Friday, July 8, 2011

Cary Was SO Very...

Smooth, suave, sophisticated, and absolutely gorgeous!
(Classic and timeless, too.)

Is anybody else out there a Cary Grant fan? I am, and this is a picture of him next to his daughter, Jennifer, who has written a memoir about him entitled Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant. Apparently, he retired at age 62 and spent the last 20 years of his life helping to raise his daughter, though his marriage to her mother (Dyan Cannon) ended in 1969, three years after his only child's birth.

Ms. Grant shares fond memories of her famous father, who was apparently devoted to his only child. By her own account, as described in People magazine, he "picked up young Jennifer at school, read to her, taught her life lessons, saved every photo, souvenir and scrap of paper that that two of them shared," and catalogued them. In fact, many details of the book are based upon carefully kept memorabilia preserved by this proud dad.

I haven't read the memoir, but I think I will, because Cary Grant was a great favorite of mine. Some of his best and brightest movies were Topper, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday, His Girl Friday, The Philadelphia Story, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Bishop's Wife, Room for One More, To Catch a Thief, An Affair to Remember, House Boat, Operation Petticoat, North by Northwest, That Touch of Mink, Charade, Father Goose, Walk Don't Run. I especially loved him with Katherine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Loretta Young, and Doris Day...but he made every costar look good!

I think his role as Dudley the angel in The Bishop's Wife may have charmed me the most (David Niven was no slouch either), but every one of the movies listed above was enchanting. In fact, I plan to steep myself in sweet, sighing nostalgia by renting them all again this summer. Wanna join me?

;)

28 comments:

larainydays said...

I love Cary Grant movies too. His daughter is beautiful, and how could she not be with such good looking parents.

Grandma Honey said...

This is all news to me...about the memoir...so I will look into it. Memoirs are my favorite reading ever.

I'm not sure I've seen any of those movies either, so thank you for the list.

How sweet that he kept such great records of his love for his daughter. I need to hear this because it spurs me on to write more down for my children.

Grandma Honey said...

Oh I take that back...I did see Father Goose and That Touch of Mink!

verna said...

Sue, what a great list you have given me. I have Netflix and use it constantly but also I run out of movies I want to see. Your list will do me for a while. I love Cary Grant too! Thanks

Stacy said...

I might have to check some of these out. I haven't watched any of them that I recall.

CB said...

I hate to say that I know who Cary Grant is, of course, but I have never seen any of his movies, etc...I didn't even know he had been married to Dyan Cannon - who I am more familiar with. They have a beautiful daughter.
That is so neat that he was such a devoted father.
I will have to check out some of his great films.
Thanks Sue

Caroline said...

Sue, my parents were (and are still) both big fans of the classics so I grew up watching all of them. My parents had one of those large disc things. They looked like thick records but were actually movies--forgot what they were called. Anyway, they came out pre the VCR. We would rent the movies from our local radio shack and sometimes my father would record them if they came on TV (like "It's a Wonderful Life" ). Anyway, I've always been familiar with James Cagney, Carey Grant, the Marx Brothers both the Hepburns etc, etc And yes, I adored Carey Grant.

They just don't make them like that anymore!
The book sounds great--what a good thing to know he was such an amazing father. Now I like him even more! :)

karen said...

I'm a Cary Grant fan too - and I think the Bishop's Wife is my favorite as well. The memoir sounds like a good one - hopefully it'll be on Kindle?

alpinekleins said...

Ahhh - wouldn't that be so fun! I love some of those old Cary Grant movies - and what a handsome devil :D

Thanks for the memories . . .

Kristin

Ames said...

I love Cary Grant too! I could sit for hours and watch all those black and white movies. I had no idea that he was married to Dyan Canno. Wasn't she also married to Willie Nelson? What the heck was she thinking? Cary was a girls dream catch. Sounds like his daughter had a wonderful childhood! I might just read that book too!~Ames

Connie said...

I love the music playing while reading about handsome Cary. Affair to remember is one of my favorites.

He sure has a beautiful daughter.

Brian Miller said...

nice...i was a late cary grant fan...exposed in many ways by my parents...

Nancy said...

I especially loved An Affair to Remember. Great for when you want a good, tender cry. Gorgeous man.

yaya said...

I LOVE Cary Grant and I have many of the flicks you've mentioned. But if you haven't seen "Mr. Blanding's Dream Home"...rent it...it's soooo funny! I also love "House Boat" because I think Sophia was beautiful and he fell in love with her during that movie. She, unfortunately, married the old dude...think what a kiddo of theirs would have looked like! His daughter is a real beauty!

Darlene said...

I have been reading comments his daughter has made about her new book in other magazines. I have always loved Cary Grant and I am sure the book his daughter wrote about him has to be a good one. One of these days I will read it. I love the note he wrote back to her on a bill she presented to him to pay for her telling her it was her responsibility for her to pay her own way now that she had grown up. I hope to see some of his old movies too and I'll bet we will be seeing them on T.V. more now that this book has been reviewed so often.

Wendy said...

He is a dear.

Myrna Foster said...

I hadn't heard about the memoir. I watched a lot of his movies when I was in high school and loved them. Thanks for the news.

Amy said...

Oh Cary! I lamented for a long time the fact that I was so much younger than him. I would have married him given the chance. I absolutely love him. Absolutely. He is... timeless. You just made a very bad night not so bad remembering all those great movies. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Gone are the days of quiet dignity. He sounds as dreamy in real life as he was on the big screen. Let us know how the book is.

Donna Tagliaferri said...

Topper, Loved it...Bringing Up Baby,still laugh - Holiday, didn't see it.... His Girl Friday,check The Philadelphia Story loved it, Arsenic and Old Lace wonderful, The Bishop's Wife,fabulous Room for One More,didn't see it To Catch a Thief, oh so, so good, An Affair to Remember my favorite!, House Boat Ah Sophia!!, Operation Petticoat, loved it!!North by Northwest,incredible That Touch of Mink,loved, loved, loved it Charade,wonderful Father Goose,the best!! Walk Don't Run I don't remember this one. as you can see, I love Cary Grant

Annette Lyon said...

You listed several I haven't seen (but must now).

LOVE Cary Grant and Charade, Philadelphia Story, Affair to Remember, and Arsenic and Old Lace.

Lesley said...

I'm a Cary fan... I own 4 of the movies you mentioned, inc. "Father Goose" and "Houseboat" two of my childhood favs. I think I forsee a Cary Grant movie night in my immediate future :-)

Momza said...

Big fan here too. And was also so disappointed when I was younger, to learn that he was decades older than me! I've been reading the reviews of his daughter's book and feel like it'd be a fun read.

anitamombanita said...

ahhh... to read your blog! I'm way behind. Lately I can barely do my own blog let alone read anyone else's. I guess the nice weather is partly to blame. Hard to sit in front of the computer when the sun is shining and the wildflowers are blooming...not to mention that there's lots of work that accumulated while the snow lingered and now must be done while the sun is shining.

Anyway, trying to get caught up and looking forward to getting back on track and staying tuned in to whatcha have to say! ;)

xo anita

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

Yup. That sounds like one worth reading.

Have you ever read Katharine Hepburn's autobiography called ME? Wonderful!

I have both Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn postage stamps....44 cent-ers.

Elizabeth said...

I adore Cary Grant -- can't imagine anyone who doesn't! My husband is a chef here in Los Angeles, and he cooks often for his family. He says that they're the nicest people, a compliment not often attributed to Hollywood types!

anitamombanita said...

oh sad... well done, though. You just keep getting better and better!!

Unknown said...

His daughter is very beautiful. I think it's wonderful that Cary Grant retired to help raise his daughter even after the divorce. I'm not a big Cary Grant fan since I don't really know much about him or seen anything he's been in but I think I might check it out after seeing this post :)