Cary Grant (Box Set)

Four of the suave Cary Grant's most enduring and best-loved films, NIGHT AND DAY, DESTINATION TOKYO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE plus a bonus documentary disc CARY GRANT: A CLASS APART
NIGHT AND DAY (1946)
Grant portrays Cole Porter in this musical biographical film about the composer's life. From his early years in Indiana, his experiences in the war, and later the crippling accident, are among the events loosely followed. Directed by CASABLANCA's Michael Curtiz and co-starring Jane Wyman and Ginny Simms, who sing "You're the Top" and highlighted by Mary Martin's performance of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy."
DESTINATION TOKYO (1943)
Directed by DARK PASSAGE's Delmer Daves, DESTINATION TOKYO is a patriotic war epic about U.S. submarine USS Copperfin sent into Japanese waters and the dynamic amongst crew members. Featuring the debut of John Forsythe (TV's DYNASTY, CHARLIE'S ANGELS)
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
NORTH BY NORTHWEST is a suspense thriller that finds Cary Grant in the role of Roger Thornhill, a Manhattan advertising executive mistaken for a spy. Considered by many to be the prototypical pure action movie (creating the template for later James Bond and Indiana Jones films), the film is a cross-country roller-coaster ride with Alfred Hitchcock at the helm. The film is duly famous for several classic and indelible scenes, including the desert biplane encounter and the Mt. Rushmore climax. The original title was THE MAN IN LINCOLN'S NOSE, which was replaced by a reference to a line from William Shakespeare's HAMLET (in which Hamlet says, "I am but mad north-north-west."). The magical combination of Hitchcock and the debonair Grant--who made four wonderful films together--makes NORTH BY NORTHWEST a suspense-filled standout.
When Thornhill finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, the world as he knows it comes to an end. Suddenly danger threatens as the hapless businessman is targeted as an American intelligence agent and set up as a killer. All of Thornhill's attempts to straighten things out only make matters worse--and soon the desperate man is on the run from murderous foreign operatives, the CIA, and the police. The supporting cast, including Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and Martin Landau, is uniformly excellent.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
Beware nice old ladies offering elderberry wine! Grant plays mild-mannered drama critic Mortimer Brewster who discovers the shocking truth about his two elderly aunts, Abby and Martha: The seemingly harmless old ladies have the most disagreeable habit of poisoning their gentlemen callers and burying them in the cellar. They believe they are doing these lonely old men a favour by putting them out of their misery! Based on Joseph Kesselring's 1941 hit Broadway play, this is one of the all-time greatest black farces, a quick-fire relay between the "murders" and Brewster's frenetic attempts at averting their discovery. "Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops!"
CARY GRANT: A CLASS APART (2004)
Written and directed by Robert Trachtenberg, this is a thought provoking look at the stellar trajectory of working class Englishman, Archie Leach of Bristol, to legendary Hollywood star. With extensive clips of classic Cary Grant movie moments, A CLASS APART is narrated by Helen Mirren and also features interviews with Deborah Kerr, Martin Landau, Eva Marie Saint and a number of Grant's wives.