On This Day (Yesterday!!)...Destination Tokyo(1944)

 Always a challenge to blog a film release on the first day of a new year...But yesterday saw the release of Cary Grant's 44th full length film...Destination Tokyo.

Summary:

During World War II, Captain Cassidy (Cary Grant) and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn about each other as they face the enemy and some of them lose their lives. After getting the information they need,they face the harrowing task of getting free once their presence is discovered.

"As the Copperfin's captain, Cary Grant gives one of the soundest performances of his career."

- Newsweek

"Certainly, in technical exposition and sheer, harrowing melodrama, the Warner Brother's newest tribute to the armed forces rates very near the top of the list" 

- Newsweek

Cast:

 Cary Grant ... Capt. Cassidy

 John Garfield ... Wolf
 Alan Hale ... 'Cookie' Wainwright
 John Ridgely ... Reserve Officer Raymond
 Dane Clark ... Tin Can
 Warner Anderson ... Andy
 William Prince ... Pills
 Robert Hutton ... Tommy Adams
 Tom Tully ... Mike Conners
 Faye Emerson ... Mrs. Cassidy
 Peter Whitney ... Dakota
 Warren Douglas ... Larry
 John Forsythe ... Sparks
 John Alvin ... Sound Man
 Bill Kennedy ... Torpedo Gunnery Officer

On the set.

Did You Know?

The operation of the submarine as shown in this movie was so accurate that the Navy used it as a training film during World War II.

The appendectomy done in this film actually happened. It was performed on the USS Silversides SS236. Pharmacist's mate Thomas Mooere removed George Platter's appendix 150 feet below the ocean's surface. Photographs of the surgery are on display where this submarine is docked, in Muskegon, Michigan, at the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum.

Posters incorrectly advertised the film as "Destination Tokio", despite "Tokyo" being used in the film's on-screen title. Upon the film's release on DVD, a variation of the poster using the latter spelling was used for the cover. ("Tokio" is not a misspelling, it is an older, less common form.)

Included among the American Film Institute's 2001 list of 400 movies nominated for the top 100 Most Heart-Pounding American Movies.

Quotes:

Reserve Officer Raymond: [Just having come aboard the 'Copperfin'] Uh... How do I get below, sir? I... I've never been aboard a submarine before.
Capt. Cassidy: [Slightly bemused, as he points to the only obvious entry into the submarine] There's the hatch. It goes 'down.'

Reserve Officer Raymond: [during a depth charge attack] Captain, I'm no good.
Capt. Cassidy: Why's that?
Reserve Officer Raymond: I'm scared stiff.
Capt. Cassidy: How do you think the rest of us feel?
Reserve Officer Raymond: You're not scared. I've looked at your faces.
Capt. Cassidy: I've looked at yours, too. It's the same as the others.
Reserve Officer Raymond: You're scared?
Capt. Cassidy: I'll say I am. And so is everybody else.

On the set with Delmer Daves and John Garfield.

Lobby Cards:

Posters:

Italian.

Directed by Delmer Daves.

Produced and Distributed by Warner Brothers.

Running time: 135 minutes.

On This Day...Madame Butterfly (1932)

Well, as the year draws to a close, we see the last film release of the year. Madame Butterfly was released on this day in 1932 and was Cary Grant's 7th full length film.

Synopsis:

Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton (Cary Grant) and Lieutenant Barton (Charlie Ruggles) are two American Naval officers onshore in Japan. 

At a gathering, Pinkerton meets Cho-Cho San (Sylvia Sidney), a beautiful Japanese maiden who is about to become a Geisha.

She disgraces her family by accepting Pinkerton's love to become his bride. Although she takes her marriage vows seriously, theirs are not truly bound with love. 

After the "honeymoon" is over, Pinkerton returns to the States with the fleet, with Cho-Cho San, whom Pinkerton has nicknamed "Butterfly," remaining in Japan, where she keeps his home until he returns. Three years pass. During that time, Cho-Cho San, has given birth to a son she names "Trouble" (Philip Horomato). She is still confident that someday her husband will return to her. But what has happened to Pinkerton during that time? 

He has married his fiancé, an American girl named Adelaide (Sheila Terry), whom he intends on taking with him to Japan.

Did You Know?

The Japanese censor cut a scene where Cary Grant and Sylvia Sidney share an embrace, because Miss Sidney's elbow was exposed.

Gary Cooper was originally slated for the role of Lieutenant Pinkerton.

When the US Navy returns to Tokyo Bay/Yokohama, mountains are seen rising from the sea. There are no mountains in that area.

The story is based on Puccini's opera of the same title.

On set with Sylvia Sidney.

Cast:

 Sylvia Sidney ... Cho-Cho San
 Cary Grant ... Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton
 Charles Ruggles ... Lt. Barton
 Irving Pichel ... Yomadori
 Helen Jerome Eddy ... Cho-Cho's mother
 Edmund Breese ... Cho-Cho's grandfather
 Louise Carter ... Suzuki
 Sándor Kállay ... Goro
 Judith Vosselli ... Madame Goro
 Sheila Terry ... Mrs. Pinkerton
 Dorothy Libaire ... Peach Blossom
 Berton Churchill ... American Consul
 Philip Horomato ... Trouble

Lobby Cards and Posters:

Directed by Marion Gering.

Distributed by Paramount Publix.

Running time: 86 minutes.

On This Day...Every Girl Should Be Married (1948)

 Yes, that's right, on today's date in 1948, Cary Grant's 53rd film Every Girl Should Be Married was released.

Synopsis:

Living in the big city, Anabel Sims (Betsy Drake), a shop girl at Roger Sanford and Co. Department Store, has matrimony at the front of her mind. It is love at first sight for her when she spots esteemed pediatrician and confirmed bachelor Dr. Madison W. Brown(Cary Grant). Anabel plans to have a potential suitor in name only, make Madison believe that he has competition in garnering her affections. 

The name she comes up with is Roger Sanford, the owner of the department store. Complications ensue when Roger does actually get involved in Anabel's personal life, he a thrice married and currently single playboy who generally does fall for women if he knows someone else is after them, such as an esteemed pediatrician.

With Franchot Tone.

"Grant, Tone and Diana Lynn all contribute their share of humor to the better moments of this contrived and over-cute business." - Newsweek.

"Newcomer Betsy Drake seems to have studied, but not learned, the tricks and inflections of the early Hepburn. Her exaggerated grimaces supply only one solid laugh - when Hero Grant mimics them cruelly and accurately. In the past, Cary Grant has shown a talent for quietly underplaying comedy. In this picture, he has trouble finding comedy to play." - Time Magazine.

With Betsy Drake.

Did You Know?

Love interests in this film, Cary Grant and Betsy Drake tied the knot in real life less than a year after the film was released.

Film debut of Betsy Drake.

Howard Hughes became so involved in this production it prompted RKO production head Dore Schary to resign. Hughes also allowed Cary Grant to re-write much of the script to put more emphasis on Drake's character. And, according to Mark Eliot's biography of Grant, Hughes even allowed him to essentially direct Drake's scenes.

Barbara Bel Geddes was the first choice for Anabel.

Cast:

 Cary Grant ... Dr. Madison Brown
 Franchot Tone ... Roger Sanford
 Diana Lynn ... Julie Howard
 Betsy Drake ... Anabel Sims
 Alan Mowbray ... Mr. Spitzer
 Elisabeth Risdon ... Mary Nolan
 Richard Gaines ... Sam McNutt
 Harry Hayden ... Gogarty
 Chick Chandler ... Soda Clerk
 Leon Belasco ... Violinist
 Fred Essler ... Pierre
 Anna Q. Nilsson ... Saleslady

Lobby Cards:

International Posters:

"Every Girl Wants a Husband" - Italian.

Directed by Don Hartman.

Distributed by RKO Radio.

Running time: 84 minutes.

On This Day...Father Goose (1964)

 On today's date back in 1964, Cary Grant released his 71st and penultimate film, Father Goose.

Synopsis:

During World War II South Sea beachcomber Walter Eckland (Cary Grant) is persuaded to spy on planes passing over his island. 

He gets more than he bargained for as schoolteacher Catherine Frenau (Leslie Caron) arrives on the run from the Japanese with her pupils in tow!

"The difference between Grant and most other old-line movie stars, who essentially played themselves on the screen, is that he is an extremely accomplished craftsman and also has a highly developed sense of how to choose a script that does well by him and that he can do well by." - Moira Walsh, America

"By now Grant is a major minor American industry, and his vehicles have a slight smell of protective oil-film on them when they are uncrated - intricate mechanisms that have been carefully planned on huge drawing boards and constructed just as carefully all the way down the line..." 

"...Grant make a strong effort, partly successful to subdue his usual sleek self in the whiskery curmudgeon; even when the gloss shines through, he is still a very skillful performer."

 - Stanley Kauffman, The New Republic

"Grant is excellent as the unshaved, Scotch-drinking misanthrope.."

- Philip T. Hartung, The Commonweal

"I have often played the part of a spiritual bum...But I don't think I have ever looked like one" 

- Cary Grant on his role in Father Goose

Did You Know?

One of Cary Grant's favorite projects. He always maintained his role in this film was most like his real personality. He claimed he kept in touch with most of the girls as they grew up and had families of their own.

Production took about eight weeks in Hollywood at Universal Studios and about four weeks on location at a coconut plantation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Cary Grant was offered the role of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (1964) but turned it down to star in this movie. He wanted his Charade (1963) co-star Audrey Hepburn to play Catherine, but she was already committed to My Fair Lady (1964).

The film features the same piece of stock footage of a submarine firing a torpedo that was used in Cary Grant's previous World War II comedy Operation Petticoat (1959).

With Leslie Caron.

Cast:

 Cary Grant ... Walter
 Leslie Caron ... Catherine
 Trevor Howard ... Houghton
 Jack Goode ... Stebbings
 Sharyl Locke ... Jenny
 Pip Sparke ... Anne
 Verina Greenlaw ... Christine
 Stephanie Berrington ... Elizabeth
 Jennifer Berrington ... Harriet
 Laurelle Felsette ... Angelique
 Nicole Felsette ... Dominique

On set.

Press Kit:

Lobby Cards:

"Father Goose " - Spanish(Mexican)

International Poster:

"The Great Wolf Calls" - Italian

"The Big Wolf Calls" - Danish

Directed by Ralph Nelson.

Distributed by Universal-International.

Running time: 116 minutes.

For even more on Father Goose see my previous blog.

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