Cary Grant: A Class Apart [Import] [Hardcover]

Graham McCann (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; 1St Edition edition (1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857023668
• ISBN-13: 978-1857023664
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,074,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book for a great man, August 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Cary Grant (Paperback)

Though I've seen quite a few of Cary Grant's movies, this is the first biography on him that I've read. I was quite impressed with the book. Since I had seen tv documentaries and read a little about Cary on the internet, I was familiar with his life but this helped flesh out the details. Cary Grant's rise to stardom is probably one of the most unlikely and fascinating stories of Hollywood. As a young boy (age 9) his mother was suddenly taken from him and Cary was left to assume that she'd died or abandoned him. As any psychologist can tell you, this would be a huge impact on anybody's life. The rest of the story, Archie Leach (CG's real name) turning into Cary Grant is interesting and the anecdotes related throughout the book give a good sense of Cary's character. He is shown to be a caring, private, and humorous man in real life as he was on the screen. He had his troubles as well and this book deals with those excellently. It doesn't gloss over bad parts in Grant's life. I would have appreciated more stories illustrating Grant's character and more background on his marriages (the author states the facts about how he met his wives, when they were married, and when they were divorced, but not much more). All in all, it is an excellent biography, not the sleazy type at all, and a fitting tribute to one of the greatest actor's the world has known. I plan on reading more about the fascinating life of Cary Grant.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars High quality writing, which makes for a terrific reading, March 24, 2000

By 

"zara_azari" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cary Grant (Paperback)

I like this book, because it is written by a man, who knows his craft. Nowadays, everyone seems to write biographies, but not everyone succeeds. Presence of humor throughout this book goes to show that CG had a very special sence of humor, that we can all enjoy from reading about him. Then, of course, there are the pictures... Who can resist a book full of CG's pictures?... After all he has been unanimously voted "the most dashing man of Hollywood". Overall, this book talks in depth about CG's life, from his Bristol childhhod to the last years in America. Many quotes from the man himself (as well as from people, who knew him in Hollywood) are also inlcuded.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Graceful and with substance - like it's subject., November 17, 1999

By 

RetroMan "baker-of-birchwood" (Mineola, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cary Grant: A Class Apart (Paperback)

Indeed a very worthwhile read for Grant fans, film scholars, and biography readers in general. It is neither a white-wash nor hatchet job of the actor. It is honest, straightforward, and engagingly written. A model biography.