On This Day...Mr. Lucky (1943)

 Released today back in 1943, Mr. Lucky was Cary Grant's 43rd full length feature film

Summary:

Joe Adams (Cary Grant) takes on the identity of a dead gangster in order to avoid the draft. Adams plans to use a war relief charity to get his gambling operation up and running, until he falls in love with Dorothy Bryant (Laraine Day) and has a change of heart.

Cast:

Cary Grant ... Joe Adams posing as Joe Bascopolous
Laraine Day ... Dorothy Bryant
Charles Bickford ... Hard Swede
Gladys Cooper ... Captain Veronica Steadman
Alan Carney... Crunk
Henry Stephenson... Mr. Bryant
Paul Stewart... Zepp
Kay Johnson... Mrs. Mary Ostrander
Erford Gage... Henchman
Walter Kingsford... Commissioner Hargraves
Florence Bates... Mrs. Van Every

Did You Know?

RKO's second biggest hit of 1943, netting $1.603 million, it was only outperformed at the box office by the vastly lower-budgeted Hitler's Children (1943).

The rhyming slang used by Cary Grant's character is a form of slang in which a word is replaced by a rhyming word, typically the second word of a two-word phrase (so stairs becomes "apples and pears"). The second word is then often dropped entirely ("I'm going up the apples"), meaning that the association of the original word to the rhyming phrase is not obvious to the uninitiated. For example: "Sherman" for an American (Sherman tank = Yank). The exact origin of rhyming slang appears to be unclear, partly because it exists to some extent in many languages. In English, rhyming slang is strongly associated with Cockney speech from the East End of London.

Quotes:

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: [to Crunk] Never give a sucker an even break and always keep an eye on your pals.

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Now watch this.

[rolls dice]

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Seven.

Captain Veronica Steadman: How do you do it?

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Influence. You bring me the right people, I'll get you that hundred thousand.

Captain Veronica Steadman: But it's gambling!

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Not the way I do it.

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Well, now this is quite a surprise!

Dorothy Bryant: Not particularly. It so happens I rather expected it. And if you think your persistence is going to have any effect on me, you're mistaken.

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Well, I can't see how you people can pass up $80,000 for the cause.

Dorothy Bryant: For whose cause? If you're so interested in serving your cause, why don't you join the Army?

Blood Bank Nurse: Next, please!

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Oh...

[produces draft card]

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: 4F.

Dorothy Bryant: You look 1A to me.

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Hey, you don't look too bad yourself!

[He chuckle, she stares, he lets out awkward groan]

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Well, it's my arteries.

Blood Bank Nurse: Right this way...

Dorothy Bryant: Well, should you be giving blood?

Joe Adams aka Joe Bascopolous: Oh, well... my blood's 1A, just my arteries are 4F.

Lobby Cards:

Directed by H.C. Potter.

Distributed by R.K.O Radio.

Running time: 100 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36.

On This Day...The American Citizen (1942)

 On this day, 26th June 1942, Archie Leach not only became Cary Grant, officially, but also became an American Citizen.

Newspaper clipping reporting the event.

U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services documentation.

Still a British Citizen and still Archie Leach at age 37!!

First Passport stamped 1946!

This passport shows travel in the 1960's.

Issued in 1965.

Issued in 1975 and expired in 1980.

On This Day... Gambling Ship (1933)

On 23 June 1933, Cary Grant's 11th full length film, Gambling Ship, was released.

Summary:

Tired of the dangerous life as gambling boss, Ace Corbin (Cary Grant) 'retires' from the racket and travels cross-country by train to begin a new life with a new name. 

On the train, he meets Eleanor (Benita Hume) and they fall in love. Ace's old life and Eleanor's deceptions collide with the typical results. But will love conquer all?

Cast:

Cary Grant... Ace Corbin
Benita Hume... Eleanor La Velle
Jack La Rue... Pete Manning
Glenda Farrell... Jeanne Sands
Roscoe Karns... Blooey
Arthur Vinton... Joe Burke
Charles Williams... Baby Face
Edwin Maxwell... D.A
Spencer Charters... Detective

Did You Know?

It was based on Paul Cain's short stories: 'Fast One', 'Lead Party', 'Velvet' and 'The Heat', which were published in Black Mask magazine.

A technical advisor was used to familiarize the actors in the film with the details of the parlance, activities, and manners of the gambling world. To maintain his anonymity he was known only as 

'Mr. 100'.

Carole Lombard was considered for the role of Eleanor La Velle.

After an African American boot-black called Oscar, who worked on the Paramount lot, was cast in a bit part, a black cinema in Los Angeles billed this movie as: "Sensational star in Gambling Ship, Oscar supported by Cary Grant." All the promo pictures outside the cinema were of Oscar.

Also Known As:

(original title)        Gambling Ship
Brazil                     Cassino Flutuante
Canada                  (English title)Gambling Ship
Japan                     (Japanese title)海の密室
Mexico                  Casino del mar
Portugal                 OCasino do Mar
Spain                     Casino del mar
Sweden                 Hasardskeppet
UK                        Gambling Ship

Lobby Cards:

Directed by Louis Gasnier and Max Marcin.
Produced and distributed by Paramount Publix.
Running time: 72 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley of Studio 36.

On This Day...Dream Wife (1953)

Today in 1953 saw the release of Cary Grant's 59th full length film, Dream Wife...which I first reviewed in my blog post on June 19, 2020. 

Summary:

A business tycoon decides to wed a Middle Eastern princess whose customs dictate the pair must live apart for several months before marrying; even more complications settle in when the tycoon's ex-fiancée is assigned to chaperone the pair.

Cast:

Cary Grant... Clemson Reade

Deborah Kerr... Effie

Walter Pidgeon...Walter McBride

Betta St. John... Tarji

Eduard Franz... Khan of Bukistan

Buddy Baer... Vizier

Les Tremayne... Ken Landwell

Donald Randolph... Ali

Bruce Bennett... Charlie Elkwood

Richard Anderson... Henry Malvine

Dan Tobin... Mr Brown

Movita... Rima

Gloria Holden... Mrs Jean Landwell

June Clayworth... Mrs May Elkwood

Dean Miller... George

Steve Forrest... Louis

Jonathan Cott... Marine

Patricia Tiernan... Pat

Did You Know?

After making this film Cary Grant announced his retirement from acting in February 1953. However, 18 months later he agreed to return to acting in To Catch a Thief (1955).

According to the AFI Catalog entry for this film, this is the first picture directed and produced by Sidney Sheldon, although he is uncredited in the producer role.

Eduard Franz as "Khan of Bukistan" is speaking gibberish as an English "translation" scrolls across the bottom of the screen at the beginning of the film.

First credited feature film role for Betta St. John.

Quotes:

Clemson Reade: We haven't been able to make a definite plan since we met.
Effie: Well, we went to Vermont for two weeks.
Clemson Reade: Yes. Yes, that's right. To her grandfather's farm. For two wonderful relaxing weeks in glorious Vermont.
Walter McBride: Tim'll be there in September.
Clemson Reade: We spent *one* day there. She had to leave to take care of the crisis in Sahara; some of the sand was missing.
Effie: Well, you stayed on.
Clemson Reade: With grandfather. It wasn't the same thing.

Effie: Clem...
Clemson Reade: [softly] What?
Effie: I am afraid that we'll have to postpone the wedding till after the oil deal is signed.
Clemson Reade: [alarmed] What?
Effie: I don't see any other way. Truly I don't. There are so many things to get done. Meetings, conferences, reports, and all of them so urgent.
Clemson Reade: So is our wedding.
Effie: But I mean *really* urgent.

Mr. Brown: Mr Reade...
Clemson Reade: Oh, good evening.
Clemson Reade: I've been waiting to talk with you.
Mr. Brown: Really? Anything wrong?
Mr. Brown: Yes. It's about that, er, bearded gentleman.
Clemson Reade: You mean our friendly skyscraper?
Mr. Brown: He's been trying to buy our chambermaids!
Clemson Reade: He has?
Mr. Brown: Yes. He's been offering them positions in the Khan's harem.
Clemson Reade: I hope he hasn't offended them.
Mr. Brown: Offended them? Six of the girls have already accepted.

Clemson Reade: Oh, I didn't mean that. What you are doing *is* important.
Effie: But not as important as cooking your breakfast. You don't need me for that. You can buy it for a dollar an hour. We've been emancipated, Mr. Reade. Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony?
Clemson Reade: Can she cook?

Clemson Reade: [as they walk toward the altar for their wedding] What can you expect from a woman? You're weak, helpless, and nothing but trouble. And that goes for all of you. Harriet Beecher Stowe. She wrote about slaves, didn't she? Well, it sure takes one to know one.
Tarji: She great woman. She write Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Clemson Reade: Susan B. Anthony...
Tarji: Susan B. Anthony fight for woman's vote. And that not all. Carry Country...
Clemson Reade: Carry Nation!
Tarji: Carry Nation.

Lobby Cards:

Directed by Sidney Sheldon
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Running time: 98 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley of Studio 36.

On This Day...Holiday (1938)

Holiday was Cary Grant's 31st film and was released in 1938.  The third of four movies pairing Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. The other three are Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Bringing Up Baby (1938), and The Philadelphia Story (1940). George Cukor directed all of the films except Bringing Up Baby, which was directed by Howard Hawks.

For more pictures and information see my original post in 2020.

Summary:

Free-thinking Johnny Case (Cary Grant) finds himself betrothed to a millionaire's daughter. When her family, with the exception of black-sheep Linda (Katharine Hepburn) and drunken Ned (Lew Ayres), want Johnny to settle down to big business, he rebels, wishing instead to spend the early years of his life on "holiday."

 With the help of his friends Nick (Edward Everett Horton) and Susan Potter (Jean Dixon), he makes up his mind as to which is the better course, and the better mate.

Cast:

 Katharine Hepburn ... Linda Seton
 Cary Grant ... Johnny Case
 Doris Nolan ... Julia Seton
 Lew Ayres ... Ned Seton
 Edward Everett Horton ... Nick Potter
 Henry Kolker ... Edward Seton
 Binnie Barnes ... Laura Cram
 Jean Dixon ... Susan Potter
 Henry Daniell ... Seton Cram

Did You Know?

Edward Everett Horton repeats the role of Nick Potter, which he also played in the previous version of the film, Holiday (1930).

In the original play, Nick and Susan Potter are wealthy socialites. Due to the depression, the plot was altered so that Johnny, who represented "the common man," would have more ordinary, down to earth friends

Cary Grant performed his own tumbling stunts. Before becoming an actor, he was part of an acrobatic troupe in vaudeville.

Scenes were filmed in Bishop, California to depict Lake Placid, New York that were intended to be the beginning of the picture. The idea was to "open up" the stage play by utilizing exteriors. However, when George Cukor saw the footage, he cut it. Only a few stills, used for theater lobby cards, survive.

(see below: Lobby Cards)

In the poster art and some surviving stills, Hepburn wears a light-colored straw hat with her final costume in the film. This hat never appears in the film and must have been used only for photos before the film's release before being replaced with the wide-brimmed dark felt hat that is actually in the film.
(see below :Lobby Cards)

Quotes:

Johnny Case: [Seeing stuffed giraffe] Oh, did she love that too?
Linda Seton: [Hugging the toy] Now don't you a word about Leopold. He's very sensitive.
Johnny Case: Yours.
Linda Seton: Looks like me.
[turning its head in profile]

Johnny Case: When I find myself in a position like this, I ask myself, what would General Motors do? And then I do the opposite!

Johnny Case: I don't call what I've been doing living.
Linda Seton: And what do you recommend for yourself, doctor?
Johnny Case: A holiday.
Linda Seton: For how long?
Johnny Case: As long as I need.
Linda Seton: You mean just to play?
Johnny Case: No. I've been working since I was 10. I want to find out why I'm working. It can't just be to pay bills and pile up more money. Even if you do, the government's going to take most of it.
Linda Seton: But what is the answer?
Johnny Case: I don't know. That's what I intend to find out. The world's changing out there. There are a lot of new, exciting ideas running around. Some may be right and some may be cockeyed but they're affecting all our lives. I want to know how I stand, where I fit in the picture, what it's all gonna mean to me. I can't find that out sitting behind some desk in an office, so as soon as I get enough money together, I'm going to knock off for a while.

Lobby Cards:

Directed by George Cukor.

Distributed by Columbia pictures.

Running time: 94 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio 36.