Finally, Cary Grant

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I've been working through the 'most' romantic movies as reported by Vanity Fair a couple of months back; and finally, one that I've never seen, was actually romantic: Holiday. Made in 1938, it stars Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant.

The Vanity Fair article as I recall did not have a by-line, but by the content of the list, I figured it was a man because so many of the movies were set against the backdrop of war. Not that I didn't enjoy the films, but I don't think that I would classify a few of them as being romantic. But put Cary Grant in a film, and his being in it makes for romance.

The premise was predictable, naturally. Boy meets girl out of town. Girl is rich. Boy is a dreamer. They set to marry as he's not a flake, and father consents. Aha! But the girl is really only daddy's little rich girl, and he really does want only to chase out his George Bailey dreams, so he ditches her. And flies off with the free spirit that is her SISTER! Lord, help the sister who comes between ... but the first doesn't really care if he isn't interested in daddy's money.

Of course what makes this romantic is the play between Grant and Hepburn. It isn't just that she finds him dreamy, but I'm convinced that Hepburn saw what was the real deal of the character that Grant portrayed. They sizzled. And it was hard to take my eyes off of one to look at the other. And even harder to pull away from the second back to the first. 

Oh, what fun! What does love have to do with it? Everything. And that is romantic.