I just read in a very learned article in The Atlantic — I mean, it was flatly asserted — that Cary Grant is the greatest actor who ever lived. Does anyone want to weigh in on this?
I mean, I think it's pretty asinine to speak in superlatives about matters of taste, especially when the superlatives come a dime a dozen, but I found the bluntness of the statement provocative.
I think he's a top-ranking (the top-ranked, probably not) leading man. He carried a lot of humor in his comedic roles not by words but through facial expressions. He was a dashing and convincing lead in dramas like "North by Northwest." And he was is one of my favorite actors, period. But "greatest actor" is over the top.
The article also endorsed the idea (with good reason, I’d agree), that “North by Northwest” wasn’t so much about Cary Grant as it was about the trials and tribulations of his suit.
I would rather the article held Grant up as an epitome in the superlative representative sense instead of the simple superlative sense that kc is criticizing. His roles probably helped form it, but for a couple of decades at least there was an ideal of the leading man that he fit more perfectly than anybody else did. You could argue that Grant was the greatest actor who ever lived only if you limited your scope to that ideal. Which, of course, isn’t to argue that he was the greatest after all.
But I have to agree that the article did a fine job of laying out what is so appealing about Grant.
Hunh. Yeah, I've only seen Cary Grant in two things (North by Northwest and His Girl Friday), and, while he was good in both, I can't say I was blown away by either performance. Acting styles are so different now than they were fifty years ago. Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor from that era.
Trying to define "greatest actor" is like trying to define "greatest mother." It's a very personal preference. I don't think you can generalize and actual name one person the "greatest."
Sara, welcome to the film blog! Let me know if you need another invite to post (since I switched to the new blogger).
I agree that the concept "greatest actor" doesn't really hold up under scrutiny. I personally tend to think of a great actor as someone capable of expertly playing a wide spectrum of roles — someone like Meryl Streep, who can impressively play the white-trashy Karen Silkwood or Woody Allen's lesbian ex-wife ("Manhattan") or a Nazi death camp survivor ("Sophie's Choice") or a Danish coffee farmer ("Out of Africa") and a zillion other roles. Ingrid Bergman also comes to mind as having breadth. But I'd agree that Cary Grant was the greatest of a certain type of leading man, as DW says.
The article mentions how he bucked the studio system and was the first "free agent" actor, which is very interesting. He was also very prolific. There were many years where'd he'd make five, six, seven movies in a single year.
The first movie I saw him in was "Bringing up Baby" with K. Hepburn. When my mom asked if I wanted to watch an old Cary Grant movie on TV, I was expecting a woman. Cary! I was probably 8 or 9, but I loved it! He was the most debonair man I had ever seen. The next thing I saw him in was Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief" with Grace Kelly.
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I mean, I think it's pretty asinine to speak in superlatives about matters of taste, especially when the superlatives come a dime a dozen, but I found the bluntness of the statement provocative.
I think he's a top-ranking (the top-ranked, probably not) leading man. He carried a lot of humor in his comedic roles not by words but through facial expressions. He was a dashing and convincing lead in dramas like "North by Northwest." And he was is one of my favorite actors, period. But "greatest actor" is over the top.
The article also endorsed the idea (with good reason, I’d agree), that “North by Northwest” wasn’t so much about Cary Grant as it was about the trials and tribulations of his suit.
I would rather the article held Grant up as an epitome in the superlative representative sense instead of the simple superlative sense that kc is criticizing. His roles probably helped form it, but for a couple of decades at least there was an ideal of the leading man that he fit more perfectly than anybody else did. You could argue that Grant was the greatest actor who ever lived only if you limited your scope to that ideal. Which, of course, isn’t to argue that he was the greatest after all.
But I have to agree that the article did a fine job of laying out what is so appealing about Grant.
I've heard of him, but I don't know that I've ever seen anything with him in it.
Hunh. Yeah, I've only seen Cary Grant in two things (North by Northwest and His Girl Friday), and, while he was good in both, I can't say I was blown away by either performance. Acting styles are so different now than they were fifty years ago. Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor from that era.
Trying to define "greatest actor" is like trying to define "greatest mother." It's a very personal preference. I don't think you can generalize and actual name one person the "greatest."
Sara, welcome to the film blog! Let me know if you need another invite to post (since I switched to the new blogger).
I agree that the concept "greatest actor" doesn't really hold up under scrutiny. I personally tend to think of a great actor as someone capable of expertly playing a wide spectrum of roles — someone like Meryl Streep, who can impressively play the white-trashy Karen Silkwood or Woody Allen's lesbian ex-wife ("Manhattan") or a Nazi death camp survivor ("Sophie's Choice") or a Danish coffee farmer ("Out of Africa") and a zillion other roles. Ingrid Bergman also comes to mind as having breadth. But I'd agree that Cary Grant was the greatest of a certain type of leading man, as DW says.
The article mentions how he bucked the studio system and was the first "free agent" actor, which is very interesting. He was also very prolific. There were many years where'd he'd make five, six, seven movies in a single year.
The first movie I saw him in was "Bringing up Baby" with K. Hepburn. When my mom asked if I wanted to watch an old Cary Grant movie on TV, I was expecting a woman. Cary! I was probably 8 or 9, but I loved it! He was the most debonair man I had ever seen. The next thing I saw him in was Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief" with Grace Kelly.
And DW, stop ignoring my e-mails!
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