THE 72 SPEAKEASY GUESTBOOK

It's no easy task to collect all 72 of Cary's movies.
This page is an exclusive spot for those who've accomplished this feat to tell their stories.

If you'd like to collect all 72, 
but are having trouble finding some of Cary's videos,
Just drop me an e-mail and I'll be glad to point you in the right direction.

Name: Debbie Dunlap
Homepage URL: The Cary Grant Video Source Page
Favorite Movie: "Holiday"
My Story: For those of you, young and old alike, who've expressed envy of my collection of movies, let me tell you the story of my collection.

Unlike the majority of you, I didn't become a Cary Grant fan till just five years ago. I grew up in a rural area and the only time we got more than one channel was when it rained on a Tuesday evening under a new moon in any of the months ending in "r". The one channel we did have ran "Gilligan's Island", "Hawaii Five-O" and the evening news with Walter Cronkite. (Huntley-Brinkley on Tuesday evenings under a new moon in months ending in "r".)  Let me just say, if it wasn't on that one television station, I didn't see it.

As a child, the extent of my theater experience was entirely Disney. I felt the full effects of maturity, when a date took me to the local movie theater (20 miles away) and we saw "Grease". WOW! This wasn't Disney anymore Toto!!

Those of you who are younger don't remember a time when there weren't VCR's.  You don't remember scouring the TV Guide for "The Wizard of Oz," Rogers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella" or waiting anxiously for "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" at Christmastime.  Catching a favorite on television was an event!  We'd block out an entire evening, pop the popcorn and circle around the set, savoring every moment of the movie.  Not until many years later, when I was an old married woman and VCR's became affordable, did it became possible to watch a movie at any time of the day or night. Mom & pop video rental stores started popping up. But the selection?? Puhleeez!! 

That is my excuse for not knowing Cary early on.

When I did discover Cary, I fell hard and FAST!

As the big Blockbuster-like video chains began to take over the video rental market, those early mom & pop shops started closing their doors. It was at the "Stop, Look and Listen" video store, that a Cary Grant fan was born. Stopping in there one day and finding a "Going Out of Business" sign in the window, I scanned the shelves for bargains. I found "The Grass is Greener," "That Touch of Mink," "Bringing Up Baby" and "Holiday." I think I paid $5 apiece for them.  

Did I buy them because I was a CG fan? Nope. I bought them, because in the same way I knew that a Jimmy Stewart movie was wholesome, I knew by his reputation, that a Cary Grant movie was one the whole family could watch. (I'd seen "The Philadelphia Story" and "Arsenic & Old Lace," so I was at least familiar with Cary!)

When I became a Cary fan was when I popped in first, "That Touch of Mink" and loved it, then popped in "Holiday" and loved it, and then "The Grass is Greener" and loved it, too! "Bringing Up Baby"? Ditto!! I'd previously taped "Arsenic & Old Lace" and "The Philadelphia Story" from the television. I rewatched those. I LOVED them all. Not liked, LOVED!

That's when I began prowling the classics aisles at the big video chains. "Houseboat"? Loved it. "An Affair to Remember"? To-die-for loved it. "I Was a Male Warbride"? Loved it. If Cary was in it, I loved it!

I began to see a pattern! My family started to notice. And became fearful. 

That's when I actively began seeking out those going-out-of-business sales. I found "Penny Serenade" & "North by Northwest" while routinely checking the used movie racks at the video rental stores. I scoured the supply catalogs from  the video rental stores - found "In Name Only." Begged to see the supply catalogs at the mall video stores - found "The Pride and the Passion." Searched for hours at the big chain book stores that sold videos - got "Sylvia Scarlet" and "Every Girl Should Be Married".

I looked on vacation, I had friends look on THEIR vacations.

I joined Columbia House after wondering if I HAD to order only from their newspaper flyers, or whether I could order my free movies from their catalog that I'd seen at a friend's. All 12 movies to fulfill my membership were Cary Grant movies!

But the day two years ago that I signed online to the wonderful world wide web, that was the day that I began to finish my collection. My first search on Alta Vista: "Cary Grant" "videos".

It has been a wondrous journey of digging and delving to find gems. It has been the joy of having an e-mail from a stranger telling me that he had one I wanted. It's been the generosity of other Warbride's (Cary Grant fans). It's been the helpful hints from visitors to my page about where I might find rare videos. It has, quite truthfully, been a huge, countrywide, even worldwide effort!

There was a time when I sincerely doubted that all of Cary's movies were out there. No one knew for sure. Definitely, none of us Warbrides knew for sure. 

But now, it's official!! I found the last two!! With the addition of "Ladies Should Listen" and "Kiss and Make Up", I know for a fact that all of Cary's movies are available and watchable. I have them all!

It now becomes my pleasure and privilege to be able to help others to easily build their own library of Cary Grant movies. In addition, my newest source has the best quality of any that I've found.

While it has been my determination and tenacity that's accomplished this goal, I've not done it alone. I would never have this collection I have now without the help of many, many kind, sharing people. To those of you who've helped me by adding to my collection, I thank you most sincerely. To those of you who've encouraged me to continue and not give up, I thank you so very much. To those of you who said, "You know you have to buy "Alice in Wonderland" or your collection will never be complete, you were very wise. (But I'm NOT going to watch it!) To Cary Grant, who took his craft seriously and worked so hard; with each shift of his magnificent, athletic body, with each tilt of his handsome head, with each glance of those expressive eyes; to entertain and always give his best, I thank him for this legacy of film and video for posterity to enjoy.

Friday, January 22nd 1999

Name:   Donna Moore
Homepage URL: freespace.virgin.net/donna.moore
State/Country: Scotland
Favorite Movie: "The Bishop's Wife" & "The Awful Truth"
My Story:  I was introduced to Cary Grant films at the age of about 12 or 13 by my mum, who loves old films. We would sit and have a good laugh or a good cry, the box of tissues in between us. Movies from the 30s and 40s seem so glamorous and sophisticated - the suave, handsome actors, the beautiful and elegant actresses. There's nothing better to me on a cold, rainy afternoon than to lose myself in the magic of the era.

I think my first Cary Grant film was The Bishop's Wife, at least, this is the film that I first remember seeing, and it has always remained one of my favourites, along with The Awful Truth and Arsenic and Old Lace and.... ohhhh, too many to mention! I bought a few of his films over the years but didn't start collecting seriously until a couple of years ago. Living in the UK, we don't have access to as many movies as in the US and thanks to Debbie, I finished my Cary Grant collection at a rate of knots!! Now I've finished collecting Cary Grant movies, Cheryl (who I think you'll find sitting over there at 'Arsenic & Old Lace' table) is helping this deprived Brit increase the rest of her classic movie collection particularly Screwball Comedies and the films of Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne, Bette Davis and William Powell. And LeeAnn has shared with me the films of one of her favourites, Spencer Tracy.

I have several books about Cary Grant, and I collect vintage magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s. Some have large articles about Cary, some have little snippets, but I also enjoy them just to inhale old Hollywood from their musty, dusty pages (along with several thousand bacteria no doubt!), and I love the beauty tips and the hilarious adverts they contain. It is painting my gums rose pink and maintaining my tangerine skin tone that has made me the woman I am today (i.e. one who scares small children in the street). I also have loads of photos and lobby cards. My greatest wish would be to get an autograph, but I think that will have to wait until I win the lottery.

However, one of the nicest things I have in my Cary Grant collection, is the friendship of other Cary Grant fans all over the world - people who don't think I'm mad (well, they do, but not because of my liking for Cary Grant). So, there you have it, I'm very glad to be a member of the 72 Club and come here often. Now, where has Asta hidden that intercostal clavicle he was playing with?

Friday, January 22nd 1999

Name: LeeAnn Neal
State/Country: Tennessee/US
Favorite Movie: The Philadelphia Story
My Story: I think I have always been a lover of classic movies. I first became a Cary Grant fan in 1986 when a friend who owned a video store suggested I watch "The Bishop's Wife". It seems I instantly fell in love. I'm sure I had seen Cary in a few of his films, but "The Bishop's Wife" became my favorite Christmas movie and started me on the road  to great admiration of CG. As I began to see more of his movies and learn more about him, "The Philadelphia Story" instantly became my all-time favorite film and remains so. My CG interest grew and I began to read biographies and see all his movies I could. I've always had limited TV access to the classic movies, so as my obsession grew, I began to collect as many CG movies I could through friends who could record them for me. Then I discovered a co-worker and I share this great interest in CG. She and I set out on a quest to collect all 72 films. When our collection reached 50 movies, it became clear that the last 22 were not available through any of our sources. Then in January 1998, I went on-line with the Internet. This invaluable source lead me to Debbie Dunlap and the "Warbrides". It was extremely exciting to get to know so many like-minded Cary fans. My completion of the CG movies would never have been possible without Debbie's generous help. My obsessive collecting moved in stages. I have now updated my tapes from EP to SP versions, also collecting as many originals as possible. At this point, I am slowly replacing my SP tapes with originals! Along with the CG movies, I have various pictures, books, old feature magazines and video biographies in my collection. I also have an original lobby card (11 X 14) from "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" and three small reproduced cards from "Father Goose", "Operation Petticoat" and "An Affair To Remember". Aside from enjoying everything 'Cary', meeting the Warbrides and having great friends/fans to share this marvelous obsession with is the next best part of being of Cary Grant fan!

Saturday, January 30th 1999

Name: Cheryl Trahan
State/Country: Texas, USA
Favorite Movie: Arsenic & Old Lace
My Story: As my family, hanging their heads in shame, will tell you I have ALWAYS loved B&W movies. I would knock everyone over on the bus trying to get out for the 3:00 afternoon movie, usually with Jeff Chandler and Lana Turner. My mother began to wonder about her offspring. She began to think seriously that I had been switched at birth and that her child was out there somewhere watching normal stuff!! It was probably about 1980's that I saw Arsenic & Old Lace. I had seen other Cary movies and liked them - NXNW, Houseboat, Holiday, etc. But I remember when I saw A&OL, I was hooked on Cary. Like Debbie, that's when the rest of the family became scared!! They knew how fixated I could be (ELVIS) and went around mumbling - not another one, not another one. But with the help of the other Warbrides and others, I, too managed to get all 72 movies. At first, I only planned to get the comedies, but Debbie convinced me that I had to have them all, so I does!! She said if she could get Alice in Wonderland, so could I. The people at work no longer ask me about the pictures on my walls - they know better - I will answer.....

Sunday, January 31st 1999

Name: Sharron
State/Country: Tn/USA
Favorite Movie: Mr.Blandings Builds His Dream House
My Story: My story starts out a couple years ago with taping some biographies for my mother in law on A&E. So I guess I have her to truly thank for being into old movies, actors, and biographies.  Because if it wasn't for her wanting these biographies taped, then I wouldn't of seen the Cary Grant one and wouldn't of known that there was a great actor out there.   was so smitten with his acting and the way he looked that I watched that tape over and over again and then from that first moment on made it my quest to find and get all of his movies.  My husband was into watching old movies, but at that time I wasn't into them.  No telling how many times I sat here through a lot of old movies that I couldn't get into and then all of a sudden when my obsession with Cary started I instantly fell in love with the old movies. Talk about a turn about change. In the past couple of years I have started a collection on Cary, but is really hard to find a lot of things out there on him.  I have anything from old magazines, pictures, books, small movie theatre ad to a little piece of paper that was on the front of some microwave popcorn...I also would like thank a very sweet person that has really helped me with getting all my movies, I couldn't have done it without her.  It was so neat to find out that I had a Cary Grant Friend who doesn't live to far from me... LeeAnn, I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!!So this is my Cary Grant Story!! Happy Movie Watching!!!!

Thursday, March 18th 1999

Name:   Mary Kate Bell
State/Country: Tennessee
Favorite Movie: An Affair to Remember
My Story: My interest in Cary Grant began in the 1940's when, as a teenager, I began going to the movies. During World War II, my brother, while serving in the military and stationed in Florida, got Cary's autograph for me. They were in the same men's latrine and when CG had finished washing his hands, my brother got his autograph.  Unfortunately, somewhere along life's busy way, the autograph was lost. After VCR's came along, I began to rent and buy videos.  Among my first were An Affair to Remember, Charade and His Girl Friday. With these sparking my ever growing admiration, the collection began. So, my adoration for Cary Grant has spanned fifty plus years and over the past five or six years I have accumulated the rest of his movies. Only a true fan would sit through Alice in Wonderland just to hear the turtle speak.....that's me!!! I would like a reservation at the 'An Affair to Remember' table, please.

Thursday, April 22nd 1999

Name: Diane Parker
State/Country: Florida/USA
Favorite Movie: Indiscreet
My Story: My story begins in 1944 in Springfield, MA. The movie was "None But The Lonely Heart" and as far as I was concerned, the star was the dog. I did think the guy that wrote on the sidewalk with chalk was quite daring.  I saw most of Cary's films on the big screen between 1944 and 1956. After that life was filled with college, marriage, the army and children. In the late 70's and 80's Grant films began showing up with some regularity on TV. They were films I could watch with my children and not be embarrassed. We watched them all and cultivated some fond memories. 

About three years ago I found a copy of "An Affair To Remember."  I wore it out and had to buy a second copy. It was then I decided that I really should do something about this passion for Cary Grant. So I rented and purchased everything I could get my hands on.   Finally, in July 1999 I received the last of the films I was missing as a birthday gift from my husband. Thanks to Debbie I had a source from which to purchase them and for that I am so very grateful.

With the exception of five films, I love them all and hold to the theory that one does not become a Grant fan, but rather one is born to be a Grant fan. Maybe that would account for the fact that his films still attract so many young people today.  Along with a library of a dozen Cary Grant books, several magazines and many photos, the films will be my legacy to my daughter who I know will value them always. Who wouldn't. Elegant, too handsome for words, unique..."like no other" man.  I would like to sit at the "Indiscreet" table...waiting to dance the eightsome reel.

Monday, August 16, 1999

Name: Selena Richardson
State/Country: Georgia / USA
Favorite Movie: An Affair to Remember & That Touch of Mink
My Story: I stumbled upon Cary accidentally.  I've been a Doris Day fan for quite awhile and happened to buy "That Touch of Mink."  As I watched the movie I kept wondering who the attractive actor playing Phillip Shayne was.

I saw that it was Cary and after watching the same movie over and over it occurred to me that "Hey, this guy might have made another movie." (Brilliant, I know!) So I went to the video store and started buying some of his movies.

I loved all of them! I thought that perhaps there "might" be someone else out there who admired him like I did so I decided to check on the internet. I was completely shocked!!! I was stunned because I thought that it was I that had discovered this wonderful talented man that no one else knew much about! After the initial shock wore off I was delighted, because now I have friends that share my admiration for him and I enjoy spending time with them daily via email!!!

Friday, January 7th, 2000

Name: Caitlin Mabry
State/Country: Virginia
Favorite Movie: An Affair to Remember
My Story: My name is Caitlin Mabry. I'm 14 and probably one of the youngest Cary Grant fan's there is! My friends think I'm obsessed, but who wouldn't be. He's perfect. He's ROMANTIC, charming, witty, handsome, suave, sensitive, I could go on and on but it would get annoying. Anyway, I have all of his movies. I also have the sound-tracks to most of them. I don't just collect Cary Grant movies I collect all classic movies. I'm a classic movie fanatic!  I've just recently gotten into them and already have over 500 movies! Children/ Teens and even some adults don't realize how wonderful the classic's are. I know just about anything and everything about him. If anyone wants to talk about him just e-mail me. Thanks I'm happy to be a part of this wonderful fan club!

-Cary Grant lover 4 every,
 Caitlin Mabry

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2000

Name:  Kathleen S. Fox
State/Country:  Ohio, USA
Favorite Movie:  North by Northwest and Charade (a toss-up)
My Story: Truly, I have many favorites, so it is hard to say one over the
other. I started collecting CG movies in June of 2001.  My interest peaked, I got on the internet and found out the CG existed all over the place, found the War Brides, and the rest is history.  I went to Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon.com and purchased every movie that was available. Debbie led me to Bruce who made 24 films for me which completed my collection.  I have since bought a DVD player and have purchased most available movies in that format.  There is so much more available on DVD, and I have just received the Criterion Collection of Notorious, and with the voice-overs, one gets a sense of how the picture was made.  I found it fascinating.  I have always enjoyed Cary Grant, but this year since I was watching only old movies on TCM or AMC, I got hooked on him during his birthday celebration in January.  I saw several films over a few days and realized that I found him very attractive and decided to delve into his characters on film and his personal life as well.  I find him delightful, engaging, funny to the core (I think that in many films he ad-libs stuff and he finds himself laughing at himself and others), handsome, and so very sexy.  With the Caryvention on the horizon in early October, I spent many hours taking in as much as I could in order to share with others.  The weekend in Washington, D.C., was one of the most  glorious times in my life.  It was so much fun meeting everyone and putting a face to a name, so many people that I had been corresponding with over the internet for the past several months.  I will never forget the wonderful time I had during a time in our country's history where as we were ending our wonderful convention cruising on the Potomac, that war was being waged against terrorism in Afghanistan.  My husband has Parkinson's Disease and my marriage has been a difficult one, but Cary Grant gives me a greater purpose in my life now:  to rise above the unhappiness in my life and to give me the courage to become the person I need to become in order to survive intact the second half of my life.  He's definitely, "The Ultimate Guy."  Please seat me at the North by Northwest table.    Kathy Fox

Friday, July 22nd, 2001

Name:   Jenny the Nipper
State/Country:  St. Paul, MN
Homepage:  www.hep.umn.edu/~jenny/CG_Shrine.html
Favorite Movie:  Bringing Up Baby
My Story:  I started watching Cary Grant movies in 1985 when I was working in a video store in Minot, North Dakota.  My mom bugged me to bring home something fun and nice without swearing or violence.   So one night I checked out North By Northwest and I was hooked.  My mom can take credit for starting a Cary obsession.  It was during this period that I first watched my favorite Cary movie, Bringing Up Baby.  I fell in love with the silliness of it and its overarching message that romance is not something that happens by accident.  Sometimes you have to cheat a little and I've always tried to go through life with the mischievousness of Baby's Susan.

In a short while I went through all the Cary movies I could find on video and cable.  When I moved to Minneapolis in 1990 to go to school, I took a film class just because they were showing Notorious!  I spent afternoons in the basement of the library watching His Girl Friday and the Philadelphia Story over and over with a very small TV and those giant 1970s era headphones.  My friends once organized an intervention but I told them that I would watch any movie no matter how obscure, no matter how silly as long as it starred Cary Grant. 

Later that year one of my roommates gave me a Cary Grant post card which I decided to put up in a cupboard to make a little shrine.  The Shrine to Cary Grant grew over the years and went on the internet on April 15 1996.  It is the oldest site devoted to Cary on the net.  Shortly afterward it was joined by Zoë's incredible "Ultimate Pages" and she formed the very first warbride mailing list "CGML" which eventually became the "E-mail Warbrides." 

A couple of years later I got an email from a publisher asking if I'd be willing to write the text of a picture book on Cary Grant.  Would I?  That was absolutely a dream come true. I actually got paid to look at and write at pictures of my favorite movie star and the result was "Cary Grant: A Life in Pictures."

At the time that I wrote the book, I went hard core--devouring everything Cary I could get my hands on.  I lamented the fact that so many of his films were out of print and unavailable.  Several years past and I learned that Debbie had managed to get them all.  I began to get a few more, but my enthusiasm for the project died down as I convinced myself that the rest probably weren't that great anyway.  What a mistake!  At this year's convention, I got to watch a movie I'd never seen before called "Kiss and Makeup."  This is a hilarious movie and the audience of warbrides made it such fun to watch.  I suddenly realized that if there was a Cary movie this good out of print than there were probably more.  (D'uh!  Hello Nipper!  What has Debbie been telling you all this time!) 

How lucky I was to make this revelation the day after I received as a gift from Debbie, the rest of those 72 movies to complete my collection.  I can't begin to thank her for this treasure.  I'm sure the speakeasy will hear from me often as I finish watching the rest of the 72.

Jenny the Nipper

Monday, October 8th, 2001

Name:  Bev Walker
State/Country:  Victoria Australia
Favorite Movie:  Amazing adventure
My Story:  I started collecting Cary movies nearly 10 years ago when a friend was looking for some. I have a great collection of old movies and have all of Elvis's movies and most of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire and Doris Day and a whole lot more. Between my friend and I we collected most of Cary's collection but there were still some missing so we kept looking everywhere, I did get some from Bruce. We both love to watch Cary's movies very much and love nearly all of them.

     I was lucky enough to complete my collection when a very good friend gave me the remaining videos that I was missing, for my birthday (which is in August and I have promised not to watch them all before then) but I had to watch a few I just could not contain myself to keep them all till then.

     Among other things that I have of Cary is 6 books about him. Dark Angel by Geoffrey Wansell.  Cary Grant by Richard Schickel.  Cary Grant by Lionel Godfrey.  Cary Grant A Touch of Elegance by Warren G. Harris. Cary Grant Haunted Idol by Geoffrey Wansell.  The Lonely Heart by Charles Higham & Roy Mosley. I have not had the time to read them all yet but cant help buying them when ever I see a different book in the shop.

     I also have numerous photos and newspaper and magazine clippings in a folder. The film that reached my heart more than all the rest was Amazing Adventure I really loved it, but it is hard to say which one is best as there are a few more besides that one. I guess that is the table that I would like to be seated at.  Bev Walker.

Friday, May 31st, 2002

Name:  Pat Lange
State/Country:  New Jersey
Favorite Movie:  Frankly this is almost an impossible request!  I guess if I were pinned down & made to choose perhaps it would be "Topper" or maybe, "Charade" or maybe, "Arsenic & Old Lace" or maybe, "To Catch a Thief" or maybe, as the king from "The King & I" would say, etc., etc., etc.???
My Story:  
Dear Debbie,
  I first got interested in Cary Grant because my mother was simply mad about him & used to take me with her to see his movies! Well it wasn't long at all before I was also in love with him, or as we used to say, had a "CRUSH" on him! As I look back on it now, I was about 7 or 8 years old when I started to go to his movies with Mom, so I guess it's been about 58 years now & I have all 72 of his movies & I still feel my heart skip a beat during a Cary Grant Love Scene! You might say that I've been bitten by the Cary Grant Bug for life, but What a Sickness!!

     I had been collecting Cary Grant's Movies for as long as I had a VCR & what I couldn't find on TV to copy, I bought the tapes of. At first I collected them in any form that I could find them. If that meant sitting up till the wee hours of the morning, clicking out the commercials, then that's what I did! Ten years ago we bought a house & that made it possible to get the satellite dish that offered me a selection of about 40 movie channels & with that kind of selection it enabled me to retape all of the films that I had clicked out the commercials from. Well, I was getting there, or so I thought & then I hit the Brick Wall! With only 14 films to go I finally realized that I had never even heard of the last 14 films of Cary's & I began to look around for other collectors that were in the same predicament as me!  That's how I found the Cary Grant Fan Club on the Internet! I asked Tina if she had any contacts that I could buy these last films from & she put me in touch with Bruce who sells them for $10.00 apiece! Well, I waited for my Birthday & asked my husband if I could have them as my Birthday gift & he said "YES"! Believe me, no present has ever been more wanted, more loved or more appreciated! Finally, I HAD THEM ALL! Which meant, that no matter what movie I want to watch, at ANY TIME I want to watch it, I only have to go to the cabinet where I keep HIS movies & make my selection! I've even hosted a few "Cary Grant Nights" at my home since I completed the collection & I find that the only films that my friends want to see are from "that final fourteen"! For me, the money he spent was worth it! For many others, the cost would be too great, but I'm sorry to say that there's very, very, little chance that you'll come across those last 14 films of Cary's any other way!
                With Love, Pat L.

Friday, May 31st, 2002

Name:  Jack Haverty
State/Country:  Nevada
Favorite Movie:  Notorious
My Story:  On the second Wednesday of April, I watched "Wings In The Dark" in a triumphant and joyful mood twinged with a little regret:  I would never again be able to see a Cary Grant movie for the first time.  I now had copies of them all, from Singapore Sue to Walk, Don't Run.  I still anticipated finding copies of the shorts (Pirate Party, etc.) and tv appearances (Charlie Weaver, 1969 Academy Awards, Monte Carlo Circus Champions) and a potfull of radio shows.  But the movies were history!
     I wonder how many of us saw any of Cary's films when they opened in first-run movie houses?  I saw "To Catch A Thief" at the Roxy Theatre in Oakland, California with my mother when I was 9 or 10 years old.  I also saw North By Northwest, Operation Petticoat, Charade and Father Goose when they were first released in theatres.  Yep, I'm over 50.
     I would never have been able to acquire a complete collection of Cary's films without the Internet.  I bought a Citadel book on the complete films of Cary when my interest first grew, and after looking over the list, I felt I would never be able to see, much less own, most of his films of the 1930's.  But as soon as I bought my first computer I found that they were out there on the Net and I got 'em.  Mostly on eBay.  And with a lot of help from my friends at carygrant.net.
     There are no films of Cary's that I don't like; but there are some I rate low.  I don't care much for Katherine Hepburn, with "her flat, metallic voice driving into your head like needles" (critical quote, "Holiday").  I like Sylvia Scarlett the least: what a strange film.  And Dream Wife seemed to lack a story.  But Cary always turned in a splendid performance.
     Some of the 1930's flicks are among the best Cary did, real diamonds with good stories.  I especially liked Hot Saturday and Woman Accused.
      Did Cary ever play a bad guy?  Some characters were marginal: Jerry the theater-owner in "Once Upon A Time", the gamblers in "Gambling Ship" and "Mr. Lucky." But they really just had flaws.  But Ridgeway in "Sinners In The Sun" was undoubtedly a real slug and Cary's only true baddie, although we didn't see much of him.
     Some of Cary's more popular films are coming out on DVD now.  Beware of those out of copyright and in public domain.  I got a real crappy copy of "Charade" with no special features.  So I can shove it in my dvd player - so what?  The print they used was faded, grainy and had a lot of poorly-spliced breaks.  But if you want to see it done right, check out the Criterion dvd edition of "Notorious."  Beautiful print, remastered frame by frame.  And the special bonus features!!  Outtakes, original documentation, alternate endings, background stories, etc.  Criterion dvds are expensive, but worth it.
     That's my story.  More later...
    
August 5, 2002

Name:  Jen Romkee
State/Country:  California, USA
Favorite Movie:  The Awful Truth, Charade, To Catch a Thief & Arsenic & Old Lace
My Story:  My favorite film.... hhhmmmmmm, I don't know if I can pick just one!  I think I could say those are my top four.  

I love The Awful Truth for so many reasons... Cary, it's hilarious, Cary, Mr. Smith, Cary, Irene Dunne, Cary, anyone see a pattern here???  

Charade and To Catch a Thief are both faves because I love the look of the older Cary.  So distinguished and sexy!  Also, Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly are two of my favorite actresses.  And on a side note, my "girl's night out"/just for fun name is "Reggie" like Audrey's character in Charade. :)  

A&OL was the first Cary movie I ever saw and I owe my obsession to that one.  My parents used to watch that movie all the time when I was little, but I didn't really start collecting anything until much later.  All I knew when I was younger was that he was "a hunk", "a total babe"!  Am I dating myself?  And did I ever talk like that????  

Besides the obvious physical attraction for Cary, I think he was such a talented and versatile actor.  Even in his early movies, he was believable in the characters he played.  You really felt that he was the person in the movie, not just an actor playing a part.  Also, in his personal life he seemed like someone you just wanted to know and hang out with. *sigh*  I can only dream.

I'm not sure when I started seriously collecting everything Cary, but it was somewhere in the middle to late '90s.  A few movies here and there, then pictures, sheet music from movies, lobby cards, biographies, picture books, radio shows.  I think it took me about five years to collect all of Cary's movies.  But what an exhilarating feeling when I received the final one to complete my collection!  To finally be able to say "I have them all!!!"  Now, I just have to sit down and watch them all.  Oh, what punishment. :)

February 5, 2003

Name:  Nancy Bruce
State/Country:  Texas/USA
Favorite Movie:  People Will Talk
My Story:  Thank heaven my search for all the Cary Grant films started after my trip to England in 2001.  Two of our day trips from the beautiful Costwolds took us southwest to the town of Bristol.  I wandered around with my husband, father-in-law, and three sons finding myself quite at home in the surroundings. 

One place I took the most pictures of - and I don't really know why - was the Bristol area.  If I had only known at the time that I was walking on the place where the Cary Grant Statue was to be placed, they'd have never have gotten me home. 

As I said - my hunt for his films was later - Like many others of  you in the Speakeasy, I was propelled into the search due to a need to find movies that I could watch with the whole family.  I've preferred the "G" rated type as a rule, but finding something that my boys would watch and enjoy that I would enjoy as well was quite a challenge.  I have had To Catch a Thief as long as it's been available, and have replaced it more than once.  But I decided it was racy enough not to be the starter film.  ;-)   I practically forced my boys to watch Charade to begin with, and was delighted when both my 14 and 12 year old sons liked it.  Both even wanted to see it again to try to catch all the things they missed.  My father-in-law was thrilled to watch North by Northwest with them instead of one of their current favorites - and the kids loved it.  I was afraid when I pulled out Arsenic and Old Lace as the first black and white film to show them... My oldest sat open-mouthed in amazement - I thought it was because he was mocking the movie.  I was wrong - he was unexpectedly impressed and loved it.  For the record, my 5 year old prefers Monkey Business.

Enough about all that - with reviewing all these familiar movies I realized the there was no Cary Grant movie that I knew of that I didn't like, so I set out on a quest to improve my selection of 12 or so movies to the whole she-bang!  I found Deb's site and thought I must have done something good to get that kind of karma!  A few movies I had found on ebay had ended up too pricey to be reasonable, and Bruce made the last 10 for me.  My hero!

I have watched Alice in Wonderland (I figure if he went through the trouble of making it, I could watch it), I have Without Reservations - the one where he has a cameo in the John Wayne film, and I watched that.  Heaven forbid - the only other Duke films I can stomach are Hitari! and The Sons of Katie Elder.  But it was worth my time.

As to People Will Talk - it deserves top honor from me, although Only Angels Have Wings runs it a close second.  The variety of subject matter, its treatment of it, the depth of the characters, I could go on, but the scene in the dairy and the scene when she realizes that he knew all along that she was pregnant, are my favorites.

I've rewatched so many of the movies lately - as I've been doing some handwork cleaning LP albums for my dad, which is tedious, but doesn't require that I watch what I'm doing, it's working out marvelously - that I have come to the conclusion that every last one of his films is worth the time to view and review.  They only get better with repetition.  I recently put myself up to Deb's quizzes (I really enjoyed the items quiz) and was only stumped in the tough stuff by the Bing Crosby question - I trust that this submission will help me find the answer to that one!  

I've been amazed at the variety of the movies, and have so enjoyed the difference in seeing the before "code" movies compared to those after and then again the more recent ones.  What a great thing that Archie Leach became an  actor.  And better still at the exact time that he did.  Generations of us will enjoy him forever.    I only have a couple of his biographies and will be checking them out from the library before investing in any others.  I decided that I didn't want his autograph, given his attitude regarding them.  I do wish that I could just tell him thank you.  Since I can't - I will just share this story with you all that understand how I feel.

Here's to that sweet smile!

May 14, 2003

Name:  Irina
State/Country:  Germany
Favorite Movie:  Every girl should be married
My Story:  It all started when my parents and I moved into a new apartment about 12 years ago. I was only ten but I definitely knew some things about classic movies: Doris Day was the blonde super-housewife, David Niven was after a pink gem that was named after a wild animal, if Rock Hudson and Tony Randall were playing in a movie together it was great fun and so on... But then came this evening. My parents were still busy with the renovation but they managed to install the TV set in their bedroom so that I could watch a movie or something. I switched through the channels and suddenly I was a bit breathless because on the small screen there was the most handsome man I'd ever seen in my whole life. He had a dimple on his chin, fascinating eyes and a smile that made ME smile as well. The movie was "That Touch of Mink" and it's not hard to guess who the cute guy was.

When I write this down, it occurs to me that this sounds like some fairy tale but to me it seems like it happened yesterday and not 12 years ago.
Ok, to go on with my story: My Mom came into the room and I asked her :"Who's this guy?" and she immediately said: "Oh, that's Cary Grant." I guess this was exactly the moment when I realized that this guy would be my fave actor.

Through the next 6 years, I taped each and every Cary movie that was shown on TV. It wasn't really difficult to get the ones that are wider known like "Charade", "Arsenic and Old lace" or "Operation Petticoat". But I knew that there were far more movies and I wanted to have them all.

When I turned 18 my friends and family gave me a gift token from a big video store as a present. I came home with 26 Cary Grant movies in English. It was the first time I heard his real voice and not the German dubbing and it was just perfect.

It took me another three years, a lot of visits to video stores, websites and the help of some friends (Thanks a lot guys!) to get all 72 movies but now they're standing on my book shelf and I can see them right now. It makes me pretty proud.

OK, enough about the collecting. In the description of the 72 Speakeasy it was said, that people can tell what they like most about Cary. I've never told it to anybody so I'm a little nervous *lol* Well, what I like the most about Cary is that the actor Cary Grant was a little bit of everything: a boy, a man, a comedian, a serious actor, Prince Charming, the boy next door, the white knight (I bet Myrna Loy and Shirley Temple would agree on it *smile*), the mysterious stranger.... The list could go on for pages.... But the man Cary Grant remained being Archie Leach, a simple man and later a loving Dad to his daughter. Of course, I also like his looks a lot but there is this one photo where Cary holds six-months old Jennifer in his arms and looks so happy and completely satisfied with his life that it is simply heartwarming...

Over the years I always had to explain why Cary Grant is my fave actor. Especially when I still was  at school and other girls were just crazy about Brad Pitt, George Clooney or others. And believe me, they always wanted to talk me out of watching classic movies. Most of the time I made the girls watch a Cary Grant movie and then they had to tell me just one reason why I shouldn't like this guy... They never found one...

That's it for now... I'm glad that I switched on the TV over a decade ago and "discovered" the guy with the greatest smile in the whole world! Cary, you're the best!

July 4, 2003

Name:  Audrey
State/Country:  California/USA
Favorite Movie:  The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
My Story:  I never was very interested in old black and white movies and the people who acted in them until this last March when a friend of mine shared her excitement over having "discovered" Cary Grant, with me.  I have found that she has usually found something really worthwhile when she gets this excited over something new so I just had to see what all the fuss was about. 

She told me about the "TVNow presents" schedule which shows which Cary Grant movies are going to be on television during the upcoming month and so I made a note of which of Cary's movies would be on soon.  I would watch them if I remembered and if nobody else in my family was watching anything special at the time.  I taped Destination Tokyo and Operation Petticoat for this friend because she had somewhere else she had to be when they were on but she had gotten home in time to tape them for herself so I taped over them.  I felt I had watched them as I taped them, so why keep them?

For one reason or other, I missed the next couple of his movies and then I happened to catch Charade, The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby, and Holiday.  These movies were great and I started getting interested in seeing some more of his films.  It wasn't until I saw People Will Talk towards the end of April, though, that I knew I was hooked.  That is the first Cary Grant film that I taped (because it was on at three in the morning) and kept and I started looking so forward to each upcoming film.  I started planning my calendar around when Cary's movies were going to be on television.  I taped each one that I found but then there were fewer and fewer of his films that I hadn't already seen on the television schedule.  So then I started looking for and buying them on eBay.

To make a long story short, I have spent this whole summer buying and watching all the Cary Grant movies I could lay my hands on.  When I got down to the last twenty films, I just purchased them from Bruce.  It has been so much fun popping each one in and then just sitting  back and watching the story unfold.

I have so many favorites!  Among Cary's comedies, I would have to say my very favorites are The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, The Awful Truth, and My Favorite Wife.  Among the dramatic films my favorites are Crisis, Once Upon a Honeymoon, People Will Talk, The Talk of the Town, and The Grass is Greener.  Gunga Din is my favorite ......well it fits in some category, I am just not sure which!  My favorite of the earlier ones is This is the Night but I also really enjoyed Woman Accused, Kiss and Make Up, and Ladies Should Listen.

Cary was such a versatile and talented actor!  He portrayed a wide range of characters and while he could be sophisticated and suave in some of his films, he could also be full of fun and zany in others.  Cary had a real gift for actually "becoming" his character.  At times I have to remind myself that Dr. Noah Praetorius or Walter Eckland aren't real, but Cary is just so believable when he throws himself into a role.

Cary Grant is just the perfect gentleman and would have been a wonderful role model for today's young men.  I love how when I pop one of his films in the VCR I know there won't be any violence or bad language.  They are just good wholesome films and entertaining as well.

Not having watched any older movies until getting interested in Cary Grant, I also hadn't seen many of Cary's co-stars act before.  It was a lot of fun seeing what Katharine Hepburn, Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne, Ralph Bellamy, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jean Arthur, Joan Fontaine, Ingrid Bergman, and Grace Kelly were like, to name only a few.  Watching all of these Cary Grant films has opened up a whole new world to me. 

August 29, 2003

Name: Tonya Hughes
State/Country:  Wisconsin/USA
Favorite Movie: Holiday, The Awful Truth, Kiss and Make Up, Bachelor & The Bobby Soxer
My Story:  
February 15, 2003. I am sitting at home on a cold Saturday bored to tears so I start flipping channels and I come across Turner Classic Movies. There stands a very handsome young man, who I immediately recognize as a very young Cary Grant. I had never seen Cary in his younger days- I had only seen a couple of movies of his and they were all in the late 50s-early 60s. I was immediately struck by how handsome he was (and since I am almost six feet tall, I noticed how deliciously tall he was!!) - and how funny!! The movie was Holiday, and by the final scene Cary had somersaulted his way right to my heart. I was really struck not only by his handsome looks, but also his ability to play such a lighthearted character as Johnny Case. Then, to my luck it was Valentine's Day weekend and TCM was playing several Cary movies that day- the next movie I caught was My Favorite Wife, which had me positively howling with laughter.

I could not remember someone that could make me laugh so much just using his expressions and body language- those famous double takes, raised eyebrows and subtle gestures that all add up to make movie magic. I was completely enamored! I also love how he put little intelligent things into his films for people to catch- if you could take your eyes off of him long enough. Such as in The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, when he picks up a knight in armor from his fireplace (after he appears earlier in the film as a knight in Shirley Temple's dreams) and hands it to Rudy Vallee who is talking to him- that kind of attention to detail I think is great. It's almost like an inside joke between him and his audience, and I love that.

After My Favorite Wife, I rushed upstairs to my computer and typed "Cary Grant" into Yahoo, and up came www.carygrant.net. I spent the next 2 or 3 hours reading all I could read about Cary, (and, frankly, looking at every single photo page) and then a few days later I joined the Email Warbrides. The next thing I knew I found myself driving across Illinois and Wisconsin to meet up with a bunch of people I had never met at Caryvention V. What fun! It was so great to know there were so many others that shared the same affection for Cary that I do.

I then started a true passion for collecting all of Cary's films. I first hit Blockbuster and rented all they had, and then hit Ebay with a real furor. I finally got to the point where I only had his truly old, rare films to find, and a dear friend of mine that shares my Cary passion donated the last films in my collection so I could have them all.

Since that first fateful day, I have spent hours and hours watching all of Cary's films, and finding absolute delight in reading about this charming man and his interesting life. I think Cary was a one of a kind. His looks and fashion sense, his comedic timing, his absolute understanding of the way film works- I don't think he can ever be duplicated. I was also delighted to discover how intelligent he was- being the first to be his own agent, and the first to take ownership of his films- he was a true pioneer in every way. 

I have also had a great time collecting memorabilia from his films. I love ads and stills especially, and it is my dream to someday own an authentic Holiday poster.

And, discovering Cary has opened a whole new world to me. I have always been a history buff, but the importance of preserving film has really been instilled in me since "meeting" Cary Grant, and as a Warbride, I am so proud to be doing all I can to make sure generations to come get a glimpse of the same magic that has captured my heart and my imagination.

March 28, 2004

Name: Scott Raile 
State/Country: Colorado 
Favorite Movie: To Catch A Thief 
My Story: 
As the end credits roll on "Ladies Should Listen," I sit back and breathe a sigh of relief: after more than 20 years, I have finally seen all 72 of Cary Grant's films.

I'm not really sure where or how I first got interested in Cary Grant, but it was somewhere around 1984 when I was 15 years old. Now granted, Cary Grant was not exactly the hottest of superstar idols for 15-year-old boys in 1984, but hey, I've always been different. It was the time in my life when I was trying to figure out who I was and what I was going to grow up to be. And as I looked at the images that the media were throwing at us at the time (Michael Jackson, Hulk Hogan, Rambo), I knew that I didn't want to be ANY of that.

I remember being in a bookstore and stumbling across the book THE FILMS OF CARY GRANT. And for whatever reason, I bought it that very day. The images within the book were so wonderful....now THAT'S what I wanted to grow up to be! Cary looked so sophisticated and intelligent in his tuxedoes....and look at those women with him! Grace Kelly! Audrey Hepburn! Holy cow, now that looks like a good job!

I began the task in earnest, and, thanks to television and videotapes, the films came easily and quickly. Back in the 1980s, local television stations often showed films that are rarely seen these days, and as such, rare films like "Alice in Wonderland" and "When You're In Love" were among the first films I got to see.

It didn't take long for Cary to start working his magic for me....the first girl that I ever fell head over heels in love with was a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, and she had never seen "Charade"! So, what better thing to do for our first date (New Year's Eve, 1984) than to have her over to show her the film starring both of our idols....a night I'll never forget!

In early 1985, Cary and his wife Barbara came to Denver for the Carousel Ball, a star-studded charity event run by a local millionaire. The local newspaper printed the names of the three hotels that the stars would be staying at, and, figuring that I had nothing to lose, I called all three of them. The first two said that they had no-one named Cary Grant registered at the hotel. Getting frustrated, I called the third, only to be told that he hadn't arrived yet; could they take a message? I left my name and number, not expecting anything at all. That was around 8:00 in the morning.

By 5:00 PM, I had pretty much written off the whole day, when the phone rang. A woman with a gorgeous British accent asked to speak with me; when I asked who was calling, she answered: "Barbara Grant." The adrenaline shot through my body as I babbled on and on about how I was only 16 years old and loved her husband ("Well, so do I," she deadpanned). She was very sweet and polite, but also very firm: "Cary is napping now since we expect to be out late tonight. I will convey your message, and thanks for your call." Needless to say, I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day!

Later that night, I waited outside the building where the dinner was being held for hours and hours....suddenly, THERE HE WAS!! Looking as glamorous as ever, Cary and Barbara stepped out of a limousine, waved to the crowd and entered the building. The photos I snapped of Cary and Barbara as they entered the building are among my most treasured possessions (even if only one of them is any good).

Life went on as ever....Cary passed away during my senior year of high school, and I had probably seen around 50 of his movies at that point (I remember one friend saying "I don't think I've even seen 50 MOVIES, let alone starring one guy!"). Trying to see all of Cary's movies at this point had slowed to a crawl; not only was I paying less attention now (college tends to take your focus away from a few things!), but there were just simply fewer movies to be seen. I probably only saw about eight new movies in my four years of college; I remember all of my buddies going to a party while I stayed at home to catch "Suzy."

Fast forward to 2004: Fox Home Video has just released "Born To Be Bad" on DVD. And even though I'm older, perhaps a bit wiser and certainly a long ways away from 1984 (married, employed, the whole nine yards), I immediately knew that I had to buy this DVD because it's a movie that I haven't seen....and somehow or another, the juices get flowing again....I'm only about ten movies away from Club 72, let's go do it!

Unfortunately, my passive attempts at seeing all 72 movies didn't get me too far; I found out quite quickly that, even with hundreds of cable channels going 24 hours a day, no-one is bothering to show "Sinners In The Sun" these days. After playing around on the internet for a while, I finally found sources for the missing movies....and lo and behold, the circle has been completed. What a long, strange trip it's been, but I did it.

I owe so much to Cary Grant for making me who I am today. Oh, I'm nothing like him of course, but I learned that it's absolutely okay to be funny, debonair, charming and intelligent....and even though it might not have dazzled all the ladies in high school, it sure dazzled that Audrey Hepburn fan, and isn't that what counts?

I love all of the different genres that Cary played in (absolutely no-one can top his comedic performances in movies like "Bringing Up Baby"), but I clearly prefer the darker, edgier films like those that he did with Hitchcock. For a long time, I thought that my life was pretty much going to look just like John Robie's: living on the Riveria wooing Grace Kelly (that is, until I remembered that Robie actually spent time in prison! That changed my mind quite quickly). And so, those are the films I've seen countless times: "Notorious," "Charade," and "To Catch A Thief."

My least favorite films of Cary's come from the 1950s: "Dream Wife" and "Kiss Them For Me" are just excruciatingly bad and, despite its romantic reputation, "An Affair To Remember" is one long, sappy, cringe-inducing affair that I just want to forget! Nevertheless, if any one of those movies are on while I'm channel surfing, you can bet that I'll stop and watch it to the end.

But nothing thrills me more than seeing Cary helping Ingrid Bergman down the stairs in "Notorious" (or waiting for that stupid bottle to come crashing to the ground!) or, most of all, the incredibly tense climax of "To Catch A Thief" as Cary dangles the real thief from the rooftops ("I'm out of practice, and I'm starting to lose my grip!").

So, with images of Grace Kelly, the Riviera, chicken picnics and midnight robberies in my head, I request a seat at the "To Catch A Thief" table....with many thanks and a tip of the hat to John Robie, T. Devlin, Roger Thornhill and all of the other amazing men that came into my life through the dazzling art of Cary Grant. Cary, my friend.....thank you.

August 22, 2005

Name: Shari Boyd
State/Country: Michigan
Favorite Movie: Bringing Up Baby
My Story: 

Dear Debbie, 
  I'm writing this on behalf of my wife of 26 years, Shari. She has all of Cary's movies and lots of Memorabilia. I work the afternoon shift and each night I come home to our bedroom, low and behold if there is not a Grant movie in the DVD player for her to fall to sleep by. I believe she would be proud to be In the 72 club.

Thank you, Jeff Boyd 

October 6, 2005

Name: Jennifer Mohney
State/Country: Louisiana
Favorite Movie: Arsenic And Old Lace
My Story: 

My story begins when I was 15 years old. I loved to stay up late after my parents and siblings went to bed (a no no on school nights) and watch old movies in my room, TV in my bed with a blanket pulled over me, so that no would could see the light from the TV.

One night a movie called Arsenic and Old Lace came on with Cary Grant so I decided to watch it.  That was it I was hooked!

I am now 46 years old and have a collection of over 78 of Cary Grant's movie, as well as all his books. I have collected all the poplar movies, such as Arsenic and Old Lace, Topper, Mr. Blanding builds his dream house etc., and am now trying to collect the ones that are hard to find. Hopefully one day I will be able to add these hard to find movies to my Cary Grant Collection.

But of my collection Arsenic and Old Lace will always be my favorite.

October 13, 2005

Name: Karl Adkins
State/Country: Arizona
Favorite Movie: Bringing Up Baby
My Story: 
I first started collecting movies in 1982, when I bought my first VCR. I recorded everything I could off TBS, TNT, WGN and the local PBS station in Phoenix, Arizona. Back then, only the PBS station was commercial free, so I stayed up many a late hour to "pause" the VCR during commercial breaks.

I think the first Cary movie I purchased was "Amazing Adventure", in the early 80's. But it was called "The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss" then.

I continued collecting Cary movies sporadically over the years. Mostly, by recording them myself, as buying everything I wanted was cost prohibitive.

I didn't start to make an earnest effort to collect Cary movies until about five years ago. I discovered Amazon and half.com and away I went. By this time, distributors had started issuing the "letterbox" versions, which I had to have to replace my "pan & scan" versions.

Last year I was given a DVD player for Christmas and now went about the task of converting my VHS collection to DVD. I did not go about it by haphazardly buying everything in site. My first two targets were my Alfred Hitchcock collection and my Cary Grant collection.

I don't know if it was dumb luck or divine providence, but I was surfing the net one night and found this website; (which by the way, is the best around for CG fans). And in this website, I clicked my mouse on the "Hard to Find" movies and discovered that a wonderful person named Cheryl Trahan was offering her time and effort for a extremely reasonable fee to provide those "Hard to Find" movies to serious CG fans.

Well, as of today, I received the last batch of movies from Cheryl. (I think I ordered 15 of 16 in all from her). Now, I have all 72 of Cary's feature films!

Thank you Debbie for the great site and again to Cheryl for helping me complete my collection.

Karl

Monday, March 20, 2006

Name: Jerelyn Stanley
Country: Hungary (originally from Indiana, USA)
Favorite Movie: "The Bishop's Wife" & "The Philadelphia Story"

My Story:
From an early age I loved classic movies! I first ran across Cary Grant in the late 1960s, while I was in junior high. One weekend some of my friends wanted to go to a movie, and the one we went to see was "Charade." I can remember thinking how handsome and charming Cary was! I saw Cary movies on tv off and on for many years, but I think I became a serious fan only after seeing "The Bishop's Wife" and it's been my all time favorite movie ever since . Like a lot Warbrides, my favorite Cary movies tend to be the comedies like " The Bishop's Wife", "The Awful Truth", "Topper", "Bringing Up Baby", "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" and "The Philadelphia Story." I owned most of my favorite Cary movies while I was living in the USA and had a video shop. After I moved here to Hungary, I had to start all over! I had been here less than a year when I managed to get one of my old mIRC friends from Wales to send me a copy of "The Bishop's Wife"...even though we could only watch it if Józsi brought home a vcr from the police department where he works!!

Since coming here to Hungary in 1998, I started collecting Cary movies in earnest and thanks to TCM Europe and my Warbrides friends Zoe Shaw, Cheryl Trahan, Jan Anderson and Kim Tapper, I finally managed to get all 72! (although I don't have much money, I always make quilted projects in trade, several times they have been "Cary" projects using some bits of fabric I got years ago that had Cary's face on it.) I was still missing at least 20 titles when Kim very kindly sent me copies of all the ones I was missing early in 2007...thank you Kim!! The Warbrides friends I have met since joining back in 1997 have been the best!

I also have a small collection of Cary memorabilia that people have sent me that were from various Caryventions and I am planning to add a section to my webpage about my favorite movie, "The Bishop's Wife."

Please seat me at the Bishop's Wife table, and I want to sit between Dudley and the Professor!! (one of the main reasons I like "Night and Day" is because Montey Woolley is also in that one!)

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Name: Dorothy Glennon
State/Country: Edinburgh/Scotland
Favorite Movie: Indiscreet and North by Northwest

My story: As a child I spent as much time as possible at the cinema and I can't remember not liking Cary Grant. My story really begins in 1958 at the age of 13. With nothing better to do one Saturday afternoon I decided to go to the Regal Cinema, Edinburgh, to see 'The Seven Hills of Rome' with Mario Lanza even though the film and the Star didn't much appeal to me.  To my surprise in addition to this movie there was to be a special preview of 'Indiscreet' followed by a personal appearance on stage by Cary Grant for a Q & A's. 

The Cinema was packed with a highly excited but respectful audience of all ages including yours truly awaiting the appearance of 'the man' himself. He appeared on stage at the end of the preview and I remember that he seemed quite nervous rocking from one foot to another while tightly clutching the microphone. He also had to contend with understanding questions presented to him in strong Scottish accents. 

Afterward I waited outside along with others in the hope of catching a glimpse of Cary leaving the cinema. Eventually for what seemed like a very long time a Rolls Royce with the registration CG1 parked at the kerbside. I know not how but I managed to position myself next to the Rolls. Almost immediately he emerged and made a dash for the car pausing long enough to wave and smile to us all. I couldn't quite believe that this spotty 13year old had managed to be only three feet away from Cary Grant! Needless to say I was walking on air all the way home. 

From that day on I was a fervent Cary Grant fan. As soon as I had a VCR I attempted to collect as many of his films as possible and only recently have been fortunate enough to collect them all on DVD. I was always short of the really early ones and the first six were especially difficult to obtain here in the UK. With grateful thanks to Cheryl Trahan I have recently been able to complete my collection and now I am the proud owner of all '72'. 

I would like to sit at the 'Indiscreet' table and to join Diane and to take part in the 'eightsome reel'.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Name: Philippe Duchesne
State/Country: Paris, France
Favorite Movie: North by Northwest

Hello Debbie,

I am Philippe Duchesne from Paris, France and I have been a CG fan for 24 years now.

First thanks very much for your site, the best I know on CG, I am sure it helps keeping Cary’s memory alive.

My favourite CG movie is NXNW.

I started to collect CG movies in 1984, as in July and August of that year the French TV broadcasted a Hitchcock movie every week.

It was the first time I saw Notorious and really loved it. I decided to collect all movies from both Hitchcock and Cary Grant.

I recorded all the movies I could on TV, bought what was available on VHS in France and UK, I had some movies bought in the USA by friends travelling there.

I could gather about half of the 72.

Then, much later, I heard about Bruce Rudesill and got in touch with him.

He helped me to get the roughly 35 CG movies I did not have, plus “without reservations”, “Singapore sue” and “Pirate party”.

It was during the years 2002, 2003, I remember I ordered 3 to 4 movies at the same time, I sent him cash with the post and got the cassettes in perfect condition pretty quickly after that.

The communication was excellent with Bruce, he included me in his mail list and sent me jokes and also CG radio shows on mp3. I remember he sent me photos of the riots in Cincinnati together with funny comments about the fun one could have as a tourist visiting the city. Another thing I remember about Bruce is that when it “worked” for me, he was doing almost the same for a guy from Australia and was a real star at the post office because he kept sending a lot of parcels to the same addresses in France and Australia and had nice comments about it as he went to the P.O.

I now have the 72, 2 shorts, the radio shows, the French books released, including those not published anymore. I also have the recordings of all French TV evening news of Nov. 30, 86.

I am still looking for the shorts I do not have.

Now, I buy whatever I can find on DVD. Besides, I transfer the videos I got from Bruce that are not available on DVD into DivX files with the highest possible quality. All my 72 will be on discs by August this year.

Thank you very much again Debbie for your great job, I think there are a lot of people around the world who know the value of it.

I would like to finish with a few words about Bruce. I liked him, he was a very good person, he spent many, many hours working hard for me and other people, for just enough money to buy the cassettes.

I was shocked as I first read the bad news on the site. I think of him regularly, I miss him, he was simply a good person and there are not that many.

Philippe

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Note:  Thank you, Philippe, for your very kind words about Bruce Rudesill.  I, too, miss him very much.  He was a very special man with a special dedication to making sure classic movies were in the hands of classic movie lovers.  It is still very difficult for me to believe that he isn't with us anymore.  God bless, Debbie

Name: Jan Anderson
State/Country: Arizona
Favorite Movies: Operation Petticoat, Father Goose, The Philadelphia Story, Penny Serenade, Indiscreet.

I first discovered Cary as a teenager. I remember having pictures in my room of Gregory Peck and Cary Grant as a young teen. I discovered Gregory Peck first but he soon lost first place to Cary.

My best friend at the time remembers me waiting eagerly for Father Goose to come out on the big screen - and I convinced a group of friends to go see it with me. That was my first "Cary experience" and I was hooked! I remember buying as many movie magazines as I could…..I remember reading through Cary's courtship with Dyan Cannon, I woke up one morning to my mother telling me that Jennifer had been born, and I scoured the TV News for any CG movies on TV.

A wonderful CG movie that I saw was People Will Talk - on television while I was babysitting. I didn't get to see the entire movie and it was actually a long time before I learned the name of it.

As I got into college and then the working world, Cary sort of dropped out of my world - too busy I guess. When our boys were about 13 I decided to try to interest them. I thought Cary movies were the ideal family movies that we could all enjoy. I thought if they could watch old James Bond movies they could watch North by Northwest. NOT. Zero interest. Then just a few months later we rented People Will Talk and The Bishop's Wife and two more Cary fans were added to the list. My goal then was to find 'a poster or two' on the Internet. I found the Email Warbrides and Debbie's site……and eBay… and many many dollars later, I have a fairly large collection of photos, magazines and some nice posters.

I was happy with my collection… I had about half or maybe a little less. And Then Esther and Audrey started Guess the Movie and it's really hard to guess some of the movies when you've never seen them! Over the next few months I continued to play the game and I also collected those movies that I didn't have that were commercially available. Again I thought I was happy with my collection. But Audrey has a love for the early movies and so after Destination Houston Cheryl and I formed a tight relationship…..she shipped me DVDs as fast as I could PayPal her the money……and so I finally collected all 72…… and I've even finally seen all 72… and I even found that some I thought I would not enjoy, I did enjoy!

I have made some great friendships through Warbrides and I treasure that connection. When I still lived in California, Esther and I used to go to Stanford or Berkeley periodically to see Cary on the big screen. Unfortunately there isn't anything similar here.

My favorites tend to be those made in the 50's and 60's……though I love some of the earlier ones too. For the last couple of years my absolute favorite has been Operation Petticoat. Cary is the perfect age and plays the role perfectly. I nearly know that movie by heart. I would like to sit at the Operation Petticoat table and wait to bump into Cary!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Name: Jacqueline Noetzel
Favorite Movies: Indiscreet, North by Northwest, Notorious and To Catch a Thief

Hello Debbie,

I do have all of the wonderful Cary Grant movies. While I’ve only been a huge fan for the last six years, I am a HUGE fan. At the young age of 54, my husband passed away. While grieving over my loss, I became a DVD movie buff. And, Indiscreet was the “one”. I watched this movie over and over and began to wonder what the star was like. I ordered books about him and the more I read, the more I understood him to be more than worthy of my adoration.

So, from that point on I began my love affair with Cary.

I bought most of his movies myself from Amazon, but for Christmas a few years ago by son asked me which movies I didn’t have. He contacted Bruce (his last year working) and bought me all the rest! I was thrilled to now have his earliest work along with all of the classics.

My favorites are Indiscreet, North by Northwest, Notorious and To Catch a Thief. I must have watched each of these hundreds of times.

He is a class act and has filled my life in the past few years.

Thanks
Jacqueline Noetzel

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Name: Tammy Greco
State/Country: Madison, WI
Favorite Movies: Notorious, The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, Bachelor & the Bobby-Soxer, Talk of the Town and The Grass is Greener.

Dear Debbie,
Thanks so much for your incredible work on the CG website. The site is beautiful, tasteful and full of respect for Mr. Grant. You've used state of the art technology to carry the grace of an earlier era.

I now have all 72 movies (even though I won't count Alice in Wonderland if CG doesn't). I was a terrible TV addict and when I went on sabbatical in 2003, I decided to go "cold turkey" and forget TV. So I got a tiny DVD player. I went to a close out sale and focused on old movies -- I got Penny Serenade, the Awful Truth, and Charade. Within 6 weeks, I had all of the movies available through Amazon.com. Fred Shay generously provided ones I couldn't get
through commercial sources. Then it got hard. Like many of you, I'm a stickler about paying the artist (my husband teases me by reminding me that I don't need to be as concerned about royalties when that person no longer walks this earth). We had to get two things straight. We never say that CG is dead in my house, and that I would respectfully work on getting the last few movies.

One morning at 5 am, my husband woke me up and told me there was a CG movie on that he didn't think I saw. Hard to believe, but I crawled out of bed anyhow. It was "in Name Only" and I didn't have it. I missed the first 30 min or so, and was dying to get the movie. So I
ordered it from a reseller on Amazon, watched the tape, once, then the tape broke. . . .so that reinforced my rules about not buying from the source.

The last two I needed were a viewable copy of "In Name Only" and "Hot Saturday". A dear friend of mine transferred all 70 movies to a hard drive. When he gave me the hard drive, he also gave me DVD copies of Hot Saturday and In Name Only. I asked where he got them, and knowing my silly views on buying from sources, he didn't tell me. So with those, I have the complete set, backed up on a hard drive.

I have different favorites on different days. After hard complicated days when my brain is fried, I watch "The Awful Truth", "Bringing Up Baby", or "Bachelor". They are easy and comforting. When I want to tackle complicated love triangles, I like "Talk of the Town" and
"Grass is Greener".

But if I had to pick a favorite and the table I would sit at, I have to choose, "Notorious". First of all, I adore CG/Ingrid Bergman together. He's not afraid to touch her hair and she is not afraid of him. I love that. They were never so gorgeous and I will be eternally grateful to Mr. Hitchcock for his brilliance. When have you seen a movie when two perfectly lit faces filled an entire screen? I would love to see this on a big screen -- if this movie were a dessert, it would be a scoop of Haagen Daz chocolate/chocolate chip ice cream and one scoop of vanilla swiss almond in an elegant dish, smothered with serious hot fudge, perfect cashews, a tad of warm butterscotch, and the maraschino cherry, on the bottom, that you must eat at the very last moment. When Cary Grant climbs those stairs, first one at a time, then two at a time. . it's the finest moment in all movies ever. I hope the room has the amazing black and white tile floor, and champagne. I'd love to see Claude Rains -- he didn't get the girl (well, he did for awhile) but we was the perfect person to cast.

Debbie, thanks again for all you do. I want to thank you -- I used some of your pictures for a decorating project:

I was chosen to be on a holiday home tour. Since my husband and I don't celebrate Christmas, but this was for a good cause, we opened our house. When we decided how to decorate it, we decorated it in Cary Grant. We were such a hit. I'm attaching a few pictures.

Bless you for the work that you do.. If there's a future Caryvention, I'm happy to help in any way I can. I just moved to Madison WI which could be a neat place.

All the best,
Tammy Greco

Name: Rebecca
State/Country: Connecticut
Favorite Movies: I have many. I tend to think of my favorites by decade: the 30’s: The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday, In Name Only; the 40’s: My Favorite Wife, His Girl Friday, The Philadelphia Story, Talk of the Town, Mr. Lucky, Notorious, The Bishop’s Wife; the 50’s: To Catch A Thief, An Affair to Remember, Houseboat, Indiscreet, North by Northwest; the 60’s: Charade, Father Goose, Walk Don’t Run.

It all starts with Christmas… Growing up in Canada in the 1960s I remember how much I enjoyed watching old movies, especially those that were funny or sentimental. In particular, every year at Christmas I looked forward to seeing “A Christmas Carol” (the 1951 version with Alistair Sim) and “Miracle on 34th Street” – both still part of my Christmas tradition. As the years passed, I continued to enjoy classic movies on TV and wore out several paperback movie guides (before the availability of the wonderful TCM and Internet Movie databases) wanting to know more about the movies and the actors. When I moved to the US in the 1980s to go to graduate school, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I discovered the AMC channel, at that time devoted to classic movies. Of course, later I switched to TCM and now I rarely watch anything else.

But back to Christmas and Cary Grant … it was about 15 years ago that I discovered “The Bishop’s Wife”. I was talking to a colleague at work about Christmas movies and this was her favorite. I watched it and loved it, so it became part of my yearly holiday viewing. I think this was my first Cary Grant DVD purchase. Of course I had seen other Cary Grant movies over the years, but hadn’t taken a special interest in his work. That all changed a few years ago when he was the star of the month on TCM, which I think may have been 2004, to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. The documentary “A Class Apart” was shown and many movies I had never heard of were on the schedule and I taped them all. Seeing so many of his movies in a short period of time was a revelation! The pure enjoyment I experienced from watching his performances made me appreciate what an incredible talent he possessed. I bought the book entitled “A Class Apart” by Graham McCann and was fascinated by Cary Grant the man as well. I had become a huge fan and I wanted to collect all his movies. At that time I purchased every movie that was commercially available on DVD through TCM/Movies Unlimited and continued to record any movie shown on TV that I didn’t have, but other than that, it was a very passive effort because of my hectic schedule at work and at home. I would check the Movies Unlimited website occasionally for new releases, fully expecting that every movie would eventually be released on DVD.

Life finally slowed down a bit this year and I renewed my efforts to collect the movies I did not have. The commercial releases had not materialized and I wondered if the early movies even existed. I do not spend much time on the Internet and had never previously conducted a search for Cary Grant, other than on the TCM database. When I Googled him for the first time, I was delighted to come across The Ultimate Cary Grant website and to find that all 72 movies did exist. I then completed my collection thanks to eBay, Amazon.com and especially to Cheryl Trahan. I continue to hope that high quality versions of all Cary’s films will be released commercially or at least shown on TV. To that end, I’ve voted on the TCM website for every one to be released on DVD, emailed a suggestion to TCM that they show the early CG movies, joined AFI to support film preservation, and emailed Universal Studios to ask if they plan to release more of the CG movies from the Paramount collection. In the meantime, I consider myself fortunate that I have now viewed all his movies (including the short subjects and his cameo appearance in “Without Reservations”).

I am very thankful for carygrant.net and the wonderful resource Debbie (and other contributors) have provided. Through this site, I have added to my collection of Cary Grant books and was made aware of his radio performances. I ordered several CD collections of the radio performances via eBay, which I have listened to during my commute to work. It has been especially fun to listen to the performances in roles he did not have in the film versions, and to imagine how great he would have been in the films (e.g., “Theodora Goes Wild”, “I Love You Again”, and “Shadow of a Doubt”). I’ve also been enjoying the weekly “Guess the Movie” contest and the monthly videos from cgmtv. It is gratifying to know that there is a worldwide community of fellow fans accessible through the website and the Warbrides email list.

Name: Karen Bezman
State/Country: Illinois
Favorite Movies: People Will Talk,

As far back as I can remember, I have been a Cary Grant fan. I suppose the first of his films that I saw were back in the 50s. I had an uncle who worked for Warner Bros. and we would go to screenings periodically and that is where I most likely saw him the first time. Unfortunately, I did not know then what I know now as my uncle had a plethora of lobby cards, posters and other memorabilia all over his office. We have some photos showing the office and I would have been like a kid in a candy store. I do remember getting autographed photos of James Dean and Kim Novak but never one of Cary. I would have treasured it. Unfortunately the Dean and Novak photos were lost many years ago – probably thrown out.

There was also had another sort of close brush with maybe knowing someone who knew him. It is my mother who was a stage dancer and she worked with many of the people with whom he worked, however when she worked with these people he was already in Hollywood. If I have asked her once, I have asked hundreds of times if she ever worked with him and the answer has always been ‘no’. I keep looking through the old photos and he still is not there.

My favorite film is People Will Talk. It may have been the first one I saw. The role that he played was so wonderful and the music was fantastic. Each time I watch it, I see something new it seems. I was not much a fan of The Bishop’s Wife until recently when I gave it another chance. My gosh, it is really a beautiful movie. There are many more that I have had to watch more than once to really appreciate the work that went into them and to see how Archie evolved into Cary Grant. What a master he was. There seemed to be virtually nothing he could not do.

I had a fairly nice collection before I discovered Warbrides and that just fueled the fire for me to get all 72. I had some wonderful help from a few Warbrides to whom I shall be eternally grateful – thank you Irena, Dorothy and Rose. We have mailed many a film back and forth all over the world. What a wonderful way to get to know these people, friendships that I treasure. All 72 films and lots of extras have been sitting in my bookcase for quite a while but I never got around to writing this but because there are so many new Warbrides, I felt that I owed this to them to know how many of us there are who really appreciate what he gave to us. I even have quite a few of these on CD and I listen to them in the car and at work. What a great way to pass time.

I find it amazing how his fame does not seem to diminish. It keeps on gaining strength, something which he would have never expected. He thought that once he was gone that he would be forgotten – FAT CHANCE!

I suppose that I belong at the People Will Talk table, however, there are portions of almost every one of his films that I think are fantastic from Gunga Din with that boyish haircut to Father Goose (which I saw the day it came out) with that gentlemanly gray hair and facial growth. He was absolutely beautiful in Bishop’s Wife as well as suave in Charade and To Catch a Thief. There really is no way to label one as a favorite as just about all of them have something very special – Cary Grant.

Karen Bezman

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