ARTS, CULTURE & LIVING
by Michael Gannon Katharine Hepburn made more than 50 movies in a career that saw her win four Oscars between 1934 and 1994. Cary Grant made more than 70 between 1932 and his retirement in 1966. But between 1935 and 1940, the two Hollywood legends made four comedies that are featured in the ongoing Moviehouse series at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria through Dec. 16. They include “Sylvia Scarlett,” (1935) which started the series in September; “Bringing up Baby” and “Holiday” (both 1938) which are showing this month; and “The Philadelphia Story” (1940), with three screenings in December. Edo Choi, associate curator of film at MoMI, told the Chronicle they were almost a no-brainer for the Moviehouse series. “It’s one of the great pairings,” Choi said. “Their partnership was lightning in a bottle. They had about as perfect a chemistry for a male-female duo, particularly in that genre — romantic comedy — as anyone ever has. They were paradigmatic for future screen couples.”
“Sylvia Scarlett” saw Hepburn cut her hair short as she pretends to be a boy while on the lam with her father. Grant plays a con man. “Bringing Up Baby” features Hepburn as a flighty heiress and Grant as a paleontologist. Baby is Hepburn’s pet — a big one. “Holiday” introduces Grant as the fiance of heiress Hepburn’s straight-arrow sister. “The Philadelphia Story” centers on divorced socialite Hepbur n’s s e cond we dding, wit h Gra nt a s her ex-husband. “These films aren’t buried treasures,” Choi said. “They’re classics. We enjoy revisiting them, and we feel audiences will enjoy revisiting them. They’re readily available, of course, on home video or streaming. But we feel that this is the proper way for them to be seen ... For anyone who wants to see these films, they are some of the most delightful films ever made.” “Holiday” directed by George Cukor, Choi said, may be his favorite of the four. “It may be the pinnacle of Hepburn and Grant’s pairing,” he said. “It was a film that, as I recall, did continued on page 25
For the latest news visit qchron.com
Love and laughs fill GrantHepburn classics at MoMI
Page 23 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 9, 2023
November 9, 2023
C M SQ page 23 Y K
