Thursday, March 18, 2021

On This Day...Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Cary Grant's 30th full length film and his 2nd with Katharine Hepburn, was Bringing Up Baby, and was released on this date in 1938.


Summary:

Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) has two reasons to be excited. He is about to be married and the final piece to a brontosaurus, the showpiece to his museum exhibit, will soon be in his possession. Furthermore, if he plays his cards right, a wealthy donor will donate $1 million to his museum, to aid his palaeontological collection. 


Unfortunately, he meets Susan (Katharine Hepburn), a woman who seems destined to unintentionally destroy his life. Huxley soon finds himself playing nursemaid to Baby, her leopard.


"Cary Grant does a nice job of underlining the situation."
- Otis Ferguson, The New Republic.


Cast:

 Katharine Hepburn ... Susan Vance
 Cary Grant ... David Huxley
 Charles Ruggles ... Major Applegate
 Walter Catlett ... Slocum
 Barry Fitzgerald ... Mr. Gogarty
 May Robson ... Aunt Elizabeth
 Fritz Feld ... Dr. Lehman
 Leona Roberts ... Mrs. Gogarty
 George Irving ... Alexander Peabody
 Tala Birell ... Mrs. Lehman
 Virginia Walker ... Alice Swallow
 John Kelly ... Elmer


Did You Know?

The scene in which Susan's dress is ripped was inspired by something that happened to Cary Grant. He was at the Roxy Theater one night and his pants zipper was down when it caught on the back of a woman's dress. Grant impulsively followed her. When he told this story to Howard Hawks, Hawks loved it and put it into the film.


Christopher Reeve based his performance as Clark Kent in Superman (1978) and its three sequels on Cary Grant's character David Huxley from this film.


Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant frequently socialized off the set, double-dating with their respective steadies at the time, Howard Hughes and Phyllis Brooks. They loved working on the film so much that they frequently arrived early. Since Howard Hawks was usually late, they spent their time working out new bits of comic business.


David makes reference to the notorious characters "Mickey the Mouse" and "Donald the Duck." RKO was Walt Disney's distributor at the time.


Cary Grant was not fond of the tame leopard that was used in the film. Once, to torture him, Katharine Hepburn put a stuffed leopard through a vent in the top of his dressing room. "He was out of there like lightning," wrote Hepburn in her autobiography Me: Stories of My Life


The scenes which involved Baby roaming around freely, notably in Susan's apartment, had to be done in a cage, with the camera and sound picked up through holes in the fencing. In fact, when Cary Grant steps into the bathroom to have a look at "Baby", there are subtle but visible reflections on the transparent wall between the actor and the leopard.


Quotes:

Mrs. Random: Well who are you?
David Huxley: I don't know. I'm not quite myself today.
Mrs. Random: Well, you look perfectly idiotic in those clothes.
David Huxley: These aren't my clothes.
Mrs. Random: Well, where are your clothes?
David Huxley: I've lost my clothes!
Mrs. Random: But why are you wearing these clothes?
David Huxley: Because I just went GAY all of a sudden!
Mrs. Random: Now see here young man, stop this nonsense. What are you doing?
David Huxley: I'm sitting in the middle of 42nd Street waiting for a bus.


David Huxley: Now it isn't that I don't like you, Susan, because, after all, in moments of quiet, I'm strangely drawn toward you, but - well, there haven't been any quiet moments.


David Huxley: When a man is wrestling a leopard in the middle of a pond, he's in no position to run.


David Huxley: First you drop an olive, and then I sit on my hat. It all fits perfectly.
Susan Vance: Oh, yes, but you can't do that trick without dropping some of the olives; it takes practice.
David Huxley: What, to sit on my hat?
Susan Vance: No, to drop an olive.


David Huxley: You don't understand: this is my car!
Susan Vance: You mean this is your car? Your golf ball? Your car? Is there anything in the world that doesn't belong to you?
David Huxley: Yes, thank heaven, YOU!


On Set:



With Howard Hawks, Katharine Hepburn and Nissa(Baby).


Lobby Cards:




Directed by Howard Hawks.
Produced by RKO Radio.
Running time: 102 minutes.


Artwork by Rebekah Hawley of Studio 36.









Saturday, March 6, 2021

On This Day...The Amazing Adventure of Ernest Bliss (1937)

 The Amazing Adventure of Ernest Bliss was Cary Grant's 26th film, and was released in 1937 on this date.


Summary:

Ernest Bliss (Cary Grant) is a rich young man with too little to do. Not realizing the depression he's in is due to boredom, Ernest consults a doctor. Sir James Aldroyd gives Ernest a prescription that he doesn't think Ernest can fill: Ernest must earn his own living for one year using none of his current wealth. Ernest bets him 50,000 English pounds that he can.


"Mr. Cary Grant helps it along with a smooth and tactful performance."
- The Times (London)

"Cary Grant looks and acts the part with deft characterization." 
- Joshua Lowe,Variety


Cast:

 Cary Grant ... Ernest Bliss
 Mary Brian ... Frances Clayton
 Peter Gawthorne ... Sir James Alroyd
 Henry Kendall ... Lord Honiton
 Leon M. Lion ... Dorrington
 John Turnbull ... Masters
 Arthur Hardy ... Crawley
 Iris Ashley ... Clare
 Garry Marsh ... The Buyer
 Andreas Malandrinos ... Guiseppi
 Marie Wright ... Mrs. Heath
 Buena Bent ... Mrs. Mott
 Charles Farrell ... Scales
 Quinton McPherson ... Clowes 


Did You Know:

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

The film was re-issued in the United States in 1937 under the title "The Amazing Adventure" (also alternatively "Romance and Riches"), and was edited down from the original UK running time of 80 minutes, to 61 minutes. Most prints these days are the shorter one.



Quotes:

Ernest Bliss: Here's to us!
[They drink the wine as she laughs softly]
Ernest Bliss: Ah, but it's good!
Frances Clayton: It's lovely!
Ernest Bliss: So cheap, my goodness, I thought it would taste like red ink. Fancy, it's magic. Yes, it's your magic too! It's you who turned this cheap wine, this cheap food into a feast for the gods!



Ernest Bliss: Rather difficult man to see, aren't you, Sir James?
Sir James Alroyd: Not for those who are punctual. Any other complaints?


Sir James Alroyd: What do you think's the matter with you?
Ernest Bliss: I don't know. That's why I came to see you. I can't eat. I can't sleep. I'm nervous. I never do anything, and I'm always tired.



Ernest Bliss: Well, then, what's the matter with me?
Sir James Alroyd: Money.
Ernest Bliss: Money. That' not an illness.
Sir James Alroyd: Mmmh. In your case, it's a disease.


Lobby Cards:




British release title : "Romance and Riches".



Directed by Alfred Zeisler.
Distributed by Grand National.
Running time: 70 minutes.


Artwork by Rebekah Hawley of Studio 36.


Sunday, February 28, 2021

The Cary Grant Gallery by Rebekah Hawley (February 2021)

As another month comes to a close, it's actually the first month that my posts have featured bespoke artwork by Rebekah Hawley. They were commissioned for my film release posts, as a refresh, for 2021.

Here is a round up.

Wings in the Dark:

Released on the 1st February, 1935.



The Woman Accused:

Released on the 17th February, 1933.



Gunga Din:

Released on the 17th February, 1939.



When You're in Love:

Released on the 27th February, 1937.




Look out for more artwork by Rebekah Hawley over the coming months. All 72 Cary Grant films will be featured in this way!


Cary Grant on the Bookshelf. Part 2 - 1999 to 1963.

Continuing on with all books from 1999 to 1963:

Hollywood Cocktails by Tobias Steed and Ben Reed (1999)


Legends: Cary Grant A Celebration by Richard Schnickel (1998, Small Format)


Cary Grant: A Class Apart by Graham McCann (1997 in both Hardback and Paperback)


The Genius of the System: Hollywood Film-making in the Studio Era by Thomas Schatz (1996)


Cary Grant: Dark Angel by Geoffrey Wansell (1996 and 2011 editions)


In The Arena by Charlton Heston (1996)


Cary Grant: A Portrait in His Own Words and by Those Who Knew Him Best by Nancy Nelson (1991)


Me: Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn (1991)


Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart by Charles Higham and Roy Moseley (1989)


An Affair to Remember: My Life with Cary Grant by Maureen Donaldson and William Royce (1989)


Cary Grant by Pamela Trescott (1987)


Cary Grant: A Touch of Elegance by Warren G. Harris (1987)


Cary Grant by Chuck Ashman and Pamela Trescott (1986)


Cary Grant by Jean-Jacques Dupuis (1984, French Edition)


The Private Cary Grant by William Currie McIntosh and William Weaver (1983)


Cary Grant: Haunted Idol by Geoffrey Wansell (1983)


Cary Grant: A Celebration by Richard Schnickel (1983)


The Movie Quote Book by Harry Haun (1981)


Cary Grant: The Light Touch by Lionel Godfrey (1981)


Cary Grant: In the Spotlight by Gallery Press (1980)


The Life and Loves of Cary Grant by Lee Guthrie (1977)


Life with William Randolf Hearst: The Times We Had by Marion Davies (1975)


The Films of Cary Grant by Donald Deschner (1973)


The Pictorial Treasury of Film Stars: Cary Grant by Jerry Vermilye (1973)


Cary Grant: An Unauthorized Biography by Albert Govoni (1971)


Barbara Hutton: A Candid Biography of the Richest Woman in the World by Dean Jennings (1968)


Archie Leach by Cary Grant in Ladies Home Journal (Jan to June Vol.80 Part 1, 1963)


Over the coming months I will be cataloging all of my Cary Grant collection including pictures, items of interest and memorabilia. 


Home of my Cary Grant Book Collection