The Cary Grant Signature Collection (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House / Destination Tokyo / The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer / My Favorite Wife / Night and Day)

Amazon.com

Greatest movie star ever? How can you argue against Cary Grant, the graceful clown, the ironic romantic? Equally at home in an Alfred Hitchcock suspense piece or a Howard Hawks screwball comedy, the superb Mr. Grant (born Archie Leach) could handle just about anything. And it's a testament to his appeal that this boxed set, which contains not a single great movie, is nevertheless an entertaining catalog of Grant's splendid run during the 1940s.

The earliest picture, and a sheer delight, is 1940's My Favorite Wife, one of Grant's blissful pairings with the wonderful Irene Dunne. He's about to remarry when his first wife washes up again after having been lost on a desert island (with he-man Randolph Scott) for seven years. Destination Tokyo is a WWII submarine picture, with Grant as the stalwart skipper--slightly odd casting, but he brings it off with admirable professionalism. (The film's propagandistic jabs at demonizing the Japanese enemy have not aged well.)

Night and Day is one of those composer biographies that veers rather radically from reality, with Grant playing Cole Porter. A ton of great songs and the canny casting of Cary as the champagne-sophisticate Porter make it passably de-lovely, despite the whitewash of the composer's real-life story. The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer puts Grant in deliciously antic mode, mooned over by teenager Shirley Temple but preferring the company of her older sister, Myrna Loy. He re-teams with Loy in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, an artless but regularly hilarious tale of Manhattanites whose Connecticut fixer-upper becomes a money pit. --Robert Horton

Description

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House The Bachelor and The Bobby-Soxer My Favorite Wife Destination Tokyo Night and Day

Customer Reviews:

Why can't they provide REgion free DVDs.......2007-06-23

I am one Cary Grant fan and it is distressing that I cannot view these products. Grant has fans worldwide!!!!

Nice little set.......2007-06-14

I like the other Cary Grant box set better but this one is nice to have

Entertaining .......2007-02-22

Thoroughly recommended. For lovers of old classics & Cary Grant these are a must to have in your library. I particularly enjoyed watching a much older Shirley Temple in The Batchelor & the Bobby Soxer.

Poor quality.......2007-01-19

Item arrived in timely manner, but item appeared used, DVD cases were chipped and broken only one DVD had plastic wrapping.

Excellent Buy.......2007-01-04

This was a high quality packaged item suitable for saving and showing off. The movies are also terrific and will be watched again and again. I was impressed with the quality of the packaging for the price of this set. I expeceted the interior cases to be minimal, but they are first rate.

Average customer rating:

Love It!
Old fashioned Charm
Wish We Had the Re-Make
His favorite wife is in the honeymoon suite down the hall
Half funny, half ridiculous

My Favorite Wife
Starring: Irene Dunne , Cary Grant , Randolph Scott , Gail Patrick , and Ann Shoemaker
Director: Garson Kanin
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001WTWS8
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

That delightful couple from The Awful Truth, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, revisit the world of marital confusion. Presuming his wife to be dead, Grant remarries--on the same day that his bedraggled spouse (that's Dunne) returns. Seems she's been stranded on a desert island for seven years (with strapping hunk Randolph Scott, too). The moment Cary spots his resurrected wife, as an elevator door slides shut, is one of the many funny gags in this comedy, and the final sequence is memorably wacky. Awful Truth director Leo McCarey prepared the film, but it was directed by author Garson Kanin. The two stars are so adept at farce, and so effortless in conveying their characters' mutual affection, that the movie triumphs over the whopper of a plot device. It was supposed to be remade as the ill-fated Marilyn Monroe film Something's Got to Give, and ended up Move Over, Darling with Doris Day. --Robert Horton

Description

All aboard for a spinning marriage-go-round! Cary Grant, the screen's ideal combination of romantic hunk and comedy buffoon, plays flabbergasted Nick. Radiant Irene Dunne, Grant's The Awful Truth and Penny Serenade co-star, plays the returned wife who cagily sets out to reclaim her former life. And Randolph Scott and Gail Patrick add to the marital mixup as Nick goes from having one wife to two to none to one. The right one. What romantic comedy has joined together let no one put asunder. Of all the giddy screwball comedies ever made, this remains an enduring favorite.

Customer Reviews:

Love It!.......2007-01-05

I think I've watched this movie at least 50 times since getting it! Fun movie! A classic! Cary Grant and Irene Dunne make a great team!

Old fashioned Charm.......2006-12-26

The charms of Irene Dunne (whose secret, endorsed by the Studio, was to work from 10 am to 6 pm), Cary Grant and Randolph Scott (off the screen Cary Grant's good friend) had this comedy float in the air. Mr. Alden (Cary Grant) and Mrs. Ellen Arden (Irene Dunne) were married 4 years with 2 toddlers before Ellen was missing for 7 years after a shipwreck. When she came back she found a blend new (less than 24 hours) Mrs. Bianca Arden on a honeymoon.

What followed was Mr. Arden's unsuccessful attempt to dissuade Bianca, then his jealousy towards Mr. Burkett (Randolph Scott) for his company with his wife on an island during her years of missing. The dialogue can be funny and Randolph Scott lent his personal charm and physique to make a truly convincing rival. He swinged the rings and dived in the swimming pool like Tarzan. He also looked very bit like a relaxing millionnaire (in real life he was, with his screen success in the 50s). A very young Cary Grant coyly smiled his way out of embarrasing situations, one after another, and won over his favorite wife's heart clumsily but lovingly.

This movie was a great way to revisit the old-fashioned charm. Any attempt of remake would most probably take away the magic.

Wish We Had the Re-Make.......2006-11-26

My Favorite Wife is a funny story featuring a beloved screen team. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne star as Nick and Ellen Arden, a married couple, but since this is a comedy, there is a complication. Ellen has been declared legally dead since she has been missing and presumed drowned after seven years of absence. Nick has found another woman named Bianca (Gail Patrick), a stuffy and spoiled woman, and married her. On his honeymoon, he discovers at Ellen is still alive and has returned from a deserted island to re-claim her family. Hilarity ensues when Nick is reluctant to tell his new bride the news and she does all she can to figure out his odd behavior.

This movie is a very light comedy. The plot is interesting enough in itself and is executed relatively well. It seems to get funnier as time goes on. Of course, it is rather strange to hear Dunne spoken of as a great beauty and a perfect woman. She might have been a good housewife, but she isn't the most beautiful of all the classic starlets.

Unfortunately, the re-make of this film starring Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin was never completed. Something's Got To Give is the last film Monroe was working on before her death. What exists shows a competant comedic team making a laugh a minute and a loyal tribute to the original. I believe it could have been better than My Favorite Wife. We do not have the remake, though, so we are left with a sufficiently funny romp with two wonderful stars.

His favorite wife is in the honeymoon suite down the hall.......2006-07-23

A befuddled Nick Arden (Cary Grant) can't seem to decide between his bride Gail (Gail Patrick) and his wife Ellen (Irene Dunne), who happened to return from a seven-year absence on the day of Nick's remarriage. Finding him at the honeymoon hotel wasn't difficult since it was the same one in which he consummated his first marriage. Ellen's goal is to keep Nick from consummating a second.

Nick's strong feelings for his first wife are apparent. Once he spots her, she is never far away. In fact, it is not clear why he married Gail. Ellen concludes it was for the benefit of the children and Nick sheepishly agrees in order to have some excuse, though the new bride is never seen interacting with the kiddies. Nevertheless, it takes Nick considerable time to get up enough nerve to tell Gail the honeymoon is over. His cryptic rendezvous and resistance to her affection makes Gail feel something is wrong with one of them -- physically or mentally.

Prolonging Nick's procrastination is his discovery of where Ellen has been for seven years. The delay in explaining the facts to his bride makes Ellen wonder if he prefers Gail. To speed things along, Ellen uses every feminine wile to lure her love back in her arms.

During this emotional merry-go-round, Nick must juggle an insurance man, a psychoanalyst, two wives, and the law who would arrest him for bigamy. Obviously, this leads to some hilarious awkward moments with MY FAVORITE WIFE.

Movie quote: "I came here with my wife... hum... my bride really. Now my wife, not my bride... my wife... Why should I bother you with details?"

Half funny, half ridiculous.......2006-06-28

This is definitely screwball. Forget about anything resembling emotional reality, this movie tromps along it's own gay way.
A lot of the humor comes from the absurd manner Cary and Irene skip along in their own little la-la land of wealth, suspicion, and inzaniness. Maybe not for everyone, but Cary gives one of his classic, clueless performances.

My Favorite Wife / The Bachelor & The Bobby-Soxer (Two-Pack)

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My Favorite Wife / The Bachelor & The Bobby-Soxer (Two-Pack)
Starring: Warner 2pak
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0002QO3LO
Release Date: 2004-10-12

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