The Film Junkie

The chemistry between Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn is a treat to behold.  Few people have the timing, wit and physical abilities of these two and when they are in a scene together you can’t take your eyes off of them.  The only other male-female team I can think of that work this well together are Woody Allen and Diane Keaton (and if you don’t believe me see ‘Love and Death’ and ‘Annie Hall’).

Wealthy upper crust Julia Seton (Doris Nolan) falls in love with Johnny (Grant) a middle class man she met on holiday and returns with him to New York to introduce him to her family, including her free spirited sister, Linda (Hepburn).  Johnny and Julia soon discover that they are very different sorts of people and Johnny takes comfort in the fun-loving activities of Linda.

One of the first scenes between Grant and Hepburn has her greeting him while snacking on an apple then reaching out and offering him a bite of the same apple with a comfortable ease that goes far beyond the single day their characters have known one another.

Though she might be better known for teaming with Spencer Tracy and he might be famous as the dashing leading man, in the few films they did together there is simply nothing that compares with the magnetism of Grant and Hepburn.

Grade: A

A gal from the Bronx (Ginger Rogers) goes on a two week vacation to a camp for young singletons and meets a waiter fresh out of law school (Douglas Fairbanks Jr).  They, of course, fall madly in love despite the travails they must cope with.

Yes, it has been done before, but this was one of the first camp love stories.  The supporting cast are just as good as they can get from a very young Lucille Ball as the drama queen Screwball to Eve Arden as the dorky Henrietta to Red Skelton as the camp social director.  They save the film from being flat and keep it moving along nicely.

Rogers has a face that was made for the screen, because of her films with Fred Astaire people tend to forget that she was a real actress for years beforehand and this movie shows that she can tackle a scene and make it her own even with a big time movie star like Fairbanks Jr. 

It isn’t a really original film, but it is a fun little treat and easy to watch at barely over an hour.

Grade: B+