Cary Grant: The Complete Filmography - Watching All Of His Movies (2 Viewers)

[Nelson Au]

Josh, I was reacting to David’s post. Though I did forget you mentioned how you would have liked to have liked it as much as your grandmother.

 

[titch]

There was a good four page article on Cary Grant's early career in the September edition of Sight & Sound - you would enjoy it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Daniel Melius]

Here's a question: What Cary Grant film is most sorely missing on Blu-ray? I'd say it was a toss up between Bringing Up Baby and Gunga Din. How about it, WHV?

In the past i would have always said bringing up baby but with Beau Geste and the lives of a Bengal lancer coming out in April, I think its now Gunga Din.

 

[LeoA]

Tough to pick, but it wouldn't be Gunga Din for me.

Would pretty much be a tie between Bringing Up Baby, The Talk of the Town, Once Upon a Honeymoon, Arsenic & Old Lace, My Favorite Wife, Destination Tokyo, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, and I Was a Male War Bride.

And following closely on their heels would be the two Betsy Drake films.

 

[Daniel Melius]

Tough to pick, but it wouldn't be Gunga Din for me.

Would pretty much be a tie between Bringing Up Baby, The Talk of the Town, Once Upon a Honeymoon, Arsenic & Old Lace, My Favorite Wife, Destination Tokyo, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, and I Was a Male War Bride.

And following closely on their heels would be the two Betsy Drake films.

Arsenic and old lace, bringing up baby and gunga din are pretty much all a tie for me for most wanted blu rays.

 

[Anthonydasher]

#65 - The Bishop's Wife (1947)
Viewed on December 4th, 2016
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Warner)

The Bishop's Wife is a delightful Christmas-themed romantic comedy starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven. Somehow I had managed never to see the film until now. It's an utter delight, and destined to become a Christmas favorite in my house.

The story concerns Niven, who plays a bishop trying to raise funds to build a giant cathedral. He struggles to raise the money, not wanting to compromise his devout designs for his donors' less than pious demands, but with few other options. Meanwhile, his wife (Young) and daughter have been neglected by his singleminded pursuit of the cathedral. Sensing that its all slipping away from him, Niven prays for guidance, and soon the angel Dudley (Grant) appears to answer his prayers. With Niven skeptical of Grant's origins and purpose, he refuses Grant's help, sending him off with his wife. Grant reminds Young of the romance she once felt for her husband, and finds himself tempted by her humanity. But the angel's true purpose is to inspire, and soon it becomes apparent that he has a way with people wherever he goes. Monty Woolley is fantastic in a supporting role as Niven and Young's friend from their more humble beginnings.

Made for Samuel Goldwyn and distributed by RKO during a prime run in Grant's career, The Bishop's Wife showcases Grant in an excellent, seemingly effortless performance. The special effects are convincing, but it's Grant's charm that really sells him as an angel. The cheer that his character spreads permeates the film, making Grant's presence felt even when he's offscreen. Simply put, Grant is excellent. It's one of the film's true joys that he's surrounded by equally excellent performances. Niven is fantastic as the bishop in danger of losing his way, and Young is equally impressive as the wife at a crossroads. Thirteen years earlier, Grant and Young appeared together in the rather forgettable Fox picture, Born To Be Bad; he was innocent and earnest, and she was harsh and cruel, and their chemistry didn't click. Here, they are wonderfully paired. It's a shame they didn't make more films together.

The Blu-ray from Warner is a good looking disc. The picture is generally good, and the audio is clear and easy to understand; English subtitles are also provided. There are more effects and opticals in the film than I would have imagined, and they tend to show, but the shots without effects all look very good, and the ones with them are certainly acceptable. The disc also includes a trailer. I've read that the Blu-ray omits a dialogue exchange in one scene, but as I had never seen the film before, I was unaware of the missing footage. The disc I have is the second pressing from Warner; apparently the original release contained another error which has since been corrected.

The Bishop's Wife is a delightful film, filled with holiday cheer, fantastic performances, a witty script and fine direction. I don't know how I had missed it up until now, but I look forward to seeing it again and again.

I noticed this review on Amazon today.



David M. Ice
1.0 out of 5 stars NOT a complete print!! Missing key musical footage!
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
I am writing this about the blu ray version. I'm a retired Hollywood film editor AND a professional harpist....perhaps the only person in history who has been both! That said, this is a classic film with a classic harp performance by the late WB staff harpist, Gail Laughton. Gail told me that he had about "an hour" to show Cary Grant the bare basics of playing harp before he filmed the scene. Gail overdubbed himself 3 times in order to get the otherworldly sound of an angelic harpist, and in two shots you actually SEE Gail's hands. They used an optical printer and matte shots to put in Cary Grant's head where Gail's should have been! Gail said they put black velvet over his head, and he "played blind" to his own playback to get that footage--and the resulting shot had audiences astounded that Cary Grant played the harp so well. All in all, a GREAT scene and story! Why ONE star??? Because for whatever reason, that scene is EDITED DOWN! I compaired it side-by-side with the DVD version, and this blu ray version is missing fully 11 seconds and 3 frames of film! That's a big chunk of film, especially from the end of a musical number. It's not a splice or a skip on the disc. It's a deliberate cut with an audio cross-fade to make the music track cut less obvioius. Missing are the final glissandos Cary Grant makes (which are rather hysterically out-of-sync with Gail's original playing.) It's rather charming and not a significant flaw, and it's ALWAYS been there in every other video iteration....VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, and now blu ray. But it's cut. Unacceptable. I'm returning it. This may be a tiny flaw to most, but to me it's like cutting out the last 11 seconds of "Over the Rainbow" or losing the last 11 seconds of "Some Like It Hot"!

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Josh, if you haven't read Scott Eyman's new biography, Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise, I highly recommend it. It's excellent!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ll check it out. I rather enjoyed his book on Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. Thanks!

 

[ponset]

Nice color photo of Cary and Betsy. 1957.