Directed by Susanna Fogel The Spy Who Dumped Me has a lot in common with the old Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn thriller/romance/comedy Charade (1963). In both cases the protagonist finds herself caught up in a world of deception and murder thanks to her connection to a dead or dying romantic interest. In Charade it was Hepburn's deceased husband, … Continue reading The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
Cary Grant
Charade (1963)
Directed by Stanley Donen Charade was released to a shell-shocked audience a month after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. To some it might've felt suddenly outdated, the bankable Hollywood stars and happy ending proving to be out of touch with an increasingly grim reality, and to others it might've been a soothing sense of … Continue reading Charade (1963)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Directed by Howard Hawks There's a moment in His Girl Friday, Howard Hawks' fast-talking screwball comedy, in which Cary Grant looks like he's about to break. It's a scene in which two reporters working together are delighted to confront the mayor with evidence of his own political corruption. They are proud of themselves, to be sure, … Continue reading His Girl Friday (1940)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Directed by Howard Hawks Bringing Up Baby is a screwball romantic comedy between a paleontologist and the free spirit daughter of a wealthy family. In other words its Ross and Rachel. Cary Grant plays David Huxley, the button-down, stressed-out paleontologist, and Katharine Hepburn plays Susan Vance, the reckless, lovestruck niece of the woman David hopes to … Continue reading Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Shadow of a Doubt, like Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941), is about the deconstruction of myth, to some extent. They are similar films, following one character's increasing paranoia that someone they love is a monster. In the former, Joan Fontaine begins to worry that the man she married, played by Cary Grant, has … Continue reading Shadow of a Doubt (1943)