Smooth, Debonair, Charming.It is a shame that Cary Grant, one of the indelible faces of classic Hollywood, will forever be remembered as Roger Thornhill, Nickie Ferrante, Dudley the Angel and C.K. Dexter Haven. To many, he was the dashing man who was sometimes in trouble, sometimes in love, but always mannered and charming.
I contend that if you want to see Cary Grant at his best, at the height of his powers of personality and talent, you need look no further than his film output from 1937-1940. Certainly The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Bringing Up Baby (1938) are familiar territory, and rightfully so; they are terrific films. But these don't tell the entire story. The Philadelphia Story is the solidification of smooth, in control Grant. Bringing Up Baby shows off Grant the comedian, but in slapstick mode only. Grant's other films from '37-'40 reveal another kind of brilliance, particularly that of an extremely subtle, extremely human comedian.
My Favorite Wife (1940) seems to be the last time that Grant really played one of us. He did comedy again, many times, but never with a character who is, at base, uncertain, vulnerable and very human. With My Favorite Wife, Holiday (1938), The Awful Truth (1937), Grant's character is funny because he is reacting like people do. Later comedies like Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) present Grant in a character that is too much farce; that is, the character is funny because he is reacting like a silly Cary Grant. Even in a less everyman role like Walter Burns in His Girl Friday (1940) one can still see that Grant, like anyone else in that predicament, has something real at stake.
I think that his deftness at subtle humor was what allowed Cary Grant the star to fully materialize. He had mastered gesture, composure and manner quite brilliantly through playing comedy. Without these elements it is hard to imagine the full Cary Grant persona being as solidified as it was post-1940.
I'm not diminishing the rest of Grant's career. He remained versatile as hell a full 25 years after solidifying himself as the Cary Grant (in the role of C.K. Dexter Haven). He is still funny in That Touch of Mink (1962) and terrifying in Suspicion (1941) and sympathetic in North by Northwest (1959), but never as anyone but Cary Grant.
