On This Day... The Philadelphia Story (1941)

Released today back in 1941, The Philadelphia Story was Cary Grant's 38th full length feature film.

Summary:

After getting a divorce from C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), Philadelphia heiress, Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn), prepares to marry George Kittredge (John Howard). 

Days before her wedding, however, Haven and reporter, Macaulay Connor (James Stewart), show up at her doorstep. From there, Tracy is forced to choose among her past love, her present love, and her new love.

Cast:

Cary Grant...C. K. Dexter Haven

Katharine Hepburn...Tracy Lord

James Stewart...Macaulay Connor

Ruth Hussey...Elizabeth Imbrie

John Howard...George Kittredge

Roland Young...Uncle Willie

John Halliday...Seth Lord

Mary Nash...Margaret Lord

Virginia Weidler...Dinah Lord

Henry Daniell...Sidney Kidd

Lionel Pape...Edward

Rex Evans...Thomas

Did You Know?

Cary Grant only agreed to appear in the film as long as he got top billing. As Katharine Hepburn was dubbed "box office poison" at the time, this demand was readily agreed to.  His salary, $137,000, a huge amount at the time, he donated in its entirety to the British War Relief Fund.

Cary Grant was given the choice of which of the two male lead roles he wanted to play.

During the conversation between Mike and Dexter at Dexter's mansion, Mike hiccuped and Dexter said, "Excuse me." This was ad-libbed by Cary Grant, and caused James Stewart to reply, "Huh?" and smile. Grant then turned his head to stifle his laughter and said, "Nothing."

Quotes:

George Kittredge: But a man expects his wife to...

Tracy Lord: Behave herself. Naturally.

C. K. Dexter Haven: To behave herself naturally.

[George gives him a look]

C. K. Dexter Haven: Sorry.

Tracy Lord: Dexter, say something.

C. K. Dexter Haven: Well, I...

Tracy Lord: Oh, Dexter, I'm such an unholy mess of a girl.

C. K. Dexter Haven: Well, that's no good. That's not even conversation.

Tracy Lord: You seem quite contemptuous of me all of a sudden.

C. K. Dexter Haven: No Red, not of you, never of you.

Elizabeth Imbrie: We've come for the body of Macaulay Connor.

C. K. Dexter Haven: I'm so glad you came. Can you use a typewriter?

Elizabeth Imbrie: No, thanks, I've got one at home.

C. K. Dexter Haven: Of course, Mr. Connor, she's a girl who is generous to a fault.

Tracy Lord: To a fault.

C. K. Dexter Haven: Except to other people's faults.

Margaret Lord: The course of true love...

Macaulay Connor: ...gathers no moss.

Lobby Cards and Posters:

Directed by George Cukor.

Produced and Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Running time: 112 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36.

On This Day...Enter Madame (1935)

 Cary Grant's 18th full length film, Enter Madame, was released on this day in 1935.

Summary:

Gerald Fitzgerald (Cary Grant) is an avid fan of opera.  He loves watching talented and beautiful Lisa Della Robbia (Elissa Landi). When they accidentally meet, the two end up falling in love. Having married quickly, Gerald soon starts to realize he is second place to his wife's career and it isn't much fun.

Cast:

Elissa Landi...Lisa Della Robbia

Cary Grant...Gerald Fitzgerald

Lynne Overman...Mr. Farnum

Sharon Lynn...Flora Preston (as Sharon Lynne)

Michelette Burani...Bice

Paul Porcasi...Archimede

Adrian Rosley ...Doctor

Cecilia Parker...Aline Chalmers

Frank Albertson...John Fitzgerald

Wilfred Hari...Tamamoto

Torben Meyer...Carlson

Harold Berquist...Bjorgenson

Diana Lewis...Operator

Richard Bonelli...Scorpia in 'La Tosca'

Ann Sheridan...Flora's Shipboard Friend (as Clara Lou Sheridan)

Did You Know?

Enter Madame was based on a play written by Gilda Varesi Archibald, Charles Brackett and Dorothea Donn-Byrne.  Charles Brackett also contributed to the writing of such films as Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959).

Featured Clara Lou Sheridan in an early role.  Clara Lou Sheridan would later change her name to Ann Sheridan, eventually starring along side Cary Grant in 'I Was a Male War Bride'.

Quotes:

Mr. Farnum: Think you can take it?

Gerald Fitzgerald: What do you mean?

Mr. Farnum: I mean, have you any idea what it's like being married to an opera singer?

Gerald Fitzgerald: Sure. I think I'm the luckiest man in the world.

Mr. Farnum: You'll have to be.

Lisa Della Robbia: Farnum, what a horrible thing to say.

Mr. Farnum: I'm not talking against you, madame. It's your job.

Archimede: Those truffles have come from my farm in Tuscany. Rigoletto and I hunted for them last June. He with his nose and I with my stick - to hit him on the nose when he find the truffle. He loves truffles, Rigoletto

Flora Preston: Mercy! Who is Rigoletto? Your son?

Archimede: No. My pig, Madame

[laughs]

Archimede: A great hunter of truffles, my Rigoletto

Flora Preston: What a strange name for a pig

Archimede: Why not, Madame? He enjoys it, poor fellow. It gives him some style before the other pigs. My cow, I name her Aida; my ox: Don Giovanni. Oh, they're all very pleased.

Posters and Lobby Card:

Directed by Elliot Nugent.

Produced by Paramount Publix.

Running time: 83 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley of Studio 36.

On This Day... Sylvia Scarlett (1936)

 Released today back in 1936, Sylvia Scarlett was Cary Grant's 21st full length feature film.

Summary:

When her father (Edmund Gwenn) decides to flee to England, young Sylvia Scarlett (Katharine Hepburn) decides to become Sylvester Scarlett to try and protect her father in his new life, with the questionable help of Jimmy Monkley (Cary Grant) and Maudie Tilt (Dennie Moore).

Cast:

Katharine Hepburn...Sylvia Scarlett a.k.a. Sylvester

Cary Grant...Jimmy Monkley

Brian Aherne...Michael Fane

Edmund Gwenn...Henry Scarlett

Dennie Moore...Maudie Tilt - the Maid (uncredited)

Did You Know?:

After a disastrous preview, director George Cukor introduced the Marseilles scene as an introduction to the original film, thus showing the feminine Sylvia Scarlett, with tresses and in a skirt, before showing the tom-boyish side of the character.

Despite the poor reviews of the movie, most critics noted the performance of Cary Grant. It has since been recognized as one of Grant's break-out performances.

Henry tells Jimmy the thirty yards of lace he is smuggling is worth 50 quid (pounds). That would equate to $250 at the time or $4,730 in 2019.

Quotes:

Sylvia Scarlett: Well, we're all fools sometimes. Only you choose such awkward times.

Sylvia Scarlett: You've got the mind of a pig.

Jimmy Monkley: It's a pig's world.

Posters:

Directed by George Cukor.

Produced and Distributed by RKO Radio.

Running time: 94 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36.

On This Day... Destination Tokyo (1944)

Released today back in 1944, Destination Tokyo was Cary Grant's 44th full length feature film.

Summary:

In the early days of World War II, under the command of Captain Cassidy (Cary Grant), the U.S.S. Copperfin sails for Tokyo Bay. 

The submarine's secret mission is to enter the bay without being detected.  They must then place a landing party ashore to obtain vital information for the upcoming Doolittle air raid on Tokyo.

Cast:

Cary Grant...Capt. Cassidy

John Garfield...Wolf

Alan Hale...'Cookie' Wainwright

John Ridgely...Reserve Officer Raymond

Dane Clark...Tin Can

Warner Anderson...Andy

William Prince...Pills

Robert Hutton...Tommy Adams

Tom Tully...Mike Conners

Faye Emerson...Mrs. Cassidy

Peter Whitney...Dakota

Warren Douglas...Larry

John Forsythe...Sparks

John Alvin...Sound Man

Bill Kennedy...Torpedo Gunnery Officer

Trailer:

Did You Know?

The Copperfin submarine was an exact scale model of a real US Navy submarine. However, for reasons of military security, equipment and operating mechanisms were of varying kinds and varieties not found on US submarines so the enemy could not get an accurate picture of what the interior of a Navy submarine looked like.

Two members of the real-life US Navy submarine Wahoo were consultants and technical advisers on this film, according to a story in the "New York Herald Tribune". They were crew member Andy Lennox and Lt. Cmdr. Dudley Walker Morton. As a way of saying "thank you" the chili and canned pumpkin used by "Cookie" is labeled as being made by "Lennox".

Tony Curtis, in an interview aired on TCM, recounted the day when he went into a theater and watched this film and saw Cary Grant peer through a periscope at Tokyo Bay. That moment "took his breath away" and inspired him to become an actor. Other reports state that Grant inspired Curtis to join the navy. Grant and Curtis would later star together in the World War II submarine comedy Operation Petticoat (1959).

In the scene where the planes get ready for takeoff from the aircraft carrier to attack Tokyo, the music incorporates the first four notes from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (dah-dah-dah-daaaa). During WWII the notes were a sign for victory because they translate into the letter V in Morse Code (three dots and a dash).

Quotes:

Worker on Golden Gate Bridge: [as the USS Copperfin, returning from its perilous mission, transits beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, inbound for San Francisco] Hey Eddie, ya' think that sub saw any action?

Other worker on Golden Gate Bridge: [Dismissively] Nah... Probably just out for a couple of practice dives.

Reserve Officer Raymond: How'd you happen to volunteer for the submarine service, Captain?

Capt. Cassidy: [Coyly] Well, when I was a kid, I used to get a kick outta' swimming underwater.

Wolf: [During a particularly fierce depth-charging of the 'Copperfin'] I wonder how the invasion of Europe is getting along?

Lobby Cards:

Directed by Delmer Daves.

Produced and Distributed by Warner Brothers.

Running time: 135 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36.

On This Day...Madame Butterfly (1932)

Cary Grant's 7th film, and the last film release of the year, Madame Butterfly, was released on today's date back in 1932. 

Summary: 

While on shore-leave in Japan, Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton (Cary Grant) and his friend,  Lieutenant Barton (Charles Ruggles), stop in at a local establishment to check out the food, drink and girls.  On meeting Cho-Cho San (Sylvia Sidney) Pinkerton immediately falls in lust. Barton advises Pinkerton that he can 'marry' this Japanese girl and freely enjoy himself, then sail on back to America unshackled, since in Japan abandonment equates to divorce.

 The years pass and Cho-Cho San still eagerly awaits the return of her husband and the opportunity to surprise him with their son.  When Pinkerton does finally arrive back in Japan to apologise to Cho-Cho San for his behaviour, he has his American bride by his side. 

Cast:

Sylvia Sidney...Cho-Cho San

Cary Grant...Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton

Charles Ruggles...Lt. Barton

Irving Pichel...Yomadori

Helen Jerome Eddy...Cho-Cho's mother

Edmund Breese...Cho-Cho's grandfather

Louise Carter...Suzuki

Sándor Kállay...Goro

Judith Vosselli ...Madame Goro

Sheila Terry...Mrs. Pinkerton

Dorothy Libaire...Peach Blossom

Berton Churchill...American Consul

Philip Horomato...Trouble

Quotes:

Madame Goro: So this is Cho-Cho-San; what distinction, what eyes, what teeth. And you speak also the English?

Cho-Cho San: Yes, I learned from visiting scholar. She teach me very high class Brooklyn accent.

Cho-Cho San: [Cho-Cho San has found Adelaide's photo in Pinkerton's trunk. She brings it to him with the pipe cleaners] I found them like this

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Thank you very much, Cho-Cho San

[he puts the photo aside]

Cho-Cho San: She very beautiful, that American lady

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Oh, I guess she'd pass in a crowd

Cho-Cho San: She some lady you know very well?

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Sure, sure. We've known each other for years

Cho-Cho San: She love you very much, perhaps?

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: No, of course not

Cho-Cho San: [she picks up the photo and points to the inscription that reads 'To Bin with all my love always'] What this writing say?

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: Oh, that. That just says 'lots of luck'

Cho-Cho San: Oh. But maybe you very much in love with her?

Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton: How can I have room in my heart for anyone but Madame Butterfly?

Taglines:

1933 Marches on!...with the great romantic drama of East and West NOW a MODERN love story! (Print Ad-Daily Star, ((Long Island City, NY)) 30 January 1933)

IT WILL BRING THUNDEROUS ACCLAIM...for a great love story done with consummate passion! (Print Ad- Greenfield Recorder, ((Greenfield Mass.)) 30 December 1932)

PARAMOUNT'S FOREMOST SCREEN PRODUCTION FOR 1933 

(Print Ad-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, ((Pittsburgh, Penna.)) 8 February 1933)

Lobby Cards and Posters:

Directed by Marion Gering.

Distributed by Paramount Publix.

Running time: 86 minutes.

Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36.