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Some Versions of Cary Grant
Cary Grant famously said, "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant--even I want to be Cary Grant." His development of that star image required serious work, but he also played a variety of characters requiring special performing talents. He was equally skilled in the screwball farce The Awful Truth , the dark thriller Notorious , the romantic melodrama An Affair to Remember , the domestic comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House , and the social drama None But the Lonely Heart . In a lively style accompanied by many illustrations, James Naremore analyzes these and other of Grant's best films, demonstrating that he had exceptional talent and greater range than usually recognized.
224 pages, Paperback
Published May 3, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 23, 2022
(From my Amazon review):
James Naremore, author of the best critical studies of Orson Welles (THE MAGIC WORLD OF...) and film noir (MORE THAN NIGHT), respectively, reminds us that he's as terrifically lucid and observant about actors as he is filmmakers and genres (see also ACTING IN THE CINEMA). SOME VERSIONS OF CARY GRANT fills an inexplicable void of populist scholarship on the man formerly known as Archibald Leach; Pauline Kael's famous mash-note "The Man From Dream City" is a superb critical essay, and Dan Callahan's THE CAMERA LIES: ACTING FOR HITCHCOCK is also lively and engaging (on Grant and other performers), though it also exists somewhat frustratingly in its own hermetically-sealed bubble from the literature on the subject (the bibliography is a Death Valley of sources, including a lack of Naremore's). SOME VERSIONS is more attuned to previous assessments (both critically and favorably), goes deeper, and makes interesting and idiosyncratic choices in its breadth: Naremore's working framework divides Grant's body of work into "Farceur Cary," "Dark Cary," "Romantic Cary," "Domestic Cary," and "Cockney Cary," and his selected examples for each category are in some ways expected and others surprising. My personal preferences for THE AWFUL TRUTH, BRINGING UP BABY, and NOTORIOUS over AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE, and ROOM FOR ONE MORE puts me in the position - in the cases of dark and farcical Cary Grant - of buying an argument that doesn't need selling. But those sections of the book are great fun, and Naremore's takes on the domestic, romantic, and Cockney sides of Grant's persona are just as rigorously argued and insightful. Additionally, Naremore acknowledges that more than a few of Grant's performances are hybrids, embodying multiple personas; it's a shame that a premier example such as ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS couldn't have been worked into the paradigm, if only because I'd love to read Naremore's assessment. But SOME VERSIONS OF CARY GRANT is a first-rate study on an actor-star who put an enormous amount of effort into appearing effortless. Highly recommended.
James Naremore, author of the best critical studies of Orson Welles (THE MAGIC WORLD OF...) and film noir (MORE THAN NIGHT), respectively, reminds us that he's as terrifically lucid and observant about actors as he is filmmakers and genres (see also ACTING IN THE CINEMA). SOME VERSIONS OF CARY GRANT fills an inexplicable void of populist scholarship on the man formerly known as Archibald Leach; Pauline Kael's famous mash-note "The Man From Dream City" is a superb critical essay, and Dan Callahan's THE CAMERA LIES: ACTING FOR HITCHCOCK is also lively and engaging (on Grant and other performers), though it also exists somewhat frustratingly in its own hermetically-sealed bubble from the literature on the subject (the bibliography is a Death Valley of sources, including a lack of Naremore's). SOME VERSIONS is more attuned to previous assessments (both critically and favorably), goes deeper, and makes interesting and idiosyncratic choices in its breadth: Naremore's working framework divides Grant's body of work into "Farceur Cary," "Dark Cary," "Romantic Cary," "Domestic Cary," and "Cockney Cary," and his selected examples for each category are in some ways expected and others surprising. My personal preferences for THE AWFUL TRUTH, BRINGING UP BABY, and NOTORIOUS over AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE, and ROOM FOR ONE MORE puts me in the position - in the cases of dark and farcical Cary Grant - of buying an argument that doesn't need selling. But those sections of the book are great fun, and Naremore's takes on the domestic, romantic, and Cockney sides of Grant's persona are just as rigorously argued and insightful. Additionally, Naremore acknowledges that more than a few of Grant's performances are hybrids, embodying multiple personas; it's a shame that a premier example such as ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS couldn't have been worked into the paradigm, if only because I'd love to read Naremore's assessment. But SOME VERSIONS OF CARY GRANT is a first-rate study on an actor-star who put an enormous amount of effort into appearing effortless. Highly recommended.
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October 19, 2022James Naremore’s new book “Some Versions of Cary Grant” is a smartly guided tour through some of the great star’s more interesting performances. It doesn’t have the depth or breadth of Naremore’s excellent “Acting in the Cinema,” which I’ve read through more than once, but it’s clearly written and nicely illustrated. A good addition to the regrettably small library of serious acting studies.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews