On This Day...The Grass is Greener (1960)

 On this date in 1960, The Grass is Greener, Cary Grant's 68th full length film, was released.

Synopsis:

Victor (Cary Grant) and Hillary (Deborah Kerr) are down on their luck to the point that they allow tourists to take guided tours of their castle. 

But Charles Delacro (Robert Mitchum), a millionaire oil tycoon, visits and takes a liking to more than the house. Soon, Hattie Durant (Jean Simmons) gets involved and they have a good old fashioned love triangle.

With Deborah Kerr.

"It's one of the year's most disappointing films." - James Powers, Hollywood Reporter.

With Jean Simmons, Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum.

"...In spite of all its glitter and glamorous cast, this film is awfully static and talky..."

 - Philip T. Hartung, The Commonweal.

Did You Know?

It was originally intended by director Stanley Donen that Cary Grant would play the part of "Delacro", the American tourist, whilst Rex Harrison and his real-life wife Kay Kendall were respectively cast as "Victor Rhyall" and "Hattie". But Kendall died soon after completing an earlier Stanley Donen film, "Once More With Feeling", and Rex Harrison dropped out of the film because of this. Cary Grant agreed to play Victor instead of Delacro, and both Rock Hudson and Charlton Heston were approached about playing the American character. Both refused, and Robert Mitchum was cast quite late in the proceedings, making no fuss at all about taking third-billing. Cary Grant often claimed this had "saved the film" and praised his performance highly.


Cary Grant's third collaboration with Deborah Kerr. They had previously worked together on Dream Wife (1953) and An Affair to Remember (1957).


The second and final film produced by Grandon Productions, a company started and owned by star Cary Grant and director Stanley Donen.

With Jean Simmons.

Cast:

 Cary Grant ... Victor Rhyall, Earl
 Deborah Kerr ... Lady Hilary Rhyall
 Robert Mitchum ... Charles Delacro
 Jean Simmons ... Hattie Durant
 Moray Watson ... Trevor Sellers, the Butler

Lobby Cards:

Directed by Stanley Donen

Distributed by Universal- International.

Running time: 104 minutes.

"Do Not Disturb!"  "Disturb Me!" "Disturb Me Please!" "Disturb!"

On This Day...Alice In Wonderland (1933)

 Cary Grant's 13th full length feature was Alice in Wonderland in 1933.

Synopsis:

On a boring winter afternoon, Alice (Charlotte Henry) dreams that she's visiting the land behind the mirror. This turns out to be a surrealistic nightmare, with all sorts of strange things happening to her, like changing her size or playing croquet with flamingos.

Cary Grant plays the Mock Turtle.

"Why mince matters? Alice in Wonderland is...one of the worst flops of the cinema.

...Mary Pickford, who once contemplated doing it, was right when she said that "Alice" should be made only in cartoons.

...It's a cinch that all the grown-ups will get is the mild fun of trying to identify the Big Names behind turtle shells and teddy bear skins." - Bob Wagner, Script

With William Austin and Charlotte Henry...or is he? Apparently he only provided the voice!

Did You Know?

Virtually the entire star stable was thrown into this movie because Paramount was trying to keep from going bankrupt and thought that such a star-laden movie could save the studio from failing. It didn't work since most of the stars couldn't be recognized because of their costumes. Instead, two Mae West movies, She Done Him Wrong (1933) and I'm No Angel (1933), saved the studio from bankruptcy instead (both with Cary Grant).

The running time, 76 minutes, is the length of the time Alice is through the looking glass: the clock on the mantelpiece starts at 3:40 and she returns at 5:00.

Although much of the technical crew of the film is left completely uncredited (standard practice at the time), the opening credits sequence is one of the longest up to that time, lasting almost a full three-and-a-half minutes. Its length is due to the fact that practically every character was played by a major star or character actor of the time, and all are listed, one by one.

The Mock Turtle, who says he is what mock turtle soup is made from, is a cow in a turtle's shell. This was because mock turtle soup (for those who couldn't afford to have real turtle soup) was generally made from veal.

The film was one of several theatrical films based on literary classics which were released to US schools in the 1950s and '60s, for showing to children. The others included Heidi (1937) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939). They were all released to the schools in heavily cut versions that had a running time of no more than forty-five minutes.

"Hmmm!"

Cast:

 Richard Arlen ... Cheshire Cat
 Roscoe Ates ... Fish
 William Austin ... Gryphon
 Gary Cooper ... White Knight
 Leon Errol ... Uncle Gilbert
 Louise Fazenda ... White Queen
 W.C. Fields ... Humpty-Dumpty
 Alec B. Francis ... King of Hearts
 Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher ... Rabbit
 Cary Grant ... Mock Turtle
 Lillian Harmer ... Cook
 Raymond Hatton ... Mouse
 Charlotte Henry ... Alice
 Sterling Holloway ... Frog
 Edward Everett Horton ... Mad Hatter

Lobby Cards:

Directed by Norman McLeod.

Distributed by Paramount Publix.

Running time: 90 minutes (Varies)

Marvelous Art!

I have just received two pieces of bespoke artwork from the very talented graphic artist, Rebekah Hawley at Studio36.

North By Northwest (1959):

"I don't like the way Teddy Roosevelt is looking at me!"

This print is inspired by one of my favorite Cary Grant films, North By Northwest: the scene where Roger Thornhill and the Professor wait for the arrival of Vandamm and Eve Kendall.

The four presidents faces have been replaced by four images of Cary Grant that represent him from the 1930's, 40's, 50's and 60's.

On the viewfinder is an image of a new MyLifeInAYearWithArchie logo. (See below)

And the role of the Professor is actually...Me!

It's a marvelous piece of graphic art that brings together the theme of MyLifeInAYearWithArchie .

MyLifeInAYearWithArchie Logo.

One thing I have wanted for sometime is a logo for MyLifeInAYearWithArchie blog.

And now I have one!! A classic, unmistakable outline of Cary Grant, in black and white, incorporating my blog's title.

Super pleased with the graphics!!

Rebekah can be contacted at Studio36 via email: mail.studio36@gmail.com

On This Day...Kiss Them For Me (1957)

 Cary Grant's 63rd film was Kiss Them For Me, and released today in 1957.

Synopsis:

Three decorated Navy pilots finagle a four day leave in San Francisco. They procure a posh suite at the hotel and Commander Crewson (Cary Grant), a master of procurement, arranges to populate it with party people. 

With Ray Walston and Jayne Mansfield.

Lieutenant Wallace (Werner Klemperer) is trying to get the pilots to make speeches to rally the homefront at shipyard magnate Eddie Turnbill's (Leif Erikson) plants, but they're tired of the war and just want to have fun. While Crewson begins falling in love with Turnbill's fiancée Gwinneth Livingston (Suzy Parker), he tries to ignore the distant call of war.

With Suzy Parker.

"Grant, even though a bit old as a dashing pilot, is wonderful, be he romantic, comic, bitter or sad."

- Motion Picture Herald.

With Jayne Mansfield.

Did You Know?

Cary Grant specifically asked that Stanley Donen be hired on to direct the film. Grant had never met or spoken to Donen prior to their collaboration on this film, but he had been extremely impressed by Donen's work on films such as Royal Wedding (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). Grant expressed that Donen's light and comedic touch on those films fit the tone of the screenplay for Kiss Them for Me (1957).

Suzy Parker's feature film acting debut.The speaking voice of Suzy Parker is partially dubbed by Deborah Kerr.

This marks the first of four film collaborations between actor Cary Grant and director Stanley Donen. The subsequent films were Indiscreet (1958), The Grass Is Greener (1960), and Charade (1963).

Cary Grant expressed concerns that, at age 53, he was too old to convincingly play a U. S. Navy flier. Producer Jerry Wald encouraged Grant to take the part because his charisma and popularity with the American public far outweighed concerns about his age.

Cast:

Cary Grant ... Cmdr. Andy Crewson
Jayne Mansfield ... Alice Kratzner
Leif Erickson ... Eddie Turnbill
Suzy Parker ... Gwinneth Livingston
Ray Walston ... Lt. (j.g.) McCann
Larry Blyden ... Mississip
Nathaniel Frey ... CPO Ruddle
Werner Klemperer ... Lt. Walter Wallace
Jack Mullaney ... Ens. Albert Lewis

Lobby Cards:

International Posters:

"A Sacred Border" - French

"A Devilish Swing" - Dutch

Directed by Stanley Donen.

Distributed by 20th Century-Fox.

Running time: 103 minutes.

On This Day...Charade (1963)

 Charade was Cary Grant's 70th full length film and was released today back in 1963.

Synopsis:

Regina Lambert(Audey Hepburn) is the wife of a man named Charles Lambert. Upon her return to Paris from a ski holiday, in Megève, she finds her husband's been murdered, and their apartment stripped bare.

She is told by CIA agent Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau) that Charles Lambert was one of a group of men who stole a quarter of a million dollars in gold from the U.S. government during World War II, and the government wants it back.

The money was not found among his few possessions, and Regina can't shed any light on its whereabouts. She's soon visited by Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) whom she'd briefly met whilst in Megève. 

When her husband's former partners (in crime), who were double-crossed by Charles, begin to terrorise her for the money, Peter offers to help Regina find it. So begins an elaborate charade, in which nothing - and no one - is who, or what they seem to be.

With George Kennedy,

"Hepburn, an elegant apparition in her Givenchy gowns, gives her usual distinctive performance, but Grant, skillfully handling some of the best material he's worked on in a long time, comes up with one of the happiest high-comedy performances." - Richard Whitehall, Films and Filming

"More credit, then, to producer-director Stanley Donen who has brought to the screen an absolute delight in which Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn schottische about with evident glee." - Newsweek

Did You Know?

After finishing this film, Cary Grant was quoted as saying, "All I want for Christmas is to make another movie with Audrey Hepburn." Although it never happened, Grant was offered the role of Higgins in My Fair Lady (1964), and requested Hepburn as his co-star in Father Goose (1964).


According to Audrey Hepburn, the scene where Regina spilled ice cream on Alex's suit was based on a real-life accident where Hepburn spilled red wine on Cary Grant's suit at a dinner party.


This film is in the public domain, due to the failure to put the then-required copyright notice in the released print. The attempt at a copyright notice in the film failed to include the text "Copyright", "Copr.", or "©", as was needed by pre-1989 U.S. law; only the year and supposed copyright holder were listed.


Audrey Hepburn was several years older than actresses who had already played Cary Grant's love interest back in the 1950's, such as Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield, which makes the fact that this movie often gets cited as an example of age gap relationships all the more peculiar. Hepburn was already in her mid-30's here, and "only" 25 years younger than Grant.

When looking at the receipt of Charles' possessions, the date was May 4, 1963, which was Audrey Hepburn's thirty-fourth birthday.

Cast:

 Cary Grant ... Peter Joshua
 Audrey Hepburn ... Regina Lambert
 Walter Matthau ... Hamilton Bartholomew
 James Coburn ... Tex Panthollow
 George Kennedy ... Herman Scobie
 Dominique Minot ... Sylvie Gaudet
 Ned Glass ... Leopold W. Gideon
 Jacques Marin ... Insp. Edouard Grandpierre
 Paul Bonifas ... Mr. Felix
 Thomas Chelimsky ... Jean-Louis Gaudet

With Audrey Hepburn, James Coburn, Jacques Marin and Ned Glass.

On location.

Lobby Cards:

Alternative Posters:

Directed by Stanley Donen.

Distributed by Universal-International.

Running time: 113 minutes.