Happy Birthday, Cary! [5 Things I Love]

Today a lot of blogs and websites are not posting or are blacking out to protest SOPA, or "Stop Online Piracy Act". I too hope that SOPA isn't passed. It would mean a lot of terrible things for Classic Hollywood communities like ours, and hadn't it been Cary Grant's birthday, I probably would have gone ahead and done something to protest SOPA today, too.

But I just can't. It's Cary Grant's birthday, and he's my favorite actor, so I am totally against SOPA - but, today, I must...

Because you know, he just happens to be perfect and I plan on growing up and marrying Cary Grant someday. Him being dead is only a minor detail, I'm working on it. :)

Seriously, though, Cary has been my favorite actor since I saw him in "Bringing up Baby", which was at the very beginning of my classic film obsession. I honestly think he was the pinnacle of classic actors, I mean - I think very highly of classic actors. They were handsome and charming and smartly dressed and and they knew how to treat a woman. Cary had all this and then some.

So to celebrate his birthday, I'm using my usual birthday treatment, the five things I love the most about that person.

"Everyone likes the idea of Cary Grant. Everyone thinks of him affectionately, because he embodies what seems a happier time, a time when we had a simpler relationship to a performer. We could admire him for his timing and nonchalance... he appeared before us in radiantly shallow perfection and that was all we wanted... we didn't want depth from him, we asked only that he be handsome and silky and make us laugh." 
[-Pauline Kael]

#5: His voice.

Okay, so in the female department, Greer Garson's obviously got it, hands down  - but, in the males, I think Cary had the best. You can't describe his voice, it's obviously a British accent, but then there's something else to it - anyway, I'm sure you've all heard his voice before so you know what I mean. There's just something about the way the enunciation of his words (for example - listen to Cary say, "Hello!" in any picture, just any picture and you'll get what I mean) - yes, I pay that much attention - and it always works to his advantage and gives him a really smart delivery.

#4: He was the most stylish man in films.

So today in films men dress in undershirts with a plaid shirt thrown on top of it and jeans or something - and to be fair, the women are not much better - but Classic Hollywood Actors were so different. Always a stylish tuxedo and Cary takes the cake, not just for the clothes but the way he wore them. It definitely added to that charming appeal of his, that eluded him as a true movie star. I mean honestly, how often do you see a well dressed male movie star anymore unless it's a red carpet event? (And even - to some certain extent... I don't get the whole sneakers and a tux thing...)

#3: The films and the characters in general.

So many of my favorite films star Cary Grant - like Bringing up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, Notorious, An Affair to Remember... I could just go on and on. He was a very versatile actor I think and could play such a variety of characters. Bringing up Baby and The Philadelphia Story were totally screwball and then you have much more dramatic roles, like, for example Notorious and An Affair to Remember. He played harsh characters, kind characters, romantic characters, funny characters, clever characters - though my favorite of them all certainly's got to be David from Bringing up Baby. 

#2: His leading ladies.

So Cary worked with four out of my seven favorite actresses - that four being Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, and Katharine Hepburn. The three he didn't work with are Lucy, Natalie Wood, and Greer Garson. If he and Lucy had made a movie together I would just - I honestly don't know, I'd probably just die with happiness! Of course, in her movie career Lucy was more of a B actress and Cary a leading man, so I can kind of see why this didn't happen... but still :( Natalie Wood was obviously way too young and it would be weird, but GREER GARSON? So with Lucy you have the excuse of the whole B movie thing but honestly, Greer? She was the top box office draw during World War II! And they were both BRITISH! Couldn't there have been some wartime collaboration between the two?? This was honestly a big screw up. The only thing they did together was a radio performance of "Bedtime Story", which is all I have to cling to. ;D Out all of his leading ladies, my favorite's got to be Ingrid all the way. I've said it before, I wish they had gotten married! Though they were really good friends in real life and he accepted her Anastasia Oscar on her behalf - that's simply not going to cut it for me. Literally more than fifty percent of the photos in my Ingrid Bergman photo folder are of him and Ingrid with tags like "please get married." But seriously, though, they had wonderful chemistry!

#1: HE'S CARY GRANT. 

This man was just terribly awesome in general. A face like they typically helps but I also love his personality, always grinning and most of the time he got along very well with his co-stars. "Cary Grant" has become, oftentimes, more of a label or a personality than the actual man himself. Today he's used as the posterchild for the Classic Hollywood actor, oftentimes as Marilyn is used for the Actress. This would usually annoy me and set me against Cary, but it's impossible, I like him too much! Perhaps it's just me, but I think he truly lived up to all he was made out to be, and he will always be my favorite actor. <3

Happy birthday, Cary!

***

Well, there it is. I know from my own dashboard, and from taking a look at Google and Wikipedia, that much of the Internet has been silent today in honor of the fight against SOPA. I would've like to been, too. But I need to write a birthday post for Cary, I just couldn't restrain from doing so. -;)