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CARY GRANT

A CLASS APART

A delightful appreciation of the archetypal movie star who defined screen sophistication. In a pleasing mix of life story and film analysis, a seasoned biographer and teacher (Cambridge Univ.) meditates on the idea of Cary Grant and the actual person. With compassion, he recalls Grant's (nÇ Archie Leach) hard life in working-class Bristol and troubled relationships with his parents. Music halls and American theater helped Leach hone his craft, but not until he had been in Hollywood for years and made The Awful Truth (1937) did he gain the confidence to become a star. Director Leo McCarey's interest in improvisation and his ability to help Grant ``think more carefully about what . . . he was trying to do in front of a camera'' were key. A string of Grant hits followed, all capitalizing on his ability to embody urbane egalitarianism. Hitchcock caught his dark side and elusiveness in Suspicion (1941) and later in Notorious, To Catch a Thief, and North by Northwest. After his 1966 retirement, he excelled in business, became a first-time father, and was bitterly divorced from his fourth wife, actress Dyan Cannon. A quiet life and a happy fifth marriage lasted until his death in 1986. Throughout, McCann refers comfortably to the arsenal of Grant literature, notably reprising Stanley Cavell's use of Emerson to capture Grant—``fit to stand the gaze of millions.'' One source of disagreement is the bisexuality claim in Charles Higham and Roy Moseley's bio: McCann debunks it in point-by-point blows. Finally, despite any unbecoming marital conduct and early embrace of LSD, McCann believes Grant remains an exemplary movie star because he behaved in public and toward his audience with decorum. Neat, well researched, and witty, the book earns respect for the author and a familiar wry smile at its reincarnation of Cary Grant. (photos, not seen)

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 1997

ISBN: 0-231-10884-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Columbia Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1996

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955

ISBN: 0670717797

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955

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