Welcome to HPL's new film and television blog, HPL Videophiles, highlighting staff-recommended movies or television shows.
STAFF CONTRIBUTOR:
Erick, HPL Public Services Assistant
I recommend the films of Cary Grant. He was one of the stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood, having been voted the Second Greatest Male Star of that time period (1927-1960) by the American Film Institute in 1999.
Grant was unique in that he had leading man charisma and looks yet didn't take himself too seriously. In these highlighted films, sometimes he even leaned towards slapstick comedy.
Below are but two of Grant's classic films that HPL has in its collection. If you like them, our library and our local system have dozens of his films, some of which are Oscar nominees or winners, all of which are classics.
Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace, a 1944 screwball comedy based on the play of the same name, is one such example. Grant's character gets married on the same day that he discovers a body hidden in his home. Were one or both of his elderly aunts the killer(s)? His insane uncle, who truly thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt? His estranged brother, whom everyone thinks looks like Frankenstein's monster? How Grant manages to put up with the often-literal insanity around him while navigating his newlywed status is a comic delight, often making the murder mystery a secondary plot.
To Catch a Thief
1955's To Catch a Thief is another classic Grant comedy, although it could also rightly be called a romantic thriller. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and co-starring Grace Kelly, the movie was filmed in the south of France near Monaco, where Kelly would go on to become the Princess a year later.
Grant plays a retired cat burglar suspected by police and his former criminal cohorts of stealing from a string of wealthy tourists. His plan to clear his name involves catching the true culprit by figuring out who the next targets could be and getting close to them. Kelly plays the daughter of the next target, and in classic romantic comedy fashion, they're drawn to each other despite his decision to use a fake name and conceal his past.