Gambling Ship (1933)

      "Grant proves his potentialities for femme box office for this inept assignment..."

With Benita Hume.

Gambling Ship - Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"A fair flicker.  Of the gangster meller genera with a new slant in the gambling ship locale off the coast of Long Beach, California.  Another new angle is in the finale where the ship's anchor is cast loose and the waves are permitted to sweep the anti-element off into the briny while the sympathetic faction of the lawless lot fights its way to safety and a suggestion of regeneration for the happy ending.  

Cary Grant is the big shot gambler who thinks he's found the real thing in Benita Hume, a gambler's moll, during their cross-country trek from Chicago to Los Angeles.  The fact that it's an open-and-shut 'make' on the part of both principals establishes a dubious premise from which to evolve the highly romantic aura which has been essayed.  Grant thinks Miss Hume is the McCoy on the swank stuff.  

Film doesn't drag, save in negligible moments, but in toto it's a familiar formula of mob vs. mob with the sympathetic Grant commandeering one bunch to hijack La Rue's more sinister hoodlums.  Speaking of sinisterness, La Rue should never go Raftish and try to act up as a hero; he's the most repellent villyun in major film league and he'll stay on top of the batting order if he doesn't get the Rover Boy complex.  Grant proves his potentialities for femme box office with this inept assignment; ditto Miss Hume, who makes a difficult, chameleon characterization sound almost convincing.

- Abel Green, Variety

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Number 11 - Gambling Ship (Lobby Card Style)

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Dream Wife (1953)

      "...Cary Grant is on hand to get laughs where it isn't always possible to find them in the script."

With Deborah Kerr.

Dream Wife - Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"Dream Wife was made under the personal supervision of Dore Schary and Cary Grant is on hand to get laughs where it isn't always possible to find them in the script.  Nevertheless, this uneven mixture of sophisticated humor and downright slapstick amounts to little more than a fairly amusing comedy.

- Newsweek

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Number 59 - Dream Wife (Lobby Card Style)

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Holiday (1938)

     "...again turns in a smooth performance of the type that has made him one of Hollywood's most-sought-after leading men."

With Katharine Hepburn.

Holiday - Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"When Philip Barry's Holiday was produced on Broadway in 1928, Hope Williams took the comedy's outstanding role, that of Linda Seton.  Her understudy was an unknown, inexperienced actress named Katharine Hepburn.  For two years Miss Hepburn marked time offstage, waiting for her chance. It never came.  In 1930 the play was filmed.  This time Ann Harding was Linda.  Now Columbia's refilming of Holiday gives Katharine Hepburn her first chance at the coveted role that seems made to order for her.  

The first screen Holiday was an almost literal transcription of the play.  The modern version, brilliantly adapted by Donald Ogden Stewart and Sidney Buchman, is equally faithful, forwarding its slight story almost entirely by conversation.  But it is superb conversation - part of it Barry's own, the rest brought up to date with significant and satiric topical allusions.  

Directed by George Cukor, the story resolves the triangle with an intelligence and penetrating humor that gives an excellent cast a field day.   Henry Kolker, Lew Ayres, Jean Dixon, and Edward Everett Horton are outstanding in lesser roles; Cary Grant again turns in a smooth performance of the type that has made him one of Hollywood's most-sought-after leading men.  

It is more to the point that Katharine Hepburn gives one of the most successful characterizations of her screen career.  Several weeks ago the Independent Theatre Owners Association attacked a batch of high salaried stars which it considered on the skids to oblivion.  Miss Hepburn was one of them.  At the time, Jack Cohn, vice-president of Columbia, rallied to her defense.  Now he is turning the association's attack to his own ends.  The advertising campaign for Holiday will sound one note across the country - "Is it true what they say about Hepburn?" Judging from the film, the producer knew the answer in advance.

- Newsweek

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Number 31 - Holiday (Lobby Card Style)

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Merrily We Go To Hell (1932)

    "...a brief treat among the supporting players though, in the shape of Cary Grant..."

With Sylvia Sidney and Fredric March.

Merrily We Go To Hell:

"Merrily We Go To Hell focuses on the turbulent relationship between Joan Prentice (Sylvia Sidney) and Jerry Corbett (Arzner regular Fredric March). They first meet at a party, where Jerry is drunk but charming and they arrange a dinner date, which Jerry is late for but eventually attends.

Though Jerry’s drunken antics cause concern for Joan, she’s too smitten by him to give up. After they marry, he becomes much better behaved, though they have financial worries whilst he struggles to make a name for himself as a playwright.  When Jerry does get a play sold, it stars his old flame, Claire Hempstead (Adrianne Allen), and this reunion knocks him off the wagon. He also starts to get romantically involved with Claire again, barely hiding it from Joan in his frequently drunken state.

Joan attempts to stand fast and keep Jerry on the straight and narrow but eventually has enough and attempts to show her husband what pain he’s causing by living a wild and free life herself.

Merrily We Go To Hell has quite an unusual tone. From the title and blurb I’d read, I was expecting a riotous screwball comedy. However, though there is plenty of comedy in the film, it’s countered by quite serious drama. It’s very much a film of two halves in fact, with the first leaning more heavily towards romantic comedy, then the second skewing much closer to drama, ending on a particularly moving note of tragedy. In the wrong hands, this shift in tone might have been a problem, but Arzner keeps the transition smooth and natural. In fact, it helps strengthen the depiction of the problems the central relationship faces, with Jerry’s alcoholism seeming charming to begin with, before becoming destructive. This mixture of warmth and comedy with cold cynicism makes for a deep and believable depiction of marriage too.

Also helping sell the concept are a pair of great central performances. March plays drunk very well and has enough charisma to prevent his character’s many flaws from turning the audience completely away from him. Sidney is the real star of the show though. Her richly textured performance feels way ahead of its time, with subtle changes in expression belying her breezy, cheerful demeanour. The wedding scene is a particularly strong moment between the pair as their body language and reactions make for a wonderfully awkward atmosphere and add great depth to a scene that’s very straightforward on paper.

The rest of the cast are a bit of a mixed bag, with George Irving a little flat as Joan’s father, for instance, whereas Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher is enjoyable as Jerry’s drunken cohort, Buck. There’s a brief treat among the supporting players though, in the shape of Cary Grant, who features in a very early role.

The script can be a bit hit and miss too. There are some amusingly witty lines but it’s not as sharply written overall as some other classic comedies from the era. The story also ladles on the melodrama towards the end with a final scene that ties things up too simply for my liking.

Visually, Arzner and DOP David Abel do a great job. There’s plenty of camera movement that’s only subtly used for the most part, though there are a couple of quite complicated tracking shots in there too. There’s also a nice use of depth in frame, to keep the film visually interesting.

I didn’t feel the pace was well maintained though. Perhaps it’s because I was expecting more of a screwball comedy, or it’s due to the quieter nature of the early sound era, but the film didn’t feel as ‘punchy’ as it could be.

Overall, however, Merrily We Go To Hell is a sensitive, yet frank and honest examination of a troubled marriage. Its move from comedy to tragedy was unexpected for me and made for an unusual blend, but the transition is well handled. The film isn’t perfect and has some lulls here and there, but some fantastic central performances and assured, intuitive direction make it something special, regardless."

 

- David Brook, BlueprintReview.co.uk, 5 June 2021

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Number 3 - Merrily We Go To Hell (Lobby Card Style)

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Singapore Sue (1932)

    "It was probably on the basis of this film that Grant obtained his first five-year contract with Paramount..."

With Anna Chang.

Singapore Sue - taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"The first short film that Cary Grant made was Singapore Sue which was released in the summer of 1932.  Three of his full length films were already in distribution.  However he had made this short film in New York City.  In it he played an American sailor who visits a cafe run by actress Anna Chang.  It was probably on the basis of this film that Grant obtained his first five-year contract with Paramount.  The film was written and directed by Casey Robinson.  The dialogue was staged by Max E Hayes."

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