Book Review: Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise

The excellent CARY GRANT: A BRILLIANT DISGUISE is the latest book from esteemed biographer Scott Eyman.

I have many of Eyman's books on my shelves; over the years I've enjoyed Eyman titles including PRINT THE LEGEND: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN FORD, LION OF HOLLYWOOD: THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF LOUIS B. MAYER, ERNST LUBITSCH: LAUGHTER IN PARADISE, and EMPIRE OF DREAMS: THE EPIC LIFE OF CECIL B. DEMILLE.

I also especially admired JOHN WAYNE: THE LIFE & LEGEND, which was reviewed here in 2014.

Needless to say, I was enthused to read his book on Cary Grant when it was released last fall, and it did not disappoint. It's only taken me this long to gather my thoughts for a review due to the press of work and other commitments, as well as the book being such a meaty read at 556 pages, including index. It's an important book which makes a valuable contribution to cinema history.

Hopefully, now that the initial rush of media coverage has died down, my review will serve to draw some attention back to this title and encourage those who'd been thinking of reading it but haven't yet done so to pick it up. While I'm not entirely sure how the book left me feeling about Cary Grant -- indeed, I'm not sure how Cary Grant felt about Cary Grant! -- it's a highly readable and worthwhile volume.

Grant, of course, was one of classic Hollywood's greatest stars. By the time I was first aware of his work he had already retired, following WALK DON'T RUN (1966), but he was a favorite of my mother's and I grew up watching many of his films on local television from the time I was quite young; he's remained a top favorite ever since. Thanks to the accessibility of classic films on TV in my childhood years, I suspect there are many who could say the same.

It was thus quite a thrill in my life when Grant narrated the Disneyland Christmas Candlelight Procession which I performed in with my high school choir in the late '70s. During rehearsal he was just yards away and every bit as handsome as he appeared on film. As we stood singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" he smiled directly at me and the effect was overpowering. He was then a silver-haired gentleman in his mid-70s but absolutely dazzling.

Grant's performing persona has always been powerful, but over the years there's been little insight available into what made him "tick" behind the scenes.

I often find the "early years" section of a film-related biography somewhat less interesting reading, being anxious to get to information on films I've enjoyed; there is indeed lots of interesting detail about the making of Grant's films, but I was pleased to discover that Eyman's book grabbed me from the very first pages. Given that he was writing about a century ago, with the key players no longer with us, Eyman cobbles together an impressive level of detail, combining primary source research with quotes from a range of old interviews into a fluid narrative.

For instance, having been aware as a teenager that Grant shared my great love for the Los Angeles Dodgers, I was struck by interesting bits such as Archie Leach, as Grant was then known, transferring his liking for his native England's cricket to baseball.  Sitting amidst crowds of people in baseball stands helped him pick up U.S. "English" as a young man.

In Grant's case, his early years are perhaps more key to understanding him than the average person; a difficult childhood was capped by the fact he believed his mother had died, only to learn years later that she was alive and had been hospitalized for mental illness.

Working on his own from a young age, he moved to the U.S. and struggled for survival as an acrobat, even stilt-walking at Coney Island. Even in those New York years, as vaudeville performer Archie Leach, Grant was building the foundation of his future career. An early roommate was future movie costume designer Orry-Kelly, and he became acquainted with a number of future entertainment stars who were then on the vaudeville circuit. The physical skills Leach acquired as an acrobat would also serve him well performing in movie comedies.

Upon moving to Hollywood, the newly renamed Cary Grant left the name Archie Leach behind, but not his insecurities; it's as though the man encompassed two personas, the Archie Leach of his rough-and-tumble youth and the elegant film star Cary Grant, and he was afraid he would never quite measure up to the latter.

Indeed, Eyman notes that unlike some actors, Grant avoided roles which were too close to the real Archie: "...with occasional exceptions, Grant wanted to put as much space between Archie Leach and the construct known as Cary Grant as possible."

Grant's entire life seems to have been filled with this kind of warring dichotomy. While hugely successful, the struggles of his poor early years led to him being known as a man who was tight with money, to say the least, yet there were also times he could be quite generous.

Grant's personal relationships, particularly with women, were often complicated, and he had a number of failed marriages; on the flip side he loved children -- among other things, there's a charming anecdote from former child actress Karolyn Grimes about Grant playing with her on the set of THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947) -- and was extremely loyal to friends such as Ingrid Bergman. As for the oft-married romantic idol's possible relationships with men, Eyman presents the known facts and lets readers draw their own conclusions, which I felt was the correct approach.

In the book Grant comes across as interesting but self-absorbed and not necessarily always likeable. Behind the glamorous, romantic persona, the real man often seems brittle and rather emotionally empty -- at least until the last years of his life and the joy of becoming a father, which seems to have given him a deep level of happiness previously missing in his life.

It can be disappointing to read a biography and learn that someone whose work we admire wasn't always as likeable off the screen. While I felt a bit of that, I don't think it was really a surprise, based on what I previously knew of Grant, and Eyman makes Grant's issues, anchored in his early years, understandable. Additionally, the book is so readable and informative that it was a pleasure to feel that for the first time I knew as much about Cary Grant the man as it's possible for anyone to know.

Beyond that, whatever he was off screen, Grant's film achievements continue to stand for all time, brilliant and undated, continually waiting to be discovered by a new generation.

As mentioned above, this is a thick read; the body of this hardback's text runs 481 pages, followed by extensive end notes, bibliography, and index. As one would expect from a writer of Eyman's caliber, this is a very well-documented book. There is a section with 56 black and white photographs printed on glossy pages.

Recommended.

Thanks to Scott Eyman and Simon & Schuster for providing a review copy of this book.

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