Lani Gonzalez is back to discuss her favorite film star and his (un)surprisingly(?) charming 1964 film, Grant’s penultimate screen appearance, also his last starring role, and the willingness for the most debonair branded film-star to finally show silver hair, beard stubble, and an untucked shirt. Also:
the juvenile delinquency of director Ralph Nelson;
Oscar-winning writer Peter Stone’s varied career;
Leslie Caron;
her character’s curiosity for the taste of blood;
and two recent Grant biographies, The Making of a Hollywood Legend by Mark Glancy (which Lani reviewed for Book & Film Globe) plus Scott Eyman’s A Brilliant Disguise (which I kinda skimmed).
And:
Lani’s favorite theatrical screening of Grant’s Charade;
trying to locate where the crop-duster sequence from North by Northwest would’ve taken place on IN-41;
roles Grant turned down throughout his 40 years of commercial success;
how his early vaudeville led him to master physical comedy;
his wives;
LSD;
and Lani’s picks for Grant’s best, worst, and most underrated films.
Gonzalez writes about film for both Book and Film Globe and, alongside her husband (and former guest-host) AJ, their blog Cinema Then and Now.
Father Goose is currently available on the Criterion Channel under the banner of “Cary Grant Comedies.” But hurry quick, as it’s leaving February 28.