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Being Cary Grant is hard work.
October 8, 2005
Even Cary Grant, the former British acrobat and music-hall performer Archie Leach, found it difficult. An interviewer once told him, "Everybody would like to be Cary Grant."
"So would I," Grant is said to have responded.
Yet, throughout film history, Hollywood has constantly looked for another Cary Grant. The requirements are manifold: He should be drop-dead handsome, wear a suit with style (whether or not it's a stylish suit), and be capable of performing in a screwball comedy like "Bringing Up Baby," a sharp thriller like "Notorious" and a cheeky mystery like "North by Northwest" or "Charade" without visible effort.
Needless to say, nobody has fit the bill.
But when suggestions for "the new Cary Grant" are made, one name comes up more than any other nowadays: George Clooney.
Handsome? Absolutely. Stylish? Of course. Effortless actor in a broad range of films?
Well, that's the thing. Clooney is a good actor, but he doesn't want to be Grant. Grant wouldn't have fit into the ensemble of "Ocean's Eleven" or the brooding drama of "Solaris." Perhaps Grant could have made "The Peacemaker," but it would have required more Hitchcockian menace.
But that's OK: Clooney is doing just fine on his own. He's gone back and forth between light comedy ("Ocean's," "Intolerable Cruelty") and serious drama ("Solaris," the upcoming "Syriana"), all the while remaining true to his own vision. Hollywood will have to keep looking if it wants a new Grant -- Clooney would rather be George Clooney.
This weekend, his new film, "Good Night, and Good Luck" -- which he directed, co-wrote and stars in -- premieres in limited release.
Eye on Entertainment takes a look.
Source: Cnn.com
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