Mr. Lucky

I just caught Mr. Lucky on TCM and agree this film rates about 7.5 out of 10. What would have otherwise been a discordant mix of comedy & drama are harmonized by the genius of Cary Grant. And this is a Cary Grant in a period of his acting life when he seems deeply aware of & willing to play out the dark, cynical side of life – as in his brilliant & underrated portrayal of the cockney lad Ernie Mott in 1944's None But The Lonely Heart (directed by Clifford Odets!). What's particularly fascinating is Grant's character portrayals in both Mr. Lucky & None But The Lonely Heart is that they start out being cynical in the sense of guys who are prematurely disappointed in the future. He lives like a dog that will succeed by biting and out-foxing everyone. Then he is humanized – without loosing his cynical edge. On the contrary we see here a key into the elegance that was Grant. He lives by denying & accepting society; this suave, cool-hearted knave. You can see that he denies society for the very reason that he is convinced that it will not fail. He accepts life's contradictions. He gets on with it. Most important of all: he is loyal to the few good things in life. In short, we were fortunate to have Grant and '43's Mr. Lucky and '44's None But the Lonely Heart – these Grant-branded jewels cast in timeless celluloid.