{"id":4220,"date":"2006-01-18T12:20:12","date_gmt":"2006-01-18T17:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=4220"},"modified":"2022-10-09T22:24:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T02:24:55","slug":"archie-leach-day-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=4220","title":{"rendered":"Cary Grant in Sylvia Scarlett<\/i>: The Breakthrough"},"content":{"rendered":"

That’s Cary Grant in his breakthrough part – Monkley the Cockney con-artist in George Cukor’s Sylvia Scarlett<\/i>.<\/p>\n

From Evenings With Cary Grant: Recollections in His Own Words and by Those Who Knew Him Best<\/a>\"\"<\/i>:<\/p>\n

Random quotes about this weird little film which was a flop – but which changed Cary Grant’s life:<\/p>\n

Katharine Hepburn: “That was really the beginning for Cary. George Cukor had seen him and thought he was wonderful. George told me, ‘We’re going to have this unknown fella, but he’s absolutely great. Cary was grateful to George for that.”<\/p>\n

Cary Grant: “Sylvia Scarlett<\/i> was my breakthrough. It permitted me to play a character I knew. Thanks to George Cukor. He let me play it the way I thought it should be played because he didn’t know who the character was.”<\/p>\n

Hepburn, again: “He was the only reason to see Sylvia Scarlett<\/i>. It was a terrible picture but he was wonderful in it. He was very secure in his work. And God, he was fun. He had a tremendous vitality. He was heavier and huskier then. I liked the way he looked when he had that chunky, slightly pudgy face.”<\/p>\n

George Cukor, director: “Sylvia Scarlett<\/i> was the first time Cary felt the ground under his feet as an actor. He suddenly seemed liberated. It was very exhilarating to see.”<\/p>\n

Wonderful film. It’s not awful – sorry, Hepburn – you’re wrong. Grant is, indeed, the reason to see it – but as a whole: I find the film haunting, bizarre, unclassifiable, and completely ahead of its time.<\/p>\n

It’s also GREAT to see Cary Grant so unplugged.<\/p>\n

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