Post by Judy on Jan 23, 2007 14:49:20 GMT -5
I searched to see if we had a thread about this; couldn't find so...I started this one. Sorry if I'm repeating info....Judy
www.nwitimes.com/articles/2007/01/22/entertainment/entertainment/7a89c773317f68cc86257267005c645d.txt
Date posted online: Monday, January 22, 2007
Timeless movies on DVD
Grant, Hepburn make 'Holiday' fun, Cruise into 'Mission Impossible'
BY PETER RAINER
Bloomberg news
"Holiday," featuring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, is a prime example of why the star system reigned in Hollywood's golden age. Although the 1938 movie is based on a celebrated play by Philip Barry, these two actors could have spoken gibberish and still enthralled us.
Grant plays Johnny Case, a free spirit who falls in love with Julia (Doris Nolan), a wealthy society girl. Her sister Linda (Hepburn), as rambunctious as Johnny, is clearly the right match for him, and the fun of the movie is in seeing how they eventually pair up.
Grant and Hepburn have been branded as iconic for so long that we sometimes forget just how slaphappy these two could be. They brought out the goofy best in each other, not only in this film but also in the even more remarkable "Bringing Up Baby" released the same year. "The Philadelphia Story" (1940), also based on a Barry play, is a more sedate and less enjoyable affair even with its classic status.
"Holiday" was made when it was still possible to imagine earning enough money to retire at a young age and then traveling the world. That's Johnny's dream -- and his undoing. When Julia realizes he doesn't want to climb the corporate ladder her father has generously provided him, she sours on their engagement. It takes almost the entire movie before he and Linda realize they were made for each other.
Silly duo
I wish the play, as adapted by Sidney Buchman and Donald Ogden Stewart and directed by George Cukor, had not taken so long to unite Johnny and Linda. The filmmakers' coy prolonging of the inevitable leaves us with fewer opportunities for Grant and Hepburn to be blissfully silly together.
It's difficult to believe that Hepburn, at this pre- "Philadelphia Story" stage of her career, was considered box- office poison. What were the public and exhibitors thinking? Today, that poison can be savored for what it really is: nectar.
The black-and-white transfer on this DVD is not the sharpest and the extras, consisting mainly of a featurette about Grant at Columbia, are so-so. (Sony, $24.95)
www.nwitimes.com/articles/2007/01/22/entertainment/entertainment/7a89c773317f68cc86257267005c645d.txt
Date posted online: Monday, January 22, 2007
Timeless movies on DVD
Grant, Hepburn make 'Holiday' fun, Cruise into 'Mission Impossible'
BY PETER RAINER
Bloomberg news
"Holiday," featuring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, is a prime example of why the star system reigned in Hollywood's golden age. Although the 1938 movie is based on a celebrated play by Philip Barry, these two actors could have spoken gibberish and still enthralled us.
Grant plays Johnny Case, a free spirit who falls in love with Julia (Doris Nolan), a wealthy society girl. Her sister Linda (Hepburn), as rambunctious as Johnny, is clearly the right match for him, and the fun of the movie is in seeing how they eventually pair up.
Grant and Hepburn have been branded as iconic for so long that we sometimes forget just how slaphappy these two could be. They brought out the goofy best in each other, not only in this film but also in the even more remarkable "Bringing Up Baby" released the same year. "The Philadelphia Story" (1940), also based on a Barry play, is a more sedate and less enjoyable affair even with its classic status.
"Holiday" was made when it was still possible to imagine earning enough money to retire at a young age and then traveling the world. That's Johnny's dream -- and his undoing. When Julia realizes he doesn't want to climb the corporate ladder her father has generously provided him, she sours on their engagement. It takes almost the entire movie before he and Linda realize they were made for each other.
Silly duo
I wish the play, as adapted by Sidney Buchman and Donald Ogden Stewart and directed by George Cukor, had not taken so long to unite Johnny and Linda. The filmmakers' coy prolonging of the inevitable leaves us with fewer opportunities for Grant and Hepburn to be blissfully silly together.
It's difficult to believe that Hepburn, at this pre- "Philadelphia Story" stage of her career, was considered box- office poison. What were the public and exhibitors thinking? Today, that poison can be savored for what it really is: nectar.
The black-and-white transfer on this DVD is not the sharpest and the extras, consisting mainly of a featurette about Grant at Columbia, are so-so. (Sony, $24.95)