Dynamic Duos in Classic Film Blogathon: Cary Grant and Carole Lombard.

Who, does not love a classic movie Dynamic Duo? My personal pick for one of the most romantic movie couples of all time for this Blogathon, is Cary Grant and Carole Lombard. Their performance are realistic and believable and they made it look easy. The memory of their love stays with you long after the classic movie, In Name Only is over. The only movie that they were a romantic couple.

I fell in love with the performances of Lombard and Grant in the classic film, In Name Only(1939). Alec, who in a loveless marriage, still looking for a true love. Alec, is kind and trusting and Julie is patiently waiting for her man, dealing with the pressures of society and what other people might think. Will Julie and Alec ever get to be together? A wonderful drama directed by John Cromwell. Music by Roy Webb created the mood.

Video: A charming scene "gone fishing".



I would have also liked to see them as a Dynamic Duo in the classic films:

They co-starred early in their career in The Eagle and The Hawk(1933) with Fredric March, but they shared no scenes together. March is Grant's training officer and he washes him out as a pilot. Grant resents this and slugs him and becomes tail-gunner. Eventually, March becomes an air ace. But soon all the deaths of his comrades really takes it's toll on him. He's a sensitive soul and he starts to crack up. By then Grant is on the scene as his tail-gunner, but they're still not getting along. Cary Grant plays very much against type. Jack Oakie is around to do the comic relief. Carole Lombard is in this as well for about 10 minutes as a woman March encounters while on a 10 day leave. It's a good anti-war film and the ending will surprise you.

Cary had a small role in one of Carole's earlier films, Sinners in The Sun(1932). A beautifully written movie, where Chester Morris and Carole Lombard love each other, but she is terrified of the life of poverty. So they break up and they drift into lives as a kept woman and a gigolo. Cary Grant, in his second movie, but if you're not paying attention you could easily miss him, his voice was far more distinctive than his good looks at this stage of his career..

Participating Blogs

The Hollywood Revue – Greta Garbo and John Gilbert

Outspoken & Freckled - Nick and Nora Charles

Bogie Film Blog – Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre

Picture Spoilers – Dynamic Duos in Libeled Lady

Stardust – Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck

Caftan Woman – Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

Comet Over Hollywood – Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear – Martin and Lewis

Silver Scenes – Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson

Movies Silently - Vilma Banky & Ronald Colman in The Winning of Barbara Worth

Critica Retro – Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp film depictions

Shadows and Satin – Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake

The Joy and Agony of Movies – Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck

Greg McCambley on Citizen Screenings - Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in The Third Man

Durnmoose Movie Musings – Abbott & Costello

Silver Screenings – Bob Hope & Bing Crosby in a “Road” picture

The Nitrate Diva – Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich

Weird Flix - Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, 50th Anniversary of Beach Party

The Man on the Flying Trapeze — Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, focus on Hold Your Man

Viv and Larry — Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier (on-screen and off-screen)

The Baz – Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone

Lime Reviews - Charlie Chaplin and Claire Bloom in Limelight

Furious Cinema - Lemmon and Matthau in The Odd Couple

Vienna’s Classic Hollywood – Thelma Ritter and Connie Gilchrist

Cinematic Catharsis – Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in Horror of Dracula

Krell Laboratories - Special Japanese legends Pairings

Film Flare - Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren

Lindsay’s Movie Musings – Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda’s friendship

The Vintage Cameo – Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra

The Jeanette MacDonald Blog – Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy

The Great Katharine Hepburn – Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant

Classic Movie Man – Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

Virtual Virago – Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney

Be Careful! Your Hand! - Maleficent and her crow Diablo from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty

Noir and Chick Flicks – Carole Lombard and Cary Grant

The Motion Pictures – Cary Grant and Joan Bennett in Big Brown Eyes and Wedding Present

The Stop Button – Lon Chaney Jr and Bela Lugosi

She Blogged by Night – Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi

Hitless Wonder Movie Blog – Evelyn Ankers and Lon Chaney Jr.

Movie Classics – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Hero Histories – The Lone Ranger & Tonto – film incarnations – Part 1

Secret Sanctum of Captain Video – The Lone Ranger & Tonto – Part 2

Western Comics Adventures – The Lone Ranger & Tonto – Part 3

The Last Drive In – Bette vs. Joan, “Get Back in the Chair Blanche”

The Last Drive In – Bette vs. Joan, “I wouldn’t piss on Joan Crawford if she were on Fire”

Trocadero Baby – Farley Granger and Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train

Terrible Movies – Godzilla and Mothra

Frankly My Dear - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Too Many Girls, The Long Long Trailer and Forever Darling

We Recycle Movies – Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson

The World’s Funniest Dissertation – Laurel and Hardy

Cinemalacrum – Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo in Godard’s Breathless

Classic Movie Hub – Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont

Citizen Screenings – Batman (1966)

Once Upon a Screen - Crawford and Gable

Topic TBD

Wide Screen World

Goosepimply Allover

Dueling Divas Blogathon: In Name Only(1939).

In Name Only(1939). Cast: Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis. Based on the 1935 novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer. This movie was intended to be a reunion for Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, but following the failure of Bringing Up Baby at the box office, Hepburn left RKO after being named "Box Office Poison". Carole Lombard was brought in as her replacement.

Alec Walker, finds himself trapped in a loveless marriage, to a woman who married him only for his money. When he meets Julie, a widow and her daughter Ellen, he quickly falls in love with her.



His wife Maida, has Alec's parents convinced that she is the perfect wife, so when, Alec asks for a divorce, Maida, says that she will sail to Paris to stay with his parents, hoping to prolong the divorce.

Alec, follows Julie to New York, where he proposes to her, Julie accepts. After, returning home on Christmas Eve, Maida promises Julie, that she will never give Alec a divorce, and if he files for one, she will sue Julie for alienation of affections and have her daughter testify in court against her.

After which, Alec and Julie decide to go their own way. It is not long before Alec, becomes very ill with pneumonia. When the doctor says that his only the hope is to be with with Julie, she comes up with the lie that Maida has agreed to a divorce. Maida tells Julie, that she wants all of the Walker family's money and Alec's parents happen to overhear her. Now what will happen to Maida, after she is exposed for the Gold digger she is?

This is the perfect movie to celebrate dueling divas. The performances are wonderful and Lombard, is absolutely gorgeous. I think another good reason to see this film, is to see Kay Francis performance as Maida, Cary Grant's vindictive wife, which is great fun to watch. Lombard's fans won't be disappointed either with her heart-breaking performance.

Both actress break new ground in this classic film, In Name Only(1939). Carole Lombard brings it down a notch from her sexy blonde of screw-ball comedy fame to perform a straight dramatic role. Kay Francis, plays the woman you love to hate. She should have received an academy award for her performance.

Great On Screen Couples: Cary Grant and Carole Lombard

Ok for the few people in blog land who may not know this...Cary Grant and Carole Lombard are my favorite actor and actress ever. I love them more than any other actors and actresses. And while I think Irene Dunne is Cary's best on screen partner, due to the three wonderful films they made together (The Awful Truth, My Favorite Wife and Penny Serenade), Cary and Carole had some great chemistry of their own. True they only made one full film together in 1939's In Name Only, they co-starred early in their career in The Eagle and The Hawk with Fredric March, but they shared no scenes together. Also just learned from VP81955 that Cary had a role in one of Carole's earlier films, Sinners in The Sun and they do share the screen together. Must track that down to watch that one. Thanks VP!

So it is with In Name Only, one terrific romantic drama from the golden year of 1939 that showcases my two favorite people working their magic. Cary is Alec Walker, a wealthy New Yorker in a loveless marriage to Maida (the amazing Kay Francis) who meets the beautiful and caring Julie Eden, a widow (played by Carole) with a young daughter. Alec and Julie hit it off immediately but Maida will not let him out their marriage. She will hold onto Alec even if it makes him miserable.

So this is a true romantic tear-jerker with an love triangle that just won't give an inch, especially by Maida.
Top notch drama and it's great seeing Cary and Carole in a film together. A nice change of pace of Carole in one of her few dramatic roles. She proves she can hold her own with the Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburns. Her pairing with Cary is just wonderful to see. I mean I would have loved for them to team up again for a screwball comedy but sadly that would not happen.

In Name Only is one of my all time favorite films. If you have never seen it, watch it immediately.

Notes:

This movie was intended to be a reunion for Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, but following the failure of Bringing Up Baby at the box office from the previous year, Hepburn left RKO being after deemed "Box Office Poison". Carole Lombard was subsequently brought in as her replacement.

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie onDecember 11, 1939 with Carole Lombard, Cary Grant and Kay Francis reprising their film roles.

Filmed on location in San Marino, California

Dueling Divas Blogathon: In Name Only(1939).

In Name Only(1939). Cast: Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis. Based on the 1935 novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer. This movie was intended to be a reunion for Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, but following the failure of Bringing Up Baby at the box office, Hepburn left RKO after being named "Box Office Poison". Carole Lombard was brought in as her replacement.

Alec Walker, finds himself trapped in a loveless marriage, to a woman who married him only for his money. When he meets Julie, a widow and her daughter Ellen, he quickly falls in love with her.



His wife Maida, has Alec's parents convinced that she is the perfect wife, so when, Alec asks for a divorce, Maida, says that she will sail to Paris to stay with his parents, hoping to prolong the divorce.

Alec, follows Julie to New York, where he proposes to her, Julie accepts. After, returning home on Christmas Eve, Maida promises Julie, that she will never give Alec a divorce, and if he files for one, she will sue Julie for alienation of affections and have her daughter testify in court against her.

After which, Alec and Julie decide to go their own way. It is not long before Alec, becomes very ill with pneumonia. When the doctor says that his only the hope is to be with with Julie, she comes up with the lie that Maida has agreed to a divorce. Maida tells Julie, that she wants all of the Walker family's money and Alec's parents happen to overhear her. Now what will happen to Maida, after she is exposed for the Gold digger she is?

This is the perfect movie to celebrate dueling divas. The performances are wonderful and Lombard, is absolutely gorgeous. I think another good reason to see this film, is to see Kay Francis performance as Maida, Cary Grant's vindictive wife, which is great fun to watch. Lombard's fans won't be disappointed either with her heart-breaking performance.

Both actresses break new ground in this classic film, In Name Only(1939).Carole Lombard brings it down a notch from her sexy blonde of screw-ball comedy fame to perform a straight dramatic role. Kay Francis, plays the woman you love to hate. She should have received an academy award for her performance.