Leading Ladies...Part 2.

So here are the actresses who starred in two films each alongside Cary Grant.

Jean Arthur:

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) and Talk Of The Town (1942)

Also appeared in the following radio shows:

Only Angels Have Wings (May 28th, 1939)
Talk Of The Town (May 17th, 1943)

Joan Bennett:

Big Brown Eyes (1936) and Wedding Present (1936)

Ingrid Bergman:

Notorious (1946) and Indiscreet (1958)

"She wears no make-up and has big feet and peasant hips, yet women envy her ability to be herself." 
- Cary Grant

Nancy Carroll:

Hot Saturday (1932) and Woman Accussed (1933)

Betsy Drake:

Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) and Room For One More (1952)

Also appeared in the following radio show:

Every Girl Should Be Married (June 27th, 1949)

"Betsy was a delightful comedienne, but I don't think Hollywood was ever really her milieu. She wanted to help humanity, to help others help themselves." - Cary Grant

Joan Fontaine:

Gunga Din (1939) and Suspicion (1941)

Sophia Loren:

The Pride and the Passion (1957) and Houseboat (1958)

"I was fascinated with him, with his warmth, affection, intelligence, and his wonderfully dry, mischievous sense of humor." - Sophia Loren

Ginger Rogers:

Once Upon A Honeymoon (1942) and Monkey Business (1952)

Ann Sheridan

Enter Madame (1935: as Clara Lou Sheridan) and I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

Mae West:

She Done Him Wrong (1933) and I'm No Angel (1933)

Loretta Young:

Born To Be Bad (1934) and The Bishop's Wife (1947)

Leading Ladies...Part 1.

Cary Grant, over the course of his film career, starred alongside the most iconic female stars of the time and who still maintain that status, even today!

The list is impressive.

Some actresses appeared more than once with Cary Grant on screen.

Katharine Hepburn:

She appeared in the most films with Cary Grant, a total of four times.

Also, on July 20th, 1942, on the radio, in The Philadelphia Story.

Sylvia Scarlett (1936)

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Holiday (1938)

The Philadelphia Story (1941)

"She was this slip of a woman and I never liked skinny women.

But she had this thing, this air you might call it, the most totally magnetic woman I'd

ever seen, and probably ever seen since.

You had to look at her, you had to listen to her. There was no escaping her."

- Cary Grant

"Cary was a lovely, very generous actor. A good comedian. And so funny. He had a wonderful laugh. When you looked at that face of his, it was full of a wonderful kind of laughter at the back of the eyes."

- Katharine Hepburn

Irene Dunne:

Appearing in three films.

Two were probably amongst the best screwball comedies on film.

Her radio appearences with Cary Grant also included:

Theodora Goes West (June 13th, 1938)

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House  

(Oct 10th, 1950)

The Awful Truth (Jan 18th, 1955)

The Awful Truth (1937)

My Favorite Wife (1940)

Penny Serenade (1941)

"Her timing was marvelous. She was so good that she made comedy look easy.

If she'd made it look as difficult as it really is, she would have won her Oscar."

- Cary Grant

"I loved working with Cary - every minute of it. Between takes he was so amusing with his cockney stories. I was his best audience. I laughed and laughed and laughed. The more I laughed, the more he went on."

- Irene Dunne

Deborah Kerr:

Appearing in three films with Cary Grant.

Dream Wife (1953)

An Affair to Remember (1957)

The Grass Is Greener (1961)

"Mostly, we have manufactured ladies - with the exception of Ingrid, Grace, Deborah and Audrey."

- Cary Grant

"His elegance, his wit, his true professionalism were outstanding, and I learned so much from just watching him work. The ability to ad-lib, the timing of a double-take, in fact, all his timing - so essential for true comedy."

- Deborah Kerr

Myrna Loy:

Appearing in three films.

In 1941, June 30th, she also joined Cary Grant for a radio adaptation, I Love You Again.

Wings in the Dark (1935)

The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer (1947)

Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House (1948)

Carole Lombard:

Appearing in three films with Cary Grant, and one radio performance on December 11th, 1939 - In Name Only.

Sinners in the Sun (1932)

The Eagle and the Hawk (1933)

In Name Only (1939)

Sylvia Sidney:

Appeared in three films.

Merrily We Go to Hell (1932)

Madame Butterfly (1932)

Thirty-Day Princess (1934)

So six actresses, appeared in three or more films with Cary Grant.

But ten more starred in two films each with him.

That will be the subject of Leading Ladies: Part Two...

“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”

Sometimes, no matter what situation we find ourselves in, food is the no.1 priority, as the Orson Welles quote suggests.

Even in our busy lives we have to eat!

But back in 1939 what did actors eat...when they eat?

Well that was the title of a book published in 1939!

Amongst many well known actors and actresses of the time, Cary Grant was one of the contributers, with his recipe for Barbecued Chicken.

The Ingredients:

3 x 1 1/4 lb Chickens

1 cup tomato ketchup

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup A-1 sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 chopped onion

1 clove garlic (chopped)

The Method:

Cut the chicken into serving pieces and brown in fat, using no flour. Salt and pepper to taste while cooking.

Then combine the one cup of tomato ketchup, one-half cup worcestershire sauce, one-half cup water, one-fourth cup A-1 sauce, one-fourth cup sugar, one-fourth cup cider vinegar, one chopped onion and one clove of garlic chopped very fine.

After the chickens have been browned, place in a roaster, pour this sauce over them, cover and bake in a moderate oven (300 degrees) until tender.

If the sauce needs thickening, add a little corn starch mixed with cold water and cook until starch is thoroughly done.

And Cary says...

"Now go to it, friends, and don't blame me if it is not to your liking. For after all, the recipe is not mine. It is the national prize winner of the year and I happen to like it."

Interestingly, it also contained the following bio...

CARY GRANT

R.K.O Radio Pictures

Born in Bristol, England on January 18, 1909.

Real name, Archibald Leach.

Height   6ft    1 in.

Weight  172 lbs.

Black hair and brown eyes.

Educated at Fairfield England.

Hobbies: music and electrical research.

At the age of fifteen, he ran away from home and joined

Bog  Penders  acrobats, known  inEngland as the "knockabout Comedians".

Under several studios.

Just finished "Gunga Din" for R.K.O - Radio Pictures.

(Notice: Year of birth given is incorrect and "Bob" spelt wrongly!)

My (No.1) Favorite Film of the 1940's...Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Arsenic and Old Lace, an adaptation of a play by the same name, became one of the most popular comedies of the Hollywood Golden Era

Cary Grant maintained for a long time that it was one of his worst performances...many disagree...including me!

Its hilarious with all the double takes and gags...

The plot is based around two sweet but crazy old ladies, Abby and Martha Brewster (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair). Out of kindness, they poison a number of lonely old men.

Mortimer (Cary Grant), their nephew, newly married to Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane) discovers what his aunts are doing and gets caught up in the chaos!

When his brother, Jonathan (Raymond Massey), turns up with his friend, Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre), the chaos shifts up a gear.

Somethings you might not know...

• The film was shot in Hollywood in late 1941 but didn’t premiere until Sept. 1, 1944, at New York’s old Strand Theatre. The delay resulted because Warner Bros. agreed to a demand by the play’s producers, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, that the film not open until their highly popular play completed its Broadway run.

• “Arsenic and Old Lace’’ was a reunion between Grant and character actress Jean Adair, who had nursed him back to health when he contracted rheumatic fever during a theatrical tour 20 years earlier.

• Grant wasn’t the first choice for the film, but Bob Hope wasn’t available because of a schedule conflict (Capra needed to shoot the film just before reporting for World War II military duty).

• Grant, who donated his entire $100,000 salary to wartime charities, insisted, “Jimmy Stewart would have been much better [than me] in the film.’’ Stewart later starred opposite Josephine Hull in “Harvey’’ — for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane on set.

Publicity shots.

"Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops!"