Sherry Chandler

That fine line

“Becoming Cary Grant” is a review by Benjamin Schwarz of three new books on Grant found in the January/February 2007 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. In reading the article, I found the little snippet below:

…Suspicion (the first of his four movies for Hitchcock, who later called Grant “the only actor I ever loved in my whole life”; Grant risked his entire carefully wrought image and career here, as he established that the line between charmer and sociopath is very fine indeed).

But, thought I, fine as it may be, it’s a line a certain President of the United States falls definitely to one side of.

I’ve never understood why people find Mr. Bush charming. He’s a lout. And does not deserve to be on the same page as Cary Grant. And I just put him there. I do apologize. But he is probably a lout because he’s lazy. Cary Grant worked very very hard at being chaming.

Every time I subscribe to The Atlantic Monthly, I get mad at them over politics and let my subscription lapse. “Becoming Cary Grant” makes me think I should subscribe again. The article requires a subscription to read — I have been “lent” it for three days courtesy of Lance Mannion — so, if you love Cary Grant, if you love American movies, I suggest you run right out and find a copy to read. It’s wonderful! Great quotes and some nice snark.

Update: The full text of this review is now available at Powells.com.

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