Peter Bogdanovich: [Cary] Grant is a much more vulnerable character [in Only Angels Have Wings] than any of the other leading men in your pictures.
Howard Hawks: Much more sensitive. Bogart rode right over it. [John] Wayne will get, not maudlin, but corny. You have to watch him on that, and you have to watch out for Grant being oversensitive. You had to watch out for Bogart being insensitive. You’re on a tightrope with a lot of those things – but they’re all so good that it isn’t much of a problem. I had to go over to Wayne once and say, “What are you trying to do – play Uncle Tom’s Cabin, for God’s sake? C’mon …” “OK, OK,” he said, “I was just trying to get something in the scene,” and I said, “Well, this is one of those scenes where you don’t try to get anything in. Just say the lines and get on out.” And he said, “All right, all right – don’t go on talking. I’ve quit talking – you quit talking.” All he really wants to do is try to make a better scene.
The BAM Theater in Brooklyn has a Cary Grant festival right now. Every night for the next two weeks or so they are showing one of his movies. Thought you might enjoy.
Jon – Yes! It’s wonderful – I’m going to see as much as I can. I can’t believe that “People Will Talk” is on the bill – perhaps the weirdest movie Grant ever made (and one he sometimes disowned or didn’t count) – Anyway, it’s been fun. I’ve already been to a couple of them.
Here’s the schedule New Yorkers (and others in the area) if you’re interested.
Those are great vignettes.
Thanks!
I keep Peter’s conversation with Orson Welles
close by and thumb through it often.
~phil