Remembering Cary Grant on His 108th Birthday

On this day in 1904, Archibald Leach was born. He left an indelible mark on cinema and our culture as Cary Grant. He was, in the opinion of so many of his fans, the personification of elegance.

Screenwriter John Michael Hayes shared many memories of his experiences with Grant during the making of Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, as well as another unproduced project that was intended for the actor. Here is one of Hayes’s memories of Cary Grant excepted from Writing with Hitchcock, and followed by an audio excerpt from one of the actor’s one man show appearances, A Conversation with Cary Grant. 

One of screenwriter John Michael Hayes's recollections of Cary Grant included the actor often arriving on the set in the morning with pages of script that he had gone over the night before, saying, “Hitch, I have an idea.”

“Do you,” the director would say. “Talk to John.”

Hayes was then given the task of stalling Grant until it was too late to work in his suggestions. “Well, that’s very interesting. Let me think about it,” the writer would say. Eventually the crew was ready with the next setup, and it was time to shoot the scene.

Later Grant would insist on running through a scene both ways to get Hitchcock’s approval. Hayes remembered the actor being unnaturally awkward when doing the scene as written, then doing his own version to perfection, saying, “What do you think? Which one is best?”

“We had to come up with a gimmick to forestall this,” said Hayes, “because Hitch planned every script very carefully, down to camera angles, way in advance and didn’t like to improvise too much on the set ... so the next time Cary did that, we had everybody on the set primed. When he did the scene as written, everyone, from the grips to the lighting boys, broke out into applause.”

“I guess it’s all right the way it is,” said Grant, who eventually caught on and enjoyed the joke.

New Year's Eve Champagne Tips Courtesy of Alfred Hitchcock

A few tips from the Master of Suspense to guide you through your champagne toast into 2012:

Tip #1: When popping the cork, aim away from your guests (or the camera).

 

Tip #2: Try not to spill it all when opening.

 Tip #3: Make sure you have enough on hand and chilled to last the entire evening. Don't be like Alex Sebastian.

Tip #4: If you're hosting, try not to drink too much before your guests arrive. You'll end up morose, sitting at your piano, and not a very good host. Sorry, Philip.

Tip #5: If it's just the two of you, really try to gauge her mood before you hand her a heavy wine bucket or any other object that can be hurled in your direction.

Tip #6: Don't fill the glasses for your toast too much before midnight. It'll just go flat.

Tip #7: You know it's time to cut off your guest(s) when they begin slurring their speech. Sparling burg-le-dy. Indeed!

Tip #8: Don't be such an oaf that you just sit there drinking while your wife dances with another man. Get on that dance floor!

Tip #9: No, on the rocks isn't okay. Even if you do sound like James Mason. Make sure it's chilled, dammit.

Tip #10: Don't let your guests overstay their welcome. And if you're the guest, leave before overstaying yours. Make a toast. Have another drink or two, then go. That means you, too, Uncle Charlie!

Happy New Year!

Twelve Days of Hitchcock Christmas

A bit of fun with the Twelve Days of Christmas from a Hitchcockian perspective. Thanks to Eboni Cameron, Edri Hill and Tyena Smith for lending their voices and enthusiasm. Merry Christmas!

John Michael Hayes In His Own Words on Writing with Hitchcock

John Michael Hayes would have turned 92 this week, so I thought I'd share some excerpts of our conversations for Writing with Hitchcock. Hayes discusses what the collaboration did for he and Hitchcock, the process of breaking down scenes into a shooting script, Hitchcock's method of working with actors, and much more. Enjoy!

Writing with Hitchcock: Mondays with Hitchcock — Fall 2011

Writing with Hitchcock: Mondays with Hitchcock — Fall 2011: If you're in the New York area I hope you will join me this fall for Mondays with Hitchcock . I've put together two programs for Westchester...

Mondays with Hitchcock — Fall 2011

If you're in the New York area I hope you will join me this fall for Mondays with Hitchcock. I've put together two programs for Westchester Community College, six sessions each, where we'll be screening and discussing scenes, sequences and films of Alfred Hitchcock. Each night will have its own theme, and some rare items will be screened as well, including a the silent version of Blackmail.

Hitchcock’s Signature Style: The British and Early Hollywood Years

An examination of the signature elements of Alfred Hitchcock’s cinema. From his perfecting of the double-chase, to his ability to extract every ounce of suspense from a situation, he took ownership of a genre with films like Blackmail, The 39 Steps, and Sabotage. On his arrival in Hollywood, he upped his game through more character-driven stories like Rebecca and Shadow of a Doubt, demonstrating that his true talent was not in directing his performers, but in directing his audience. Through screenings and discussion, we'll explore the elements which made Hitchcock the preeminent director of psychological and suspense thrillers.

 

CE-FILM 2019QV 

Monday evenings, 7-9 PM  from  9/26/2011 - 11/7/2011

 

Writing with Hitchcock: Masterworks of the 50s and 60s

A re-examination of Alfred Hitchcock’s cinema from the perspective of his most frequent writing collaborator in Hollywood, John Michael Hayes, whose scripts include Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Hayes set the tone for a decade’s worth of masterworks that have come to be known as the Golden Period of Hitchcock’s cinema. Through screenings and discussion, the course explores the elements which have made Hitchcock the preeminent “auteur,” while also pointing out the contributions of his most significant writers.

 

CE-WRITG 2037QV

Monday evenings, 7-9 PM  from   11/14/2011 through 12/19/2011

 

Where: Ardsley High School, 300 Farm Road.Ardsley, NY

 

Enroll now at http://www.sunywcc.edu/Intervillage

Hitchcock's Repeated Compositions

We were discussing the similarity of the technique used in creating these two "trick shots" which reveal simultaneous action from The Man Who Knew Too Much and Vertigo at the WWH Facebook page, and it got me thinking about other images and juxtaposed shots that Hitchcock repeated in his films—kind of like the second Mrs. De Winter's father who liked the paint the same tree over again.

Here are just a few that come to mind:

Of course Hitchcock used stairways so very often, but the framing he used in The Lodger, Blackmail, and Vertigo were strikingly similar.

Designer Saul Bass had a hand in both the Vertigo title sequence and the shower sequence in Psycho, but it was a design that Hitchcock chose in two of his key films.

The Catholic Hitchcock repeated variations of his own Pietà, but the images in The Lodger and Topaz are most similar.

As Hitchcock's films progressed in the 1950s he explored more deeply the frailty of the human psyche. Notice how these two scenes in consecutive films—The Wrong Man and Vertigo—are nearly identical. Here a desperate Manny goes into Dr. Banay's office to ask about Rose's condition. Dr. Banay leans back on his desk, arms crossed, explaining the healing will take time. Later Manny departs, walking away from the camera down the long corridor of the sanitarium. Below, an equally desperate Midge goes into the office of Scottie's doctor and departs down a similar corridor after telling the doctor Mozart isn't going to help.

In each of these scenes from The Wrong Man and Psycho as the discussion turns to someone being institutionalized or being "put someplace", both Rose Balestrero and Marion Crane begin clutching and rubbing an arm.

In both of these scenes from The Man Who Knew Too Much and Topaz, the listener is receiving information he'd probably rather not have heard.

It doesn't matter whether it's the police or a couple of henchmen, on the front steps of your own home or through the lobby of a New York hotel in broad daylight, Hitchcock knew that being taken into a car against your will could be equally frightening and filmed these scenes from The Wrong Man and North by Northwest in much same way.

Then, of course, there's the way Hitchcock filmed kissing scenes, but we covered that already!