“Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.”
There are many ways in which I’m an anachronism and perhaps a lynchpin to that particular house of cards is a life long fascination with Cary Grant: a matinee idol comprised of dark, suave sophistication and daffy, self-effacing humor. Grant was a role model, hero and aspirational figure. Rudderless in my teens, I took to Cary’s movies and my fascination was enveloped by his confidence and infinite ease.
Not so long ago, amid too many rote years in my 30s, I awoke to a barbarous world filling with crude behavior and boorish manners–not unlike the savagery that tugs at our nation presently. And so, I decided that the idea of ‘Cary Grant’ is what I liked most in my fellow man. And when better to be reminded of that then in the middle of the holidays? And thus, 12 Days of Cary Grant was born. A pilgrimage to reconnect with some of the greatest films ever made from one of Hollywood’s most charming leading men.
From December 1 through the 12th, I watch a different movie at 9pm, EST. Should you wish to play along, you can join me at #12dCG on Twitter. Cocktail in hand.
The roster of movies rotates from year to year. A few favorites play with greater frequency but they all find their way back in due course. But if you don’t see something you like, stick around and it’ll likely be up next year.
December 1 – The Awful Truth
December 2 – Charade
December 3 – Mr. Lucky
December 4 – The Grass is Greener
December 5 – His Girl Friday
December 6 – Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
December 7 – None But The Lonely Heart
December 8 – That Touch of Mink
December 9 – To Catch a Thief
December 10 – An Affair to Remember
December 11 – Bishop’s Wife
December 12 – North by Northwest
All movies start 9pm EST. See you at the movies, naturally. #12dCG
Among his less savory qualities, he's a poor sport, a sore loser and ill fitted for honest labor. He makes bad friends and worse decisions. Animals avoid him and children despise him. He's been known to drink to excess, carry on with seditious talk and leer at women. He's a coward, a card cheat and a known liar.
Mrs. Call's second grade class said perhaps all that needed to be said about Larsen.In a moment of vindication and possibly clarity, Call would add to Larsen's permanent record that he was a bit of a dreamer and that Larsen was "an excellent student but his grades trailed off in the final semester."True, Larsen was filled with promise and saddled as starry-eyed but one can't help but notice that Call's inability to chisel this raffish diamond-in-rough wasn't also a clerical trick to distance herself from the responsibility of the 'Nurture' debate.She also said he was "prompt".She wasn't wrong.
- Merry Cary 2023 – The Twelve Days of Cary Grant - December 1, 2023
- Happy Birthday Robert M. Larsen - April 8, 2023
- Drowner Cycle - January 28, 2023