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Cary Grant was a one-of-a-kind movie star. Sure, there have been others who have reached his level of fame, acclaim, and stature, but in terms of what made Grant a movie star, there has been no one like him before or since. His ability to seamlessly shift between a Hitchcock noir like "Notorious" to a total goofball comedy like "Monkey Business" remains unparalleled. Add to that his dashing good lucks, tall, athletic frame, and signature mid-Atlantic accent, and you have one of the greatest Hollywood icons of all time, if not the greatest.

For someone with such a distinctly defined movie star persona, his malleability as a performer was rather unusual. In the classic Hollywood era, the major studios were the ones molding stars. They had performers under long-term contracts, allowing them to basically plug in anyone they wished into certain projects. Actors would be paid like regular salaried employees...

Randolph Scott and Cary Grant: Gay lovers or good friends and roommates? (See previous post: “Randolph Scott Movies: From Westerns to Cary Grant Comedy.”) Now, one suggestion: Do not believe those rumors about Randolph Scott and Cary Grant having been gay lovers. Anything is possible, of course, but there’s no credible evidence indicating that the two actors were more than good friends / roommates who had first met on the set of the Nancy Carroll star vehicle Hot Saturday in 1932. (See also: “TCM Movie Lineup: Randolph Scott Westerns.”) (Image: Shirtless Randolph Scott and Cary Grant in publicity photo ca. 1933.) But what about all those pictures showing Randolph Scott and Cary Grant cozying up at the house they shared in the posh Los Feliz Hills? Well, those were publicity photos, taken at a time when both actors were up-and-coming Paramount contract players. Rooming up likely gave them a chance to...