Cary Grant

The usual self-proclaimed Brando scholars were discussing this quote attributed to Grant on a message board up until Jan 29: "I  have no rapport with the new idols of the screen, and that includes Marlon Brando and his style of Method acting. It certainly includes Montgomery Clift and that God-awful James Dean. Some producer should cast all three of them in the same movie and let them duke it out. When they've finished each other off, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy and I will return and start making real movies again like we used to."

One of them even said that Grant knew those actors were better than he was, so I replied the following on Feb 9:

Brando and Clift weren't both better actors than Grant. Cary Grant just was not a naturalistic actor at all --let alone an ultraneurotic one, like Brando, Clift and Dean were. Grant remains one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen. His craft was pure magic, and he made it all believable and effortless-looking. He was like Gable, he belonged to the kind of leading men you rooted for without any conflicting views, even if he played the characters he did in Suspicion or To Catch a Thief. He was perfect for Hitchcock movies. He was perfect in an ideal way: every guy will always want to be Cary Grant whenever one of his movies is being watched.

On the other hand, I love Brando and Clift and Dean because they remind me of my human condition, of the reality outside my room where I watch their movies on DVD. Grant was cool. Dean was not: and in spite of people going on calling him cool or, worse, the ultimate cool guy, his craft was made of nervousness, angst and self-esteem issues. His best work is about dealing with the real world. Of course Brando was his hero. Johnny Strabler is the original rebel.