Who is today's Cary Grant or close?

[Hemingway Jones]

Hollywood actors of today cannot be any mirror image of what Hollywood actors were then. Even though they were high profiles in the media, the only reason they ever looked like movie stars was, what I think, the Hollywood studio system. Imagine actors being told what to do then, as now they run off as they please. An example of stardom without direction is those certain celebrities now that are shown in the media as superficial characters that have babies, get divorced, ger married, are involved in scandals, caught doing stupid things. A newspaper will treat you like a star when you treat yourself like one.

Ah, but keep this in mind, Grant wasn't part of the studio system. He was a trailblazer; when his contract expired, he didn't renew it. He was a free agent at a time that was unheard of.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Ah, but keep this in mind, Grant wasn't part of the studio system. He was a trailblazer; when his contract expired, he didn't renew it. He was a free agent at a time that was unheard of.

He also knew how to treat himself with dignity

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I was just thinking something funny. If we'd had this conversation in 1910, would we have been asking who is today's Edwin Booth or Jenny Lind? Probably. Which made me wonder how long it will take before Cary Grant is all but forgotten?

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[Marc Chevalier]

Colin Firth comes close in class, distinction, and dress, but he lacks a certain, as the French would say, "I don't know what." lol

That's because Colin Firth is today's Ralph Bellamy.


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[happyfilmluvguy]

Good heavens sir! Don't think such things!

Well, as long as he is documented, he'll live on

 

[Hemingway Jones]

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I was just thinking something funny. If we'd had this conversation in 1910, would we have been asking who is today's Edwin Booth or Jenny Lind? Probably. Which made me wonder how long it will take before Cary Grant is all but forgotten?

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There were no films of the stage actors of the late 19th C. So, I would say, Grant will be with us forever. Plus, he is firmly rooted in the cultural consciousness.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

He has been called the black Cary Grant.

In a way, Cary Grant was the white Paul Robeson ... except that Robeson could sing and act better


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[Godfrey Park]

Ah, but keep this in mind, Grant wasn't part of the studio system. He was a trailblazer; when his contract expired, he didn't renew it. He was a free agent at a time that was unheard of.

Ahhh, but while he wasn't bound and shackled to a studio by contract, he did have to play within the studio system in order to work.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Grant will be with us forever. Plus, he is firmly rooted in the cultural consciousness.

Hmm ... I'm not convinced. When my parents and I moved to L.A. in 1972, Hollywood Blvd. was full of paraphernalia related to Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, and Laurel & Hardy, as well as Bruce Lee! The golden era was too "recent" to be memorialized back then, but not recent enough to be "hot". Imagine, even Marilyn Monroe wasn't well represented in the souvenir stores. Then, in the later '70s, Hollywood went mad over honoring '30s and '40s stars and films ... and the shops sold fewer and fewer Charlie Chaplin statues. Today, practically nothing is left in Hollywood gift shops to remind us of the golden era, let alone the silent film days.


I suspect that every actor has a shelf life, no matter how long his/her films are available for viewing.


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[Matt Deckard]

Every actor isn't Buster Keaton.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Ahhh, but while he wasn't bound and shackled to a studio by contract, he did have to play within the studio system in order to work.

They bid for his high price and then he worked.

 

[Godfrey Park]

Every actor isn't Buster Keaton.

Ouch! lol

 

[Solid Citizen]

Cary Grant

Cary Grant AKA the Mount Rushmore of mens fashion. Its how he wore what he wore. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Regarding this mug George C. :eusa_doh: his Aunt had more class than he ever will.

sc

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Hmm ... I'm not convinced. When my parents and I moved to L.A. in 1972, Hollywood Blvd. was full of paraphernalia related to Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, and Laurel & Hardy, as well as Bruce Lee! The golden era was too "recent" to be memorialized back then, but not recent enough to be "hot". Imagine, even Marilyn Monroe wasn't well represented in the souvenir stores. Then, in the later '70s, Hollywood went mad over honoring '30s and '40s stars and films ... and the shops sold fewer and fewer Charlie Chaplin statues. Today, practically nothing is left in Hollywood gift shops to remind us of the golden era, let alone the silent film days.


I suspect that every actor has a shelf life, no matter how long his/her films are available for viewing.


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Hollywood tchotchke stores are not a reliable barometer as to the cultural relevancy of an icon.

If anything, these stars have become ubiquitous. It used to be that only TCM showed classic films. Recently, STARZ continues to play "To Catch a Thief" and "Anatomy of a Murder" during prime time as well as other films. A new classic film channel has appeared on ComCast: RetroPlex and FMC has started playing classic films more often than not. Biographies of classic era stars continue to appear on the bookshelves and media continues to borrow images, not to mention all of those relentless remakes leading to renewed interests in their classic source films.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Ouch! lol

Well, how else did "Walk, Don't Run" get made? [huh] lol

 

[Feraud]

So who today is our Cary Grant? William H. Macy, Denzel Washington, Ralph Fiennes? Who has the perfect combination of looks, clothes, manners, politics, sexuality, etc.? The discussion makes me wonder if "class" is a put on, or pretense. Anyone can dress well, and display manners but who really holds up under the spotlight.

 

[Harp]

Close

I might nominate Damian Lewis, who seems cut from good
English acting stock; however, I am unfamiliar with his off screen
sartorial standards. Still, he seems to fit the bill.

 

[Godfrey Park]

Well, how else did "Walk, Don't Run" get made? [huh] lol

Yes, they begged him to come out of retirement to make the poor remake of The More the Merrier where he plays the Charles Coburn matchmaking character, but I would surmise the previous years of his contract free career were spent adhering to studio rules while working for them.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Every actor isn't Buster Keaton.

True ... but when I was a kid, other kids actually recognized Buster Keaton. Heck, you could still see Keaton films -- butchered and faded as they were -- on Saturday afternoon TV. Today, what average kid knows about Keaton? (And I don't mean the ones whose parents are glued to TCM. As I imagine I will be!)


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[Hemingway Jones]

True ... but when I was a kid, other kids actually recognized Buster Keaton. Heck, you could still see Keaton films -- butchered and faded as they were -- on Saturday afternoon TV. Today, what average kid knows about Keaton?


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I don't want to get too far off track, but some star's careers ebb and flow, even after death. I worry about Buster Crabbe. He was my hero. I doubt those old "Tarzan, Buck Rogers, and Flash Gordon" serials are still being played. Boy, I wish they were.