Classic Film Photo of the Week: Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon with Their Daughter

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Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon with their three-month-old daughter Jennifer in 1966.

Scott Eyman Discusses His New Biography "Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise"

On October 20th, Simon & Schuster will publish Scott Eyman's new biography Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise. Eyman, a former literary critic for The Palm Beach Post, has written the bestsellers Pieces of My Heart and You Must Remember This (both with Robert Wagner) and John Wayne: The Life and Legend. He has also written biographies about about Hollywood greats such as Cecil B. DeMille, Louis B. Mayer, John Ford, Ernst Lubitsch and Henry Fonda and James Stewart. We had the opportunity to ask him some questions about his new book on the life of screen legend Cary Grant.

Café:  There have been numerous Cary Grant biographies, including ones by his daughter Jennifer Grant and ex-wife Dyan Cannon. What inspired you to write Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise?

Scott Eyman:  Reading his diary. He kept it for about five months in 1918, when he was 14 years old. There is no mention of his mother, one or two passing references to his father. Most of the time he’s cutting school to go to the movies or the music hall. Especially the music hall. What struck me was how self-contained he was, and how indifferent he was to any family or society expectations. He was a street kid. Later that year, he made his break by getting kicked out of school and apprenticing with a troupe of acrobats. It was going to be a performer’s life for Archie.   

Café:  You include a great quote from the actor: “I have spent the greater part of my life fluctuating between Archie Leach and Cary Grant, unsure of each, suspecting each.” Why do you think Archie Leach felt the need to “create” the Cary Grant persona that he displayed in public and in movies?

SE:  Archie was born working class and felt he had to fit into the niche of currently popular actors of the time, who ran to elegance – Noel Coward, Leslie Howard, etc. Given his looks, it was a perfectly rational decision. Also, it was a way of building a barrier between himself and his beginnings. That said, he often made a point of talking about Bristol, and occasionally worked “Archie Leach” into scripts as an in-joke. He wanted people to realize that he was in on the joke, and I think it was also his way of signaling he wasn’t a phony or hypocrite.

Café:   Do you believe that, in his later years, he became more comfortable reconciling his private and public lives? If so, what drove this change?

SE:  Very much so. It was a combination of LSD and quitting show business. LSD worked for him in a way that therapy hadn’t, enabled him to reconcile with himself. When he retired at the age of 62, he no longer had to worry about being exposed as an imposter, which I think was an ongoing cause of anxiety.

Café:  You state that Cary Grant was conservative in choosing roles, turning down challenging ones in films such as Tender Is the Night (1962) and The Cincinnati Kid (1965). What do you think would have been the impact on his career had he accepted riskier roles?

Cary Grant in None But the Lonely Heart.

SE:  He would be regarded less as a screen archetype and consum-mate comedian, more as a consummate actor. But he was psychologically conservative. Once he established a persona and discovered how the public liked to see him, he rarely (None But the Lonely Heart, Father Goose, etc.) deviated from it. That said, I don’t know that he regretted turning down the likes of A Star is Born or The Third Man. I’m inclined to doubt it. He had his reasons, and they had to do with his psychological needs.

Café:  It was interesting to learn that Grant was also involved behind the scenes in making films, suggesting a remake of the British film Mandy, sending scripts to director Leo McCarey, etc. Had his career started later, could you envision him as a star/filmmaker along the lines of Clint Eastwood or Warren Beatty?

SE:  His timing was wrong for that. There were no equivalents of those careers in that era because the system wasn’t set up to service actors who wanted control of their careers. It was a classic tradeoff: we give you all this money and in return you do what we want you to do. The system began to change in the 1950s, with people like Burt Lancaster taking almost complete control of what they did. And Grant moved into production late in that decade, but that was about keeping more money, not creative experimentation. 

Café:  What do you consider Cary Grant’s best film performances and why?

SE:  Notorious and None But the Lonely Heart, because he dares to expose his anger and general prickliness. I love To Catch a Thief as a star turn. Among the comedies, Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday. And despite the fact that he hated his performance, I love two-thirds of Arsenic and Old Lace if only for his energy and technique, at least until I get exhausted during the last half-hour. 

Café:  You’ve written biographies of John Wayne, James Stewart and Henry Fonda, Louis B. Mayer, Cecil DeMille, and other great actors and filmmakers. Who intrigues you as a future subject for a biography?

SE:  No comment. Lots of writers like to talk about what they’re writing, but I’m not one of them. I find it reduces my energy about a project, the build-up of internal compression I need to write a book. Suffice it to say that the next one will be about one of the major artists of the 20th century.

Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise (576 pages) is available for booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Five Biggest Stars of the 1940s

After previously listing our picks for the Five Biggest Stars of the 1950s and the Five Biggest Stars of the 1960s, we turn our attention to the 1940s. The major Hollywood studios were still at their peak, though Olivia de Havilland's 1944 legal victory against Warner Bros. planted the seeds of change. World War II made a major impact, too, as some of cinema's biggest stars joined the Armed Forces.  As with our other Biggest Stars posts, our criteria focused on boxoffice power, critical acclaim, and enduring popularity.

1. Humphrey Bogart - High Sierra cemented Bogart's stardom in 1941 and he followed it with one of the most successful decades of any actor. His filmography for the 1940s includes: The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1949). Note that this list includes Bogie's two most iconic roles, as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and Rick Blaine in Casablanca.

2. Olivia de Havilland - Ms. de Havilland started the decade with her final two pairings with Errol Flynn (Santa Fe Trail and They Died With Their Boots) and ended it with Best Actress Oscars in 1947 (To Each His Own) and 1949 (The Heiress--likely her most popular role among classic film fans). In between, she earned critical acclaim for films like Devotion (1946) and The Snake Pit (1948).

3. Cary Grant - Cary was an established star at the start of the decade and maintained that status with a string of popular films: The Philadelphia Story (1940), My Favorite Wife (1940), Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), and The Bishop's Wife (1947). His career would continue to thrive in the 1950s as well.

4. John Wayne - The Duke's most significant contribution to the decade may have been his Cavalry Trilogy with director John Ford: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, and Rio Grande. But he also scored other critical successes (Red River) and boxoffice hits (Sands of Iwo Jima). It's interesting to note that neither Wayne nor Grant served in the Armed Forces during World War II. (Bogart had a stint in the Navy at the end of World War I.)

5. Bette Davis - Although she was perhaps a bigger star during the previous decade, Bette Davis still forged a glittering career in the 1940s with films such as The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), Now, Voyager (1942), and The Corn Is Green (1945).

Honorable Mentions:  Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, and Bob Hope.

The Five Biggest Stars of the 1950s

A while back, we had a lot of fun listing our picks for the Five Biggest Stars of the 1960s. Today, we're turning our attention to the 1950s--quite possibly our favorite decade for classic movies. As before, our very subjective criteria take into account boxoffice power, critical acclaim, and enduring popularity. We expect some dissenting opinions...so bring them on!

James Stewart in The Far Country.

1. James Stewart - Thanks to Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann, no actor enjoyed a better decade. In Rear Window and Vertigo, Stewart portrayed complex "heroes" struggling with, respectively, commitment issues and an unhealthy obsession. His hard-edged protagonists in Mann's "adult Westerns" helped redefine the genre. He also starred in a number of hugely popular hits, such as Harvey and The Greatest Show on Earth.

2. Cary Grant - While his career probably peaked in the previous decade, Grant was still going strong in the 1950s. He also benefitted from Hitchcock's magic touch, appearing in To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest. He teamed up with Deborah Kerr in the romantic classic An Affair to Remember. And he started the decade with one of his most underrated and interesting films, People Will Talk.

Deborah in From Here to Eternity.

3. Deborah Kerr - She began the 1950s playing traditional heroines in big hits such as King Solomon's Mines, Quo Vadis, and The Prisoner of Zenda. She then switched things up as a passionate, adulterous wife in From Here to Eternity. She also charmed a generation in The King and I and caught Cary Grant's eye in the aforementioned An Affair to Remember.

4. Marilyn Monroe - She started the decade with a small part in All About Eve and ended it as a major star and iconic sex symbol. Along the way, she starred as a murder-minded spouse in Niagara, appeared in musicals like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, earned critical praise for Bus Stop, and capped it all off with Billy Wilder's quintessential comedy Some Like It Hot.

Burt in Sweet Smell of Success.

5. Burt Lancaster - Admittedly, I struggled with this last slot, because there are a lot of excellent choices. I opted for Lancaster because of the variety and quality of his work. He appeared in lively swashbucklers (The Flame and the Arrow, the irrepressible Crimson Pirate). But he also turned electrified in dramas such as From Here to Eternity, The Sweet Smell of Success, and Gunfight at the OK Corral.  Two of his lesser films are personal favorites due to the Lancaster charm: The Kentuckian and The Rainmaker.

Honorable mentions:  John Wayne, Grace Kelly, Glenn Ford, Gary Cooper, Elizabeth Taylor, and Audrey Hepburn. Hey, the 1950s was a pretty impressive decade for Hollywood!

Love It or Shove It: Classic Movie Edition

In this new occasional feature, we'll make a statement about classic cinema and then ask our panel of movie experts to "love it" (they agree) or "shove it" (they disagree). It should be a fun way to get some different perspectives. This month, our expert panel is comprised of: Connie Metzinger from Silver Scenes, John Greco from Twenty Four Frames, and Cafe staff member Toto.

So, let's get started!

Is Nicholson's film a classic?

1.  The best films of the 1970s--such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Godfather Part II--are classic films in every sense of the term.

Connie:  Shove it. I appreciate 1970s films as much as 1940s films, but no matter how stellar the picture may be, it's not a classic in my book.

Toto:  Love it. An important element of classic films is that they hold up over time as evidenced by the powerful performances of Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Classic films also impact us socially. Though personally not a fan of The Godfather saga, it continues to influence culture as evidenced by The Sopranos and parodies on MADtv.

John:  Love it. For me, the classic film did not end with the demise of the studio system.  It continued with many of the 1970s filmmakers, who grew up during the studio heydays and fell in love with Hollywood. Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather films are brilliant cinema. They embody the visual technique of old Hollywood with a modern touch. Coppola and his films are just one example. Others include Brian DePalma, who mixed Hitchcock suspense with modern day visual cinematic techniques (Sisters, Carrie). Martin Scorsese's love of classic Hollywood is well known, and it comes through in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and New York, New York. Woody Allen's comedies of the 70s are revisionist takes of Hollywood’s classic romantic and slapstick comedies. Finally, Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show, Nickelodeon and What’s Up Doc? all pay tribute to Hollywood’s golden years. The filmmakers of the 70s embraced the old Hollywood as much as they rebelled and changed it.

2.  Alfred Hitchcock's best decade was the 1950s, which included Rear Window, Vertigo, and North By Northwest.

Connie:  Love it. It took the master of suspense twenty years to perfect his craft and he reached his directorial prime in the 1950s.

Toto:  Love it. I like every Hitchcock film from the 1950s and that isn't a statement I can say for all directors.

John:  Love it. Alfred Hitchcock made brilliant films in every decade, but few filmmakers, if any, had a run of four masterpieces in a ten year period with Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Vertigo and North by Northwest. Any other filmmaker would find this hard to beat.  In addition, during that same decade of the 1950s, Hitch made lesser, but still fascinating, films like Stage Fright, Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much and two underrated gems The Trouble with Harry and I Confess. Even Hitchcock’s own 1930s period which is filled with some brilliant work does not match his 1950s output.

Cary Grant at age 62.

3.  Cary Grant retired too soon. He was 62 when he made his last film, Walk Don't Run, in 1966.

Connie:  Shove it. Cary Grant didn't have outstanding acting abilities and if he were to have continued to perform into his 70s and 80s he would have had to rely solely on his talent and not his debonair charm or good looks. Besides, it would have been too sad to see him end his career in a cheap horror film as so many actors did.

Toto:  Shove it. I love Cary Grant! He entertained people all of his life. Retirement at 62, when he became a father for the first time, was well deserved.

John:  Hate it. Retirement was a personal choice on Cary Grant’s part, so it’s hard to argue. He didn't like the limelight. After retirement, he kept himself busy with family and various business dealings (he was on a couple of corporate boards.) As a fan, I don't like it that Grant left the screen so early; that's where the "hate it'" comes from. I felt we were cheated. However, I can understand it on a personal level that he wanted out. He was still a big star, and he left it all behind. That in itself takes some guts.

Sisters Olivia and Joan.

4. Based on the body of her work, Olivia de Havilland was a better actress than her sister Joan Fontaine.

Connie:  Love it. Joan Fontaine was an extremely talented actress, but unlike her sister she didn't have the skill in selecting noteworthy parts that showcased her talent, and that's an important part of being an actress. Joan would often follow a marvelous performance in a great movie by a mediocre role in a mediocre comedy.

Toto:  Love it. From Captain Blood through They Died With Their Boots On, I really enjoyed the eight pairings of Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn. She was enchanting in Gone With the Wind and left us guessing in My Cousin Rachel.

John:  Love it. At first, I was jumping back and forth on who I thought was better. However, while Joan Fontaine was excellent in both Suspicion and Rebecca, I am not sure she ever did anything as challenging as sister Olivia's work in The Snake Pit and The Heiress. During her career, Olivia de Havilland either went after more difficult roles than Fontaine or was fortunate enough have them handed to her by the studio. Either way, I ended up leaning toward the older sister.

Five Stars Blogathon: Cary Grant Tops My List of Favorite Stars

This is my contribution to the Five Stars Blogathon in support of National Classic Movie Day. I encourage you to check out all the posts to this wonderful blogathon. When my fellow contributor Rick asked me to write about my five favorite film stars, I came up with four of them quickly. It was a challenge, though, to determine who to place in that last slot!

1. Cary Grant - Debonair and dashingly handsome, I most admire Cary Grant for his versatility. He can play zany roles in comedies like Holiday, charming heroes in escapist fare such as To Catch a Thief, or serious roles like the bitter government agent in Notorious. My favorite Cary Grant movies: Bringing Up Baby, North By Northwest, and The Bishop's Wife.

2.  Deborah Kerr - This gracious, understated actress lights up the silver screen with her compelling presence. She can play a lonely woman whose passion erupts on a sandy beach (From Here to Eternity) or an elegant governess in which a dance is the only way to convey her feelings (The King and I). She can even convincingly play three women in the same film (the under-appreciated Life and Times of Colonel Blimp). My favorite Deborah Kerr films must include Black Narcissus and The Chalk Garden.

3.  David Niven - This classy performer has a unique gift: He makes any movie better when he's in it. Although he became a Hollywood star, it's surprising how many supporting roles he had throughout his career. He flew alongside Errol Flynn in The Dawn Patrol, eluded Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther, and was one of the hotel residents in Separate Tables. He was also an entertaining writer, as evidenced by his delightful books Bring On the Empty Horses and The Moon's a Balloon. Some of my favorite films with this multifaceted actor: A Matter of Life and Death (aka Stairway to Heaven), The Birds and the Bees, and The Guns of Navarone.

4.  Danny Kaye - I always thought this gifted actor/dancer/singer should have been a bigger star. He was an absolute master of comic timing, as evidenced by the hilarious "Chalice in the Palace" and "Get it? Got it. Good!" routines in The Court Jester. He was also incredibly graceful on the dance floor, as he wonderfully displayed with Vera-Ellen in the lovely White Christmas number "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing." These two also happen to be my favorite Danny Kaye movies.

5.  Katharine Hepburn - I am sure this strong-willed, intelligent actress will show up on many lists in this blogathon--and rightfully so. Like Cary Grant, she was equally at home in comedy and drama. She also managed to remain a star for an incredible five decades (six if you count a trio of made-for-TV movies and a small role in Love Affair). My favorite Katharine Hepburn films include Holiday, Desk Set, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

Honorable Mentions:  Charles Laughton, Alec Guinness, Alastair Sim, Vincent Price, and Gene Tierney.

The Cary Grant Occupation Quiz

Each occupation below was performed by Cary Grant in one of his movies. Your mission is to identify the movie! No references are allowed...you must use your own brain! As always, please don't answer more than three questions per day, so others can play, too.

1. A businessman in Japan.

2. Mill worker.

3. Plantation owner.

4. Angel.

5. Governmental agent (by occupation...not happenstance).

6. "Retired" jewel thief.

7. Brain surgeon.

8. Songwriter.

9. Artist.

10. Advertising executive (who's married).

11. Research chemist.

12. Airplane pilot.

13. Royal Navy captain.

14. Advertising executive (who's unmarried).

15. Paleontologist.

The Five Best Cary Grant Performances

One of the most beloved classic film actors, Cary Grant charmed audiences for four decades, co-starred with brilliant actresses like Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, and Deborah Kerr, and worked for directors Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, and George Cukor. Is it even possible to sift through his impressive filmography and select his five best performances? Well, yes, it is--because we have done so! As with all of our "Five Best" lists, we look forward to reading your dissenting opinions.

1. The Bishop's Wife.  While this film--required Christmas viewing in our house--has its share of magical moments (e.g., the angel Dudley’s visit with the professor, the ice skating scene, etc.), its greatest asset is Cary Grant’s performance. For once, despite his looks and charm, he doesn't get the girl! Furthermore, his angel Dudley becomes jealous and, in one scene, perhaps a little petty. In the hands of a less gifted actor, this portrayal of an often human-like angel could have posed a problem. But Grant provides all the required character shading and still keeps Dudley immensely likable. That was one of his greatest gifts as a performer.

2. Bringing Up Baby.  One of the highlights of this delirious screwball comedy is watching uptight paleontologist Dr. David Huxley (Grant) slip deeper and deeper into increasingly madcap situations--until he just accepts them. While Cary Grant has played his share of free-spirited characters (e.g., Holiday), he's content in Baby to play off Katharine Hepburn's wacky character. He proves to be the perfect yin to her yang. It's a shame they made only four movies together and just this one true farce.

3. Notorious.  If I listed my favorite Cary Grant movies, then North By Northwest would get this slot. However, this is a list of Cary's best performances and so Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious gets the nod. As espionage agent T.R. Devlin, Grant comes mighty close to playing an unlikable character. In the name of patriotism, he recruits a confused young woman (Ingrid Bergman), falls in love with her, convinces her to spy on a Nazi leader, and then allows her to marry the bad guy. In the end, Devlin does the right thing--but the only reason we "forgive" him is because Grant convinces us that his tainted hero is also a pawn in a global game against evil.

4. An Affair to Remember. Leo McCarey's remake of his earlier Love Affair (1939) is too often dismissed as a first-rate romance with soap opera overtones. In fact, it's an extremely well-acted character study of two people who unexpectedly find true love aboard a cruise ship. The clever screenplay, co-written by Delmer Daves, plays with stereotypes--especially Cary Grant as wealthy playboy Nickie Ferrante. Grant peels back his character's public persona gradually, revealing Nickie's warmth, sincerity, and insecurities. The film also provides Grant with one of his finest acting scenes--when Nickie concludes that Terry (Deborah Kerr) has rejected him by not appearing for their Empire State Building rendezvous.

5. North By Northwest. Cary Grant excelled at playing unflappable characters, with the finest example being this classic Hitchcock picture about an innocent man mistaken for a spy and later framed for murder. Thrust into an espionage plot, Grant's advertising executive never seems out of his depth--even when being pursued by a crop duster. When examined on its own, the plot stretches credibility, but that never crosses my mind when watching North By Northwest thanks to Hitchcock's direction and the strong cast--in particular, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and, of course, Cary Grant.

Honorable Mentions:  People Will Talk; Arsenic and Old Lace; His Girl Friday; Holiday; Gunga Din; Charade; and The Awful Truth.

"People Will Talk"...about Cary Grant

People Will Talk (1951) is rarely included in the discussions about Cary Grant's best films. That's puzzling given its pedigree and entertainment value. Perhaps, it's because Grant's career was in a minor lull in the early 1950s with films like Crisis (1950) and Room for One More (1952). It certainly doesn't help that People Will Talk is shown on television less frequently than other Cary Grant pictures. Whatever the reasons for its near anonymity, People Will Talk deserves its day in the spotlight.

Grant plays noble physician Dr. Noah Praetorius, who runs a clinic for women and teaches at a university. Praetorius' patient-first philosophy ("Patients are sick people--not inmates") earns him a reputation for being unconventional. It also makes him hugely popular among his patients and students as well as financially successful. That leads to some professional jealously, principally on the part of rival professor Rodney Elwell (Hume Cronyn). Of course, Praetorius doesn't hold Elwell in high regard either, describing him as the "only person I know who can say 'malignant' like other people say bingo."

Grant and Jeanne Crain.

While Elwell delves into his colleague's murky past to look for a flaw, Praetorius beomes involved in the case of an unmarried pregnant woman named Deborah Higgins (Jeanne Crain). Concerned with her emotional state, Praetorius first lies to her about her pregnancy. Later, he visits her at her uncle's home and proposes marriage. I did say he was an unconventional doctor, didn't I?

In the hands of a less gifted actor, Praetorius could have come off as an oddball. Cary Grant, though, imbues the physician with nobility, charm, and compassion. He also always seems in control, as if Praetorius  knows what is coming next  and is already prepared for it (at one point, Deborah even calls him a "pompous know-it-all"). At times, Grant's performance reminded me of Dudley the angel from the earlier The Bishop's Wife.

Finlay Currie as Shunderson.

The standout among the supporting cast is Finlay Currie as Shunderson, Praetorius' imposing and often-silent chauffeur and companion. Praetorius introduces Shunderson simply as his friend, not an employee. The mysterious Shunderson lurks in the background throughout the film, his personality revealed gradually as we see his admiration for Praetorius, his concern for Deborah, and his kindness toward an unhappy collie. Although Scottish actor Finlay Currie was 53 before he made his first film in 1931, he had a long screen career that extended into the late 1960s. He is best remembered as the convict Magwitch in David Lean's Great Expectations (1946), as Peter in Quo Vadis (1951), and, of course, as Shunderson.

Hume Cronym as Elwell.

People Will Talk was writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's immediate follow-up to All About Eve. Mankiewicz based his screenplay on a 1932 stage play by German playwright Curt Goetz. Interestingly, some critics view People Will Talk as an attack against the Communist "witch hunters" of the McCarthyism era. The timing certainly seems right and Elwell's obsession to dig up dirt on Praetorius could be described as a witch hunt. However, the subplot involving a jealous rival can be traced back to Goetz's original play. I think Mankiewicz's goal was to make a statement about the importance of compassion and human dignity in medicine. After all, in his opening prologue, he states: "This film is dedicated to one who has inspired man's unending battle against Death, and without whom that battle is never won....the patient."

Prior to starting the film, Mankiewicz encountered difficulties with the Production Code, which refused to approve the script because of its frank discussion about abortion and unwed pregnancy (as well as an incident in Shunderson's past). Mankiewicz eventually gained approval in 1951 after minor rewrites (e.g., Praetorius and Deborah discuss abortion, but the word "abortion" is never used).

If you have never seen People Will Talk, I strongly recommend seeking it out. It's an interesting, entertaining drama that deserves serious consideration when discussing its star's best movies.

What is Your Favorite Classic Film? Who Are Your Favorite Stars? The 2011 Classic Film Survey Has Answers

Last month, the Cafe surveyed over 125 classic film lovers as part of its first annual Classic Film Survey. The survey's final question proved to be the most difficult for many survey participants: "What is your favorite: film, actress, actor and director?"

Several people stated it was too difficult to pick just one of each category. Others noted: "If you asked me the same question tomorrow, my answers would be different." Still, most of the surveyed film fans listed their favorites and here are the results.

What is your favorite film?

This was the most diverse of the four "favorite" categories, with the results being spread among 61 motion pictures. They ranged from silent films (Sherlock Jr.) to movies from the early 1980s (e.g., Raging Bull). Surprisingly, there were a number of foreign-language films, such as Seven Samurai, Cinema Paradiso, Babette's Feast, and Yojimbo. However, the top vote-getter was no surprise at all, with Casablanca earning the honors. Here are the top six films:

Casablanca (10.8%)
Gone With the Wind (6.5%)
North by Northwest (4.3%)
Philadelphia Story (4.3%)
Citizen Kane (3.2%)
Vertigo (3.2%)

Other films with more than one vote: All About Eve, The Life and Times of Colonel Blimp, It's a Wonderful Life, My Man Godfrey, Notorious, Random Harvest, and The Thin Man.

Who is your favorite actress?

It was a two-person race in this category and, in the end, Bette Davis emerged as the top vote-getter with 14.3% of the total. The only actress to come near that percentage was Katharine Hepburn with 10.9%. What's interesting about Bette's popularity is that only one of her films--All About Eve--garnered any support as favorite film. The implication is that, in some cases, star appeal transcends the films featuring the star.

Thirty-five actresses received at least one vote. There were silent film actresses (Lillian Gish), foreign-language stars (Jeanne Moreau, Claudia Cardinale), and recent screen favorites (Naomi Watts). Here are the top six actresses:

Bette Davis (14.3%)
Katharine Hepburn (10.9%)
Barbara Stanwyck (6.5%)
Audrey Hepburn (6.5%)
Jean Arthur (5.5%)
Myrna Loy (5.5%)

Other actresses with more than one vote: Ingrid Bergman, Deborah Kerr, Vivian Leigh, Carole Lombard, Ginger Rogers, and Natalie Wood.

Who is your favorite actor?

The resounding answer is Cary Grant. Mr. Grant dominated in the actor category, crushing his competitors with 31% of the total votes. What's impressive about his "victory" is that the question was an open-ended one. Thus, with no choices on a form to select from, 31% of the survey participants typed in Cary Grant as their favorite actor.

James Stewart was a distant No. 2 with 12% of the votes. Still, he was a clear second choice, outdistancing the rest of the pack by at least 8%. Furthermore, Stewart's 12% was almost enough to win any other category.

With Grant and Stewart collecting so many votes, it's somewhat surprising that the remaining votes were spread among 47 actors. Several current performers made the list, to include George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Alan Rickman. A single vote prevented many Hollywood favorites, such as John Wayne and Ronald Colman, from being shut out totally. Here are the top five actors:

Cary Grant (31%)
James Stewart (12%)
Humphrey Bogart (4%)
Errol Flynn (3%)
James Cagney (3%)

Other actors with more than one vote: Leslie Howard, Robert Mitchum, Paul Newman, and Anton Walbrook.

Who is your favorite director?

The expected winner--Alfred Hitchcock--was the top choice with 28% of the votes. His total more than doubled that of second-place finisher Billy Wilder. Still, it wasn't the landslide that I expected. Once again, classic film fans proved to possess a wide range of tastes. This category, in particular, reflected a fondness for foreign-language cinema with votes being cast for Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Jacques Tati, Erich Von Stroheim, Rene Clair, Federico Fellini, Jean Cocteau, Pedro Almodovar, and even John Woo. The top six directors were:

Alfred Hitchcock (28.4%)
Billy Wilder (13.7%)
Frank Capra (7.4%)
John Ford (4.2%)
Howard Hawks (4.2%)
George Stevens (4.2%)

Other directors with more than one vote: Ingmar Bergman, Charles Chaplin, George Cukor, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Otto Preminger, Preston Sturges, Orson Welles, and William Wyler.

A Special Thanks

I want to personally thank everyone who voted in the 2011 Classic Film Survey. It's been a lot of fun to analyze and share the results. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from the Cafe's fans on Twitter. In fact, we're already thinking up questions for the 2012 survey, which we'll launch next November!

Dial H for Hitchcock: North by Northwest at the Rafael...free to the public

When I was a little girl, the only director whose name I was familiar with was Alfred Hitchcock. Though I didn't see any of his signature films of the era in a theater - Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) - I must've seen the trailers, because I was well aware that he made exciting, colorful and glamorous movies.

Psycho (1960) was the first Hitchcock film I saw on the big screen, and it was a far cry from his elaborate VistaVision/Technicolor creations of the mid- to late 1950s. I saw Psycho second-run (I was finally old enough) at the local movie house, the Ritz Theater, with a friend who'd already seen it. Pal that she was, she nudged me just as Arbogast reached the staircase landing and a figure with a knife darted toward him...so, naturally, I shrieked long and loud ...

I was fortunate to be able to see Rear Window when it was re-released into theaters in 1984, but have seen most of Hitchcock's films on television. There's no question that his films come through powerfully on TV, but they were made to be seen on a theater screen.

This past July the Rafael Theater screened the silent version of Blackmail (1929). It was an incredible experience; the film exceeded my expectations in just about every way possible. I was surprised that it was so well-crafted and fluid and that it contained so many components that later became Hitchcock trademarks. Accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra underscored the action and added dimension. And it was thrilling to be surrounded by an appreciative SRO audience.

Six weeks later, at noon on Sunday, September 5, the Rafael presented North by Northwest free to the public as part of its quarterly "Everybody's Classics" series. At 11:40 a.m. the line was long, but good seats were still to be had. By show time Theater 1 was packed and anticipation ran high.

Then Bernard Herrmann's pulsing score began and Saul Bass's title sequence of crisscrossing lines filled the screen. North by Northwest was upon us and in just a few exhilarating moments I was whisked into the adventure.

Possibly Hitchcock's quintessential thrill-ride, North by Northwest incorporates many familiar themes and plot elements - an innocent man accused, a romance complicated by mistrust and betrayal, a double chase - the police after the innocent man and the innocent man after the true villain(s), a backdrop of international espionage...

North by Northwest has been linked to two of Hitchcock's earlier classics, The 39 Steps (1935) and Notorious (1946), but by 1959 the director, at the height of his powers, was in a position to control just about every aspect of his films, much more so than he had been 10 and 20+ years earlier.

He was able to get his favorite actor/star, Cary Grant, for the lead. And though he was unsuccessful in enticing Princess Grace back to the screen as his leading lady, he transformed Academy Award-winning method actress Eva Marie Saint into a stunning and complex femme fatale. James Mason, Martin Landau, Leo G. Carroll and Jessie Royce Landis rounded out his first-rate cast.

Bernard Herrmann, who by now had worked with Hitchcock on several films, was just completing the score for the pilot of "The Twilight Zone" when he began work on North by Northwest. Ernest Lehman wrote a sophisticated and witty script for which he earned an Oscar nomination. Oscar winning cinematographer Robert Burks, production designer Robert F. Boyle (also Oscar-nominated for this film) and others with whom Hitchcock had worked over the years joined the collaboration.

All of these ingredients plus glorious VistaVision and Technicolor added up to create one of Hitchcock's most successful films.

I've seen North by Northwest countless times. I felt like I knew the film well, but to finally see it on a movie screen was to see it with new eyes.

Cary Grant's starpower was almost overpowering - his screen persona was that commanding. What grace, what aplomb! It's not surprising that Bernard Herrmann adjusted his score to match what he described as Grant's "Astaire-like agility."

As for special effects, the crop-dusting set piece with its truck-explosion finale and the moonlit chase across the face of Mount Rushmore have long been legendary. Via the big screen I could almost feel the heat of the explosion and smell the night air of South Dakota. As I watched, I was reminded of how the crop-dusting sequence was echoed in early James Bond films...and of Steven Spielberg's homage in Close Encounters (1977) when he nearly replicated the set design of Hitchcock's night-time Black Hills.

Of course, the suspense seemed magnified, but I also noticed the film's humor seemed more overt and the seduction scenes between Grant and Saint more intimate and...erotic. The film was so precisely paced, with suspense building, then relieved with either humor or romance, then building again...

Afterward, I couldn't help wishing I'd been able to see North by Northwest back in 1959 at the Ritz. The young girl I was then would've thought she'd been on the greatest rollercoaster ride of her life!

Alfred Hitchcock has been widely acknowledged for his amazing ability to, with the artful use of various techniques, easily maneuver an audience's emotions and point of view. It's hard to maintain much distance from Hitchcock's best films. This could be why I often enjoy experiencing his films a bit more than I enjoy understanding them.

As with all Hitchcock films, North by Northwest has a a thing or two going on beneath its glossy surface. But on that Labor Day weekend in San Rafael inside a darkened theater full of laughing, sighing, cheering people, I was a kid again for a while. Happily immersed in a suspenseful, clever, sexy adventure, I didn't even notice that, from the first note of Herrmann's score to the final shot of a darkened railroad tunnel, we were all being swept along as if aboard a sleek 20th Century Limited under the command of a brilliant and crafty locomotive engineer.

Dial H for Hitchcock: Hitch and Cary

By 1941 Alfred Hitchcock had achieved startling success in the U.S. with his first two American films, Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent. Both were box office hits and both were nominated for Best Picture/1940, with Rebecca taking the award.

In 1941, Cary Grant was a relatively newly minted top star. He had broken through in 1937 with The Awful Truth, but had much more recently starred in George Cukor's sensational The Philadelphia Story as well as the George Stevens hit Penny Serenade, a film that brought him his first Best Actor nomination.

The director and actor came together for the first time that year on Suspicion. It was the first film that Hitchcock produced as well as directed and, though flawed, it has some brilliant touches. One neat trick was the casting of Cary Grant in an ambiguous role, one of the first in which he portrayed a character with shadowy, menacing facets. The plot concerns a charming rogue who marries a plain-jane heiress. Throughout the film the storyline strongly insinuates that this dapper man is much worse than unreliable and, by the end, may be plotting to kill his wife.

In a 1963 interview, Hitchcock complained to Peter Bogdanovich about Suspicion, blaming the studio for making him change the ending, "...you see, Cary Grant couldn't be a murderer." Years later New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell observed that the ending destroyed the film "...by negating what has come up until that point." Regardless, the film was a success, garnering Oscar nominations and a Best Actress award for Joan Fontaine.

Five years and World War II came and went before the two men worked together again. In the intervening years Grant had made half a dozen pictures and gotten another Best Actor nod. During that period Hitchcock had also made a half-dozen films and earned two Best Director nominations.

Their second film was Notorious (1946), one of the most acclaimed of Hitchcock's films and one of Cary Grant's most complex performances. A true masterpiece, Notorious is another perfect showcase of the director's technical genius, includes a textbook example of the "MacGuffin" plot device and contains some of the best performances in any of his films; Grant and his co-stars Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern and Leopoldine Konstantin all stand out. Critic James Agee shrewdly perceived the "cultivated, clipped puzzled-idealist brutality" in Grant's characterization of agent Devlin. Notorious was a huge box office success, Rains earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and Ben Hecht's screenplay was also nominated.

Nearly a decade would pass until Hitchcock and Grant collaborated again. The year was 1955, and Grant had been moving away from the sort of roles that were his trademark. Among the parts he'd been playing were the harried suburban husband in Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House (1948) and the quirky middle-aged chemist in Monkey Business (1952). Hitchcock's career had suffered a decline following Notorious but he rebounded forcefully with Strangers on a Train (1951) and most recently enjoyed the enormous box-office success of Rear Window (1954).

With Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955), Cary Grant returned to type as 'John Robie the Cat' and remained there for most of the rest of his career.

Alfred Hitchcock often referred to To Catch a Thief as "champagne," and it was a bubbly, stimulating confection. The Riviera and Grace Kelly were never more beautiful than in this VistaVision/Technicolor fantasy, and Hitchcock's fine, frothy tale of suspense, romance and double-entendres became a smash hit that was nominated for three Oscars, with Robert Burks taking one home for Best Cinematography.

The final pairing of Hitchcock and Grant was North by Northwest (1959), a spectacular ultimate-Hitchcock thrill-ride leavened with clever comic moments and a tricky romance. Grant stars as a very sophisticated innocent man on the run. It is the most popular of the films Hitchcock and Grant made together and was the one, Grant said, that fans mentioned to him more than any other. Besides being a blockbuster, North by Northwest was Oscar-nominated for film editing, art direction and Ernest Lehman's screenplay.

Hitchcock was approaching the twilight of his career at this point, though he still had one of his very best films, Psycho (1960), ahead of him. Grant was also winding down but his biggest box office hit, Operation Petticoat (1959), would be his next project, and the "most popular Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made," Stanley Donen's Charade (1963), was yet to come. Grant would retire in 1966 and, though Hitchcock reportedly wanted him for Torn Curtain (1965), the actor made Walk Don't Run (1966), his final film, instead.

By the time they worked on their last collaboration Cary Grant, not an especially trusting man, completely trusted Alfred Hitchcock and would follow whatever advice the director gave him because, as Grant put it, "he was always right."

For Hitchcock's part he, who was not so very fond of actors, would look back and call Cary Grant "...the only actor I ever loved..."

Though neither of these two film giants ever won a competitive Academy Award, Hitchcock was honored with the Irving Thalberg Award in 1968 and Grant received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1970.

12 Days of Christmas: The Bishop's Wife

Snow fights and skating and shopping with Dudley

Lunch at Michel’s and a choir quite Godly

Divinely decorated Christmas tree

Done in one minute with angelic glee!

When the harp sounds

When the chair sticks

Think you’re feeling sad?

Then just think of Cary Grant smiling at thee

And then you will feel real glad!

(sung to the music of “My Favorite Things”)

I love this film! It is an endearing reminder to live giving thanks for the many blessings we have been given and a perfect movie to visit and revisit during the Christmas season.

David Niven portrays Bishop Henry Brougham, a man who thinks he must build a new cathedral, regardless of any cost. He needs help and an angel is sent to him named Dudley, a role tailor-made for Cary Grant. Everyone who meets Dudley is enchanted by him, except Henry. The Bishop’s wife, Julia, charmingly played by Loretta Young, is delighted that Henry will have an assistant because he spends too much time away from his family.

The supporting cast helps provide some of the movie’s most delightful moments. Monty Woolley plays Professor Wutheridge, a man lacking faith in himself as well as God. James Gleason is Sylvester, a cab driver who spends a wonderful, reaffirming day with Dudley and Julia that includes ice skating. Gladys Cooper plays the widow, Mrs. Hamilton, who mourns alone in her elegant mansion after a lost beau she once turned away for a wealthy husband. Elsa Lanchester shines as Matilda, the housekeeper in the Brougham household. And the Mitchell Boy Choir provides lovely vocals when they heed Dudley heralding them in after they have neglected to show up on time for practice.

This lovely picture from 1947 was unfortunately remade as The Preacher’s Wife almost 40 years later, lacking any semblance of the warmth of the original and once again making us question why anyone should tamper with a classic.

(If you're a Loretta Young fan, click on her name in the Labels to read Toto2's review of Come to the Stable and Sazball's tribute to The Loretta Young Show.)

This Week's Poll: With which Cary Grant character would you most like to share an afternoon?

Here are the nominees:

Dudley, the angel from The Bishop's Wife - Dudley is very helpful to human beings he likes. You might want to invite him to help decorate your Christmas tree because he works very quickly and gets House Beautiful results. Likes to eat at Michel's and knows how to nip gossipers in the bud. Kind to cab drivers. Good ice skater. Rare coin collector. Motivational for your church choir. Wants good, platonic relationships only. Helps people realize what truly is most important in life.

Mortimer Brewster, from Arsenic and Old Lace - Mortimer is very loving towards his elderly aunts. Knows how to clean up after questionable circumstances. Has colorful family members including bugle blowing Teddy and murderer Jonathon. Newly married.

John Robie, from To Catch a Thief - John is very agile, even though retired from a very lucrative profession. Helps police solve crimes. Likes to go on picnics with lovely blondes. Is being imitated by a copy cat burglar.

Johnny Case, from Holiday - Johnny loves to have fun. Has very nice friends who love to have fun, too. Acrobatic. Willing to consider putting the needs of his love over his own. Able to walk away from an uncomfortable situation with dignity.

Dr. David Huxley, from Bringing Up Baby - David seems to be very bookish but knows how to let his hair down, with assistance. Fond of big cat hunting. Knows how to protect a woman during very embarrassing moments, like when your dress has ripped open and is thoroughly exposing your undergarments.