky for a few hours visiting his grandmother beautiful home, on the Mediterranean coast.

Before the ship reaches New York they agree to tie up loose ends of their lives and to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months.

On the day of their reunion, Terry, running and not watching the on coming traffic, is hit by a car. Seriously injured, she is rushed to the hospital. Meanwhile Nickie, waiting for her at the top of the Empire State Building, is unaware of what happened and after many hours, believes she has rejected him.

Six months later, she sees Nickie with his former fiancee at the ballet,who does not notice her condition says "hello" as he passes by.

Later Nickie, finds her and wants her to explain why she did not meet him. Surprised and happy, Terry tries to avoid the subject, never leaving the couch. As he is leaving, Nickie mentions a painting he had done of her that had been given to a woman. He is about to say that the woman was in a wheelchair when he suddenly, realizes the woman was Terry. He walks into her bedroom and sees his painting. He then knows that something had happened to keep her from meeting him at the Empire State Building.

I thought this was a wonderful film with Beautiful costumes, scenery, clever photography ( open patio door shows the Empire State Building in its reflection). Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr make this a never-forgotten romantic classic.




Fun Facts:

Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant improvised many of their scenes throughout filming, and a number of lines that made it to the final cut of the film came from the actors' improvisation.

Ingrid Bergman was the first choice to play Terry McKay.

Deborah Kerr plays Terry McKay, previously played by Irene Dunne in Love Affair (1939), of which this film is a remake - both were directed by Leo McCarey. The year before this film was made, Kerr played Anna Leonowens in The King and I (1956), also a role that had previously been played by Irene Dunne in the black-and-white classic Anna and the King of Siam (1946). "The King and I" is a musical based on the same book.

Second of three movies that paired Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant.

Neva Louise Patterson(10 February 1920 – 14 December 2010). In 1952, she played "Helen Sherman" in The Seven Year Itch. Her first movie was the 1953 film Taxi. Other film credits include The Buddy Holly Story, All of Me, and as Cary Grant's fiancee in An Affair to Remember.

Notorious (1946)

One of my favorite films and another winner from ace director Alfred Hitchcock. Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) is the daughter of a German spy who just recently committed suicide while serving his prison sentence. Alicia takes to drinking and men before she is approached by government agent T.R. Devlin (a smooth Cary Grant) to take on a job. The task is for Alicia to spy on her father's Nazi friends, who are operating out of Rio de Janiero. Of course along the way Alicia and Devlin become attracted to each other. Notorious is a solid romantic thriller with both Grant and Bergman giving top notch performances. Also good is Claude Rains as wealthy German businessman Alexander Sebastian, who Alicia ends up romancing and even marrying to get as close as possible to him and all his secrets. A very well made film, which is no surprise since it's done by the master of suspense, Hitchcock. A good film to watch in honor of Ingrid's day on TCM.