Who doesn't love Cary Grant?
The debonair urbane movie star who for nearly 35 years from 1931-1966 entertained and delighted audiences worldwide with his easy going on-screen persona. A handsome matinee idol who from one film to the next could easily switch up from comedy to drama effortlessly and with equal aplomb.
Well it seems one person who didn't love Cary Grant all that much was Archie Leach, and who can blame him? And It seems Cary Grant's opinion of Archie Leach was equally damning.
A poor boy born into the poverty and hardships of Edwardian England, to a neglectful father and an overly protective mother who was herself walking a mental tightrope between insanity and reality, it was a life anybody would want to escape from.
If that existence wasn't bad in itself, his father committed Archie's mother to an insane asylum, telling the boy she had died and then abandoned him to start a new family. It would be nearly thirty years before Archie found out the truth by which time Archie was the rich and famous Hollywood movie star known to the world as Cary Grant.
It was a discovery that would pull the already emotionally fragile Cary back to his roots and a life and identity he had spent so long trying to supress and bury. Two men in one body, each at loggerheads with the other. Never at peace.
Archie had found a permanent role to play in Cary Grant, the rich and sophisticated American actor, the very antithesis to who he really was and in his mind the fewer people who knew that the better. It's no wonder the off screen Cary was such an emotionally flawed character that few people ever really got to know or get close too.
Two people who did get to know him 'warts and all' was the actress Dyan Cannon, his forth wife and Jennifer Grant, their daughter from the marriage.
Most of the source material for this mini series is taken from Dyan Cannon's own autobiographical book 'Dear Cary' which documents their short and troubled marriage. I've read it, and thought it always tried to strike a fair balance. It tried to tell the truth without resorting to outright character assassination. Believe me I've read biographies of Cary Grant that have been far less complimentary of him.
One thing that does shine through Ms. Cannons book however, is her understanding.
Although the marriage didn't survive and the failure of it she lays squarely in Cary's lap due to his unreasonable and sometimes erratic behaviour, she understands the root causes of why he became the kind of man he did. He was troubled, hurt, guilt ridden, lost and confused. The sympathy and heartbreak she feels for the journey that had moulded him is clear and palpable throughout.
Dyan Cannon serves as executive producer on 'Archie' as does their daughter Jennifer and star Jason Issac's who manages to pull off a reasonable impersonation of Grant with his mannerisms and unique accent.
Like the book 'Dear Cary' it does not shy away from telling the truth about the marriage but it does so in a way that we too are conscious of the emotional past which is driving him and we are therefore able to sympathise to a great degree and we do not judge him too harshly.
One book I would very much like to read and have never been able to find, is 'Good Stuff' written by Jennifer Grant about her life with her father. One thing 'Archie' does portray clearly and accurately was what a dedicated and loving father he was.
With his daughter he found that special unbreakable bond, the parent/child closeness he was so cruelly denied himself. I truly feel that their shared love for Jennifer was the reason Archie and Cary were finally able to reconcile with each other and finally become one.
Jennifer, more than anybody, got to see that side of him over the last twenty years of his life so I'm hoping 'Good Stuff' when I finally get to read it, would redress the balance and neutralise some of the sourness 'Dear Cary' may have created in our minds.
My main criticism of 'Archie' however, is it is poorly researched in regards to the timeline of events. It was the mid 1930's when Cary found out his mother was alive, this series depicts it as being the 40's around the same time Cary was divorcing Barbara Hutton. Also it depicts Cary and Dyans first meeting taking place in 1961 and he was intending to offer her a role in North by Northwest, a movie he had made two years previously in 1959.
How these basic accuracies could have been missed is anyone's guess.. for a factual biopic it's pretty inexcusable.
Worth watching for anyone who is a Cary Grant fan or anyone who has read Dyan Cannons book.
The debonair urbane movie star who for nearly 35 years from 1931-1966 entertained and delighted audiences worldwide with his easy going on-screen persona. A handsome matinee idol who from one film to the next could easily switch up from comedy to drama effortlessly and with equal aplomb.
Well it seems one person who didn't love Cary Grant all that much was Archie Leach, and who can blame him? And It seems Cary Grant's opinion of Archie Leach was equally damning.
A poor boy born into the poverty and hardships of Edwardian England, to a neglectful father and an overly protective mother who was herself walking a mental tightrope between insanity and reality, it was a life anybody would want to escape from.
If that existence wasn't bad in itself, his father committed Archie's mother to an insane asylum, telling the boy she had died and then abandoned him to start a new family. It would be nearly thirty years before Archie found out the truth by which time Archie was the rich and famous Hollywood movie star known to the world as Cary Grant.
It was a discovery that would pull the already emotionally fragile Cary back to his roots and a life and identity he had spent so long trying to supress and bury. Two men in one body, each at loggerheads with the other. Never at peace.
Archie had found a permanent role to play in Cary Grant, the rich and sophisticated American actor, the very antithesis to who he really was and in his mind the fewer people who knew that the better. It's no wonder the off screen Cary was such an emotionally flawed character that few people ever really got to know or get close too.
Two people who did get to know him 'warts and all' was the actress Dyan Cannon, his forth wife and Jennifer Grant, their daughter from the marriage.
Most of the source material for this mini series is taken from Dyan Cannon's own autobiographical book 'Dear Cary' which documents their short and troubled marriage. I've read it, and thought it always tried to strike a fair balance. It tried to tell the truth without resorting to outright character assassination. Believe me I've read biographies of Cary Grant that have been far less complimentary of him.
One thing that does shine through Ms. Cannons book however, is her understanding.
Although the marriage didn't survive and the failure of it she lays squarely in Cary's lap due to his unreasonable and sometimes erratic behaviour, she understands the root causes of why he became the kind of man he did. He was troubled, hurt, guilt ridden, lost and confused. The sympathy and heartbreak she feels for the journey that had moulded him is clear and palpable throughout.
Dyan Cannon serves as executive producer on 'Archie' as does their daughter Jennifer and star Jason Issac's who manages to pull off a reasonable impersonation of Grant with his mannerisms and unique accent.
Like the book 'Dear Cary' it does not shy away from telling the truth about the marriage but it does so in a way that we too are conscious of the emotional past which is driving him and we are therefore able to sympathise to a great degree and we do not judge him too harshly.
One book I would very much like to read and have never been able to find, is 'Good Stuff' written by Jennifer Grant about her life with her father. One thing 'Archie' does portray clearly and accurately was what a dedicated and loving father he was.
With his daughter he found that special unbreakable bond, the parent/child closeness he was so cruelly denied himself. I truly feel that their shared love for Jennifer was the reason Archie and Cary were finally able to reconcile with each other and finally become one.
Jennifer, more than anybody, got to see that side of him over the last twenty years of his life so I'm hoping 'Good Stuff' when I finally get to read it, would redress the balance and neutralise some of the sourness 'Dear Cary' may have created in our minds.
My main criticism of 'Archie' however, is it is poorly researched in regards to the timeline of events. It was the mid 1930's when Cary found out his mother was alive, this series depicts it as being the 40's around the same time Cary was divorcing Barbara Hutton. Also it depicts Cary and Dyans first meeting taking place in 1961 and he was intending to offer her a role in North by Northwest, a movie he had made two years previously in 1959.
How these basic accuracies could have been missed is anyone's guess.. for a factual biopic it's pretty inexcusable.
Worth watching for anyone who is a Cary Grant fan or anyone who has read Dyan Cannons book.