And here’s why. My latest at House Next Door.
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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
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I enjoyed your piece. I could be wrong about this, but maybe Grant chose not to work with Wilder because it could have possibly upset the personal friendship that they established.
Yeah, maybe. Also, the pairing might be TOO obvious and maybe that would have been uninteresting to Grant?
Sheila,
You must know by now how much I enjoy these pieces so from now on Iâll just omit the written praise and you may consider it a given from here on out.
Re âHis Girl Fridayâ: âBut why I love it so is because it is also a tour de force of listening. All done at breakneck speed.â
What a great observation! The Grant and Russell characters know each other so well and each is equally gifted at: catching the gist, filling in the blanks, and coming up with a rejoinder all before the point is completely made. I believe these two characters were made for each other as no other couple in movies.
when i see tony curtis in ‘some like it hot’ i think i understand why grant wouldn’t want to be in a wilder movie.
i love wilder, but i can see grant having a problem with that kind of SINGULARITY in a character. wilder’s movies aren’t really all that ambiguous, even sabrina.
anyhoo, i LOVE this piece. congrats.
bren – I think there might have been something too “on the nose” about it that he didn’t like – maybe you’re right, and also too “on the nose” in terms of “it would be so PERFECT for you!” (similar to his comment to George Cukor). He and Wilder remained really good friends (Wilder tells some HYSTERICAL stories about what Grant was like) – but Grant just didn’t ever commit to any of his films.
Wilder kept trying til the very end.
George – yes, yes, yes – that is why it is just exhilarating to watch them. Not just because it’s amazing to see two people talk so damn fast – but because of everything ELSE they manage to do and suggest and get in there. You get that these people freakin’ LOVE each other – but meanwhile they’re saying things to one another like, “Walter, you’re wonderful, in a loathsome kind of way.”
hahahaha Just love it!!
Thanks for the nice words. I worked hard on the piece. It was fun.
Thoroughly enjoyed the piece, esp. #4–“Notorious” is one of my all-time favorites. It was on TV the other night and I was rapt as usual! I also have a soft spot for “Father Goose.”
It made me laugh that the father of the title character of the Disney cartoon “Pepper Ann” sounded like Grant. The dad was this suave pilot whose face the viewers never saw–only heard when he called in. Like some sort of fantasy dad to a kid whose parents are divorced. I always wondered at the significance behind it, whether the writers were fans or something deeper.
Re your comments on Robert Walker and “Strangers on a Train.” Have you ever seen Walker’s last film, “My Son John”? (1952). I had to go the the National Archives to see a print. Walker died during its filming, so many scenes ahd to be shot with stand-ins, etc. The eeriest thing about this film (panned by all) is that Frank Capra used death scenes from “Strangers on a Train” to conclude “John” In a way, thus, Robert Walker dies thrice: in “Strangers” in “John” –and in real life. The gay theme is also played here; Walker’s Mom (Helen Hayes) notes that Walker “never played football,” etc.
A final note, the film has been panned over the decades as an example of lunatic anti-communism, McCarthyite, etc. But would these brickbats have been quite so savage if Walker had played the role of a Nazi or fascist instead of (hinted) communist? (The ultimate horror of 1951 –a “Commie prevert!”)
Regards,
Stanley Sandler