Archie

On screen he seemed like the perfect man and had a perfect life. Nothing could be further from the truth. He had a terrible childhood. He made a successful career but he understandably had his demons. He was a good man whose childhood affected him his whole life. Only when he became a father did he really find peace and happiness. He didn't feel like he had to make the most money or need any public adoration. He was comfortable being a father even though it came very late in life for him. I always liked him as an actor whether it was a romantic comedy or a dramatic thriller but I really came to respect him as a person.

This is a very entertaining and beautifully made drama. It is not really a biography, it doesn't go through his life story - indeed it virtually glosses over his Hollywood career instead focusing on his relationship with his fourth wife in the 60s and his relationship with his mother. It does this sensitively, emotionally and intelligently.

Not simply listening his career allows the story to explore the man himself and what's wonderfully refreshing these days is that is doesn't dis him like so many biographies of celebrities tend to do these days. He wasn't perfect but he comes across as a genuinely nice guy.

Whilst the main narrative is set in the 60s, there are flashbacks into his awful childhood in Bristol. These insights into his past explains who he became. Considering these traumatic experiences, it's amazing that he turned out so normal.

It's a very watchable four hours.

My Review- Archie Streaming on BritBox My Rating 7/10

Cary Grant the debonair elegant movie star that was was such a unique and sophisticated invention of the Hollywood star system of the 1930's 1940's would be nearly impossible for any actor to portray today successfully.

Jason Isaacs comes very close especially with impersonating the distinctive mid Atlantic cultured voice of Cary Grant but at times I felt I was watching an impersonation instead of an impression.

I've read and watched many fine documentaries on Cary Grant and his life pre Hollywood and post Hollywood and really learnt nothing new about the man himself in this entertaining 4 part series .

A series based on Dyan Cannon's 2011 memoir Dear Cary . Dyan Cannon was married to Cary Grant for less than 3 years from 1965 to 1968 they had a daughter Jennifer who is along with her mother is a Producer of this series .

The screenplay written jointly by Jeff Pope and Dyan Cannon has a documentary interview style that begins with one of Cary Grants audience participation question and answer tours of the mid 1980's that were titled "A Conversation with Cary Grant." As he thinks back over his life story Jason Isaacs as Cary Grant relates his rags to riches story beginning in Bristol as a young child with a critically ill brother a mostly absent and ineffectual father and a stressed and depressed mother.

However as pointed out by my viewing partner the interior of their home was not very convincing as a house of poverty, quite comfortable as a matter of fact.

I was aware of all this background from watching the wonderful 2017 documentary told in Cary Grant's own words Becoming Cary Grant .

Another two very informative documentaries one about the Academy Award winning Australian costume designer Orry Kelly titled Women He's Undressed made by Gillian Armstrong in 2015 and another about Scotty Bowers titled Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood more than implied that Cary Grant also had male lovers.

No one will ever know the truth about Cary Grant's sexuality and it's not really that important except to say that in this series the only time that it's even implied is when Dyan Cannon played by Laura Aikman asks him outright if he was gay he gives a rather ambiguous answer "I have loved many people and married a few times" Archy Leach the acrobat clown escaped his poor child and traumatic childhood to become Cary Grant the debonair and sharp witted and amusing Hollywood gentleman who had the hilarious line which still breaks me up from the classic 1938 comedy Bringing Up Baby where he has to put on Katherine Hepburn's bathrobe. When asked "Why are you wearing these?", he replies: Because I just went gay, all of a sudden which is apparently the first time the gay word was used in a movie in that context.

Cary Grant certainly was no stranger to Pink Hollywood culture he also played a gay man although it was never mentioned in the biographical fantasy movie Night and Day about composer Cole Porter in 1946 .

His close association with colleagues in the Hollywood community of that golden era certainly would have exposed him to Gay culture . His friends included Katharine Hepburn with who he made 4 films with George Cukor who desperately wanted him to play Norman Maine in the 1954 movie A Star is Born and was furious when he refused and the great costume designer Orry Kelly who , wrote that he had an on-again, off-again relationship with Cary Grant until the 1930s.

Actor Randolph Scott and Cary Grant lived together for a couple of years and were regarded as a couple . Toward the end of their lives, Scott and Grant were often seen together, on one occasion holding hands late at night in the Polo Lounge, alone except for the waiters.

So if Cary Grant wasn't gay or bisexual he certainly embraced that culture and I felt it a pity it wasn't mentioned much at all in this series which I suppose is understandable if told from his ex wife Dyan Cannon's perspective.

I was entertained by this 4 part series Archie but can't help thinking that it concentrated more on Dyan Cannon's relatively brief encounter with the phenomenon that was Cary Grant .

For me missing out on an opportunity to portray accurately the magic makeover and alchemy that created the charm and personality of Cary Grant .

He may never have won an Oscar a BAFTA or a Golden Globe although in 1942 he did win a Golden Apple Award as Most Cooperative Actor but he remains and always will one of Hollywood's great iconic movie stars.

Cary Grant like Clark Gable ,Spencer Tracy , Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford Garbo and Dietrich all were true originals and while imitations are interesting they just can't capture the true essence of the original.

A special mention about the wonderful performance of Harriet Walter in this series who plays Elsie Leach the mother that Cary Grant didn't know was still alive till towards the end of her life when his father confessed she was still alive. His father had her committed to an asylum when he was a young boy telling him she had died .

Decent and moving show, generally very well acted, but marred by a number of surprisingly sloppy factual errors that don't gel with the assertions made at the start that it was a well researched drama - in particular Grant gave up his career as soon as Jennifer was born, the brother who died did so before Archie was born. Easy to fact check these and other basic timeline issues that call into question veracity of the piece otherwise.

Shame because the acting was good by Isaac's, Aikman and Waters, and Isaac's captured Grant's voice exceptionally, although the make up of older Grant seemed less effective.

Generally moving and it revealed the man's achievements and complexities.

The praise for Jason Isaacs that I've read in other reviews is certainly justified but I would not go so far as some who declare that he looks and sounds just like the original. The accent is good but it's not exactly like the man himself (actually I think that Captain Scarlett and Fancy from Top Cat were both slightly better), also it rather comes and goes a bit. That, of course, could be deliberate given that one of the main themes is that the character Cary Grant was all an act. As for the visuals, from what I've seen Jason Isaacs looks nothing like Grant, but long hours in makeup have made him into a good imitation, most of the time. At other times he looks like Eddie Albert or Robert DeNiro.

One thing that keeps coming up about Grant is whether he was gay or not. That's not addressed here. It seems a bit unfair that his great chum Randolph Scott is sidelined to one small scene though.