Good Stuff by Jennifer Grant

Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant
by Jennifer Grant
9780307267108
May 2011
Knopf (Random House)

Happy Father's Day!

Good Stuff is unlike any other book you will ever come across. Reading it is a very intimate experience, one you share with the author. Jennifer Grant has given the public a peek into the love between a father and his only child. The father, Cary Grant, just happens to be one of the most famous, well-known and adored actors ever to have lived. We come to the book with a false sense of familiarity with Cary Grant only to discover that we didn't know about this part of his life at all.

Jennifer Grant reminisces about the first 20 years of her life; the years when her father was alive. Although the book goes back and forth through time freely, the reader never gets lost. Each chapter has a theme which anchors it and the progression of the book feels chronological even when it isn't. The author tried to capture the "essence of Dad's soul" when writing this book. It's not minute-by-minute account of 20 years past rather a way to portray her father the way she knew him. The title, Good Stuff, refers to something Cary Grant would say alot. The author says, "Dad used the expression 'good stuff' to declare happiness or, as one of his friends put it, he said it when please with the nature of things." The Cary Grant in this book is very happy to have finally had a child, one he could dote upon, teach, and most importantly love. You get the sense that he is scared of death because he doesn't want to miss those precious moments of his life. He didn't want to miss the good stuff.

Jennifer Grant is intelligent, observant and thoughtful and shares the most wonderful memories of her dad. At first I thought she came off a bit snooty, however, as I continued to read the book I realized that this is a woman who truly adored, loved and appreciated her father. She doesn't read any biographies about him. Before he passed away, Cary Grant warned his daughter that after his death people would say things about him. And to keep in mind what she knows about him now and what he's told her. He wanted her to remember him as he was, not as others will portray him to be. And that's exactly what she did in this book. While she does address some of the controversial topics of his life, including his sexuality (this surprised me!), she does stay true to her real memory of her dad.

The book is wider than your normal biography or memoir. It was purposefully made to look like a photo album or scrapbook. The pages are rough front which gives the book a sort of homemade feel. There are delightful pictures of father and daughter as well as other images that are so personal and intimate it feels like we are getting a peek into the Grant family's treasure trove. Jennifer Grant also included telegrams, typed notes, hand-written scribbles, drawings and written transcripts of audio recordings. She recounts conversations, events, explains some of the pictures.

What really touched me about this book is how much Cary Grant loved his daughter. He was so happy to have a child, he treasured every moment with her and kept a huge amount of mementos which he stored in a vault. The love, his love, is what will move you to tears when you read this book. And I implore that you do.

Full Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this book through Random House.

Here is an interview (she doesn't do many of these) with Jennifer Grant and ABC.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) at the Paramount

My name is on the ticket!!!

I was recently invited by ArtsEmerson to attend one of the Noir Nights screenings being shown at the Paramount Theatre. While I wish I could have seen them all, but I only had time to catch Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956). Although it is the only film in the series that was available on DVD (through Warner Archive), they did show a rare print and it was great to watch it on the big(gish) screen.

The film was shown in the Bright Family Screening room which is part of the Paramount Theater building . While I was hoping to see a film in the grand 1,700 seat theater, I realize that the screening rare noir won't fill up a space that large. In fact, about 35-40 people attending this particular screening. However, I was very, very happy for any excuse to be inside the great Paramount Theater!

Now most currently active classic film bloggers are too new to the blogosphere to remember Ginger (of Asleep in New York) and her scathing and spoiler-ridden review of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956). I remembered it though. At least I remembered it was scathing. That's pretty much all I remembered because when I went to the screening of the film I had absolutely no idea what it was about. Just that Ginger didn't like it. And you know what, coming to a film almost completely ignorant makes for a very interesting experience. Carlos, who came with me to the screening, had seen the 2009 remake of the same name and knew the plot and most importantly the major twist. So he was expecting what I wasn't.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt  is Fritz Lang's last American film and stars Dana Andrews and some chick named Joan Fontaine. Dana Andrews is Tom Garrett, a writer who just had a lot of success with his first published book and is struggling to write the second. He's in a relationship with Susan Spencer (Joan Fontaine), the daughter of newspaper magnate Austin Spencer (Sidney Blackmer). Austin Spencer is against capital punishment and is out to prove to District Attorney Roy Thompson (Phillip Bourneuf) that circumstantial evidence could bring an innocent man to the electric chair. When a burlesque dancer is murdered, Spencer recruits Garrett to pretend that Garrett is the murderer. They place fake evidence in various places all the while taking  pictures and records of the acts to prove later that Garrett is innocent and that the evidence led prosecutors to the wrong man. Garrett even ingratiates himself with the two burlesque dancers who were the last to see the murdered woman alive. Garrett goes on trial. Then, as I like to say, things get complicated.

1956 is pretty late for the film noir era. I believe by that point audiences were so used to film noir fare that they were hungry for something new and different. Well Fritz Lang gave them what they asked for with this noir. The film has two major twists. It's those twists that make you either love the film or hate it. Most folks hate it. While I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either. I'm somewhere in the middle. Without providing too many spoilers, I agree with Ginger that the twists make the whole plot implausible. The major flaw is that there is no indication in the beginning of the film about what is to happen at the end. If there were, it would have saved the film for sure. Rebecca Myers from ArtsEmerson introduced the film and read to us from a quote which asked people to watch the film twice (unfortunately I forget the exact quote). I'm curious enough to watch the film a second time in case I missed something the first. However, overall I enjoyed the film. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time wondering what was going to happen next. Joan Fontaine was just blah. This is not her film. This is Dana Andrews film. And don't you forget it!

Thank you to ArtsEmerson for giving me the opportunity to check out the Noir Nights program! I enjoyed this screening and hope to be back soon.

Paramount Theatre in Pictures

I recently went to the Paramount Theatre in Boston for the Arts Emerson Noir Nights repertory series (post about that to come). The theater opened in 1932 as an Art Deco style movie house but closed in 1976. Emerson College renovated it and added a performing art center to it between the years of 2005 and 2008. The Paramount had it's grand reopening in 2010. I attended Emerson College during the years of renovation, restoration  and building so I never got a chance to go to the Paramount during my grad school years. Visiting the building was a real treat. I didn't get to see the main 1,700 seat theater unfortunately but hope to one day soon. Perhaps I'll have a follow up post with even more pictures then. For now, here is a glimpse of what I got to see. 

A lot of the original Art Deco decor was damaged. So although the theatre is gorgeous, the Art Deco style has a modern feel to it. Well, not really modern. I saw it as Art Deco meets 1970s.