Guest Author - Sandy Mullins
August 26th is a day to curl up with your popcorn and catch some of the best of Archibald Alexander Leach’s best movies. You say hey, who is that and why would I want to watch his movies?
Archibald Alexander Leach looked in his dressing room mirror one day and decided he needed a new name. He pretended to be somebody he felt he never really was in the persona of Cary Grant. Cary Grant was (as Archie put it) “suave, debonair, stylish, self-assured with a hint of disorder lurking below the manicured facade.” Cary grant was everything that a glamour of a movie star was and we love watching him.
Cary Grant was in 8 movies before Mae West said those famous words to him in She Done Him Wrong (1933). He was the Mock Turtle in Alice in Wonderland with other stars like W.C. Fields and Gary Cooper. He did other hit movies during the 30s such as: The Awful Truth, Topper, Bringing Up Baby , and Gunga Din.
It wasn’t until 1940s that Cary Grant’s career really took off, with movies like: My Favorite Wife, Penny Serenade, The Talk of the Town, Arsenic and Old Lace, Notorious, The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer, The Bishop’s Wife, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, and I was a Male War Bride.
The 50s his classic movies were movies like: An Affair to Remember, North by Northwest, and Operation Petticoat .
The 60s came to us with movies such as: The Touch of Mink, Charade, Father Goose, and Walk Don’t Run.
Cary Grant starred in over 73 movies in a little over 30 years. He was nominated for Oscars for Penny Serenade and None but the Lonely Heart. Cary Grant accepted an Honorary Oscar in 1970.
Flemings’ James Bond was planned with Cary Grant in mind, he refused the part.
Cary Grant died on November 29, 1986 in Davenport Iowa, his ashes were scattered.
So, grab the popcorn and curl up and catch some of your favorite movies with Archie on Turner Classic Movies (TCM)
