An Affair to Remember (1957)
More than any other star, writers like to dish the dirt on Cary Grant, the lead in Affair to Remember.
At various times I have read he was flagrantly gay as he shared a house with Randolph Scott, his real name was Archie Leach, he was a Nazi spy and – unknown to him – his mother was put in a lunatic asylum.
He also happened to be a fine actor, the best at romantic comedy and very much his own man.
In An Affair to Remember he plays Nick Ferrante, a good looking wastrel, returning to New York by liner to marriage rich heiress Lois Clark.
On the journey he meets Terry McCabe (Deborah Kerr) and they fall in love. They arrange to meet in 6 months’ time at the Empire State Building but she has an accident on the way way there when she is hit by a car and rendered disabled.
In watching the CD I noted how well Grant played off Deborah Kerr.
The chemistry between the two was so authentic – all the more unlikely that they had an offstage thing going on as he had just finished an affaire with Sophia Loren whom he still adored.
This is the point about Cary Grant, he was such a fine actor that what was happening in his private life did not affect his performance.
The only problem about being overtly gay in his time was the studio did not like it.
Rock Hudson was consistently cast in male heart-throb roles when it was an open secret that he was gay.
He even had a civil partnership wedding with his male lover.
Dirk Bogarde played romantic leads in many films till he came out in Victim as a gay barrister being blackmailed, his agent warning this role would be his ruination. It was not and he was superb in a gay role in Death inVenice.
So my point is that sexual preference should not matter .
Cary Grant is Bob Tickler’s favourite actor for the unusual reason that they share the same tailor.
In North by Northwest the always elegant Grant wore the same blue suit throughout and this was tailored for him by Kilgour, French and Steanbury. Bob had the same suit for his Prince of Wales check Kilgour bespoke suit but Cary Grant he isn’t!
Deborah Kerr, the other star in An Affaire to Remember, is best known as the governess in The King and I and romping in the surf with Burt Lancaster in Fred Zinnemann’s From Here to Eternity.
She was an actress of immense beauty and charm who holds the record for unsuccessful nominations for Oscars (6).
The dialogue between her and Grant is a masterclass often trading meaningless commonplaces as crackling snappy dialogue.
