Cary Grant. The suave, debonair British-American actor who took Hollywood by storm between the 1930s and 1960s. An actor who fully embodied the term “leading man” and captured the hearts of audiences with his lighthearted wit and endless charm. I’ve been on a bit of a Cary Grant run of late because well, frankly, I can’t get enough of the man. So I wanted to take today to recommend some of my favourite films starring one of Old Hollywood’s greatest. 

1. His Girl Friday

Showcasing Mr. Grant’s impressive quick-witted delivery and comic timing, His Girl Friday is an absurdly fast screwball comedy that tells the story of newspaper editor Walter Burns, played by Grant, who’s on a mission to sabotage the marriage of his ex-wife and former star reporter Hildy, played by Rosalind Russell. When I say that this is a fast-paced film, I mean it. The writing doesn’t stop and the jokes come flying at you every millisecond with Grant and Russell frantically ping-ponging off each other with an incredibly engaging and laugh-out-loud pace. This movie highlights the sharpness of both actors and their comedic abilities and I highly recommend it. 

2. Holiday 

You can’t be a leading man in Hollywood without being able to melt some hearts, and Cary Grant in this movie does just that. Grant plays Johnny Case, a self-made, successful man who’s about to marry a woman named Julia Seton, whom he later finds out is the daughter of an extremely wealthy man. When invited to their luxurious mansion for a dinner to celebrate their union, Case meets his bride-to-be’s elder sister, Linda, played by one of my all-time favourite actors, Katherine Hepburn.

Slowly but surely, Case becomes enamoured by the mystical Linda as his views on life and purpose seem to be far more aligned with hers than with Julia. Plotwise, there’s not much going on here, but the writing is thoughtful and the chemistry between Hepburn and Grant is palpable. It’s no wonder these two would go on to make multiple movies together. 

3. Suspicion

I’ve talked about how well Grant performs when it comes to comedy and romance, but his range as an actor is oftentimes severely underrated. Suspicion showcases not only Grant’s dramatic abilities but also his ability to play an eerily villainous character. Directed by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, it tells the story of the newly married couple Johnnie and Linda who, after some charmed convincing by Johnnie, elope despite her wealthy father’s disapproval.

Despite an extravagant honeymoon and a lavish house, Linda learns her husband lives off of borrowed money and doesn’t work. She later learns that he has a severe gambling problem, too. Talk about red flags. I won’t say too much else as doing so would spoil the film, but the way Grant can play this conniving and manipulative character with his iconic charm is impressively uncomfortable.

Cary Grant has quickly become one of my favourite actors and I can’t recommend his work enough.