Cary Grant

I noticed that! The opening scenes must be taking place more or less on Christmas, and yet there's no indication that anyone in the movie celebrates it; it seems like all the Setons do for Christmas is go to church.

Few, was worried this was going to be an RIP thread. Hang in there, Cary!

Phew, lol

Working my way there slowly, roughly in order. Have now seen 13 of the 16 films he made between 1932 and 1933. He's just such a delightful presence all the time. He even brings it in a full (and terrifying) Mock Turtle costume.

The opening scenes must be taking place more or less on Christmas,

I think it's actually Christmas Day, going by some things they say about days of the week. It's so weird.

My wife and I saw "I Was a Male War Bride" last week on DVD. Cary Grant was perfectly fine in it as he usually was in a comedy role. But he was just about the only good thing in it.

The plot was sub-basic sitcom. Howard Hawks and Grant were wasted on this film. Ann Sheridan was only just adequate. But it would have taken greater genius than those three possessed to make this into more than a plodding, predictable rehash of some very tired material.

Scott Eyman's biography is even better than I dared hope.

Yeah, it was so good that I'm thinking of getting the John Wayne one even though I don't care one bit about John Wayne.

just watched The Bishop's Wife, a perfectly serviceable Cary Grant Charm Delivery Vehicle that i never need to see again. i was intrigued by this bit in the wikipedia entry: "the film didn't do very well at the box office at first. Market research showed that moviegoers avoided the film because they thought it was religious. So, Goldwyn decided to re-title it Cary and the Bishop's Wife for some US markets".

i'm trying & failing to think of other movie titles that include the IRL name of the lead actor... other than abbot & costello, are there any other examples of this strange phenomenon?

Being John Malkovich obv

There's a lot of old timey comedians who would do this because their stage name would also be the name of the character - Mexican comedian Cantinflas, George Formby.

The Bishop's Wife is just okay.

i'm trying & failing to think of other movie titles that include the IRL name of the lead actor... other than abbot & costello, are there any other examples of this strange phenomenon?

I can't (things like JCVD and Being John Malkovich don't really count as the actors are actually characters in the films) and I honestly think it's only convention and squeamishness that prevents it. After all, it's why a good number of people go to see a film if it's not part of a franchise (OK, that's an increasingly small number of films), so marketing could save themselves a lot of work by just calling a film Robert Pattinson's Tenet or whatever.

Cheech and Chongs Up In Smoke, etc

I can't (things like JCVD and Being John Malkovich don't really count as the actors are actually characters in the films)

That kicks out Abbott and Costello too tho. But as far as that goes, the Portuguese title for one Jackie Chan film (Police Story 2 I think?) is Jackie Chan Is The Protagonist.

ha, I was just wondering if a Chan film was one.

Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (you got a threefer right there)

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

Particularly keen on this formulation being employed more often

The Last Temptation of Christ, Willem Dafoe
The English Patient, Ralph Fiennes
Three Men – Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson – and a Baby 
An Officer and a Gentleman, both Richard Gere perhaps

its hilarious to me that karloff is personally identified as a murderer. hard to imagine a modern equivalent: The Green Room Attacked By A Nazi, Patrick Stewart

What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Johnny Depp? Leonardo DiCaprio

I honestly think it's only convention and squeamishness that prevents it

Yeah, though it's always been accepted in tv.

moviegoers avoided the film because they thought it was religious

In 1947 ... will wonders never cease.

His name could almost be City Guess if you squinted

Movie Titles with the Star’s Name in Them

(Though most are actors playing characters that have their name.)

ha thats awesome, its just what i need, thanks for posting that

There's also the weird example of Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) in which actor Charlie Ruggles is one of the principal cast but does not play "Ruggles." What were the odds.

the Portuguese title for one Jackie Chan film (Police Story 2 I think?) is Jackie Chan Is The Protagonist.

― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, November 30, 2021 6:00 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I think there was a Jackie Chan movie marketed in the U.S. as Jackie Chan's First Strike also. Not quite as good as Jackie Chan is the Protagonist, though.

JRN i can confirm that bc i actually watched it last night, lol

How was it? I haven't seen it since whenever it came out in theaters here.

i would say just watch the highlights on youtube, but the whole thing is only like 75 minutes. scene where he fights a gang using an a-frame ladder is a career highlight. also kills a guy using spiny sea urchins, which i believe is a cinematic first.

Lateraling over here from watching Jean Arthur in Easy Living on the Sturges thread (actually there are more than one) to rewatching The Talk of the Town. Ronald Colman is kind of a dud which makes this not quite up to its close silbing The More the Merrier but it is still nearly as good. Cary is very watchable, even with his Magwitch limp.

Jean Arthur apparently complained about Cary Grant upstaging her with his mugging which of course she would. She is superb in this, hitting all her notes, including one in particular involving eggs, doing a little hair-involved improv in the mirror in another bit. Haters need not watch.

Speaking of Jean's hair, need to travel back to the other thread. Ta-ta!

Been working my way through the Indicator Mae West box and Cary really brought out the best in her.