“We really need to put our heads together,” Sarah rested her cheeks against balled-up fists and scrunched her eyebrows. “…and come up with a way for me to marry Jimmy Stewart.”
I choked on a laugh and a mouthful of coffee.
“You know he’s dead, right?”
Sarah and I had stayed up way past our bedtimes watching The Philadelphia Story, falling in love with the male leads. Then we spent the next morning plotting out romances with them over French toast at Tom’s Diner. I’ve always carried a torch for old-time film stars. Men like Cary Grant and Gregory Peck. Men who knew how to wear a suit, how to sweep a lady off her feet, and how to deliver a perfectly-time, super suave insult, all while being firmly camped on the moral high ground. These are men impossible not to worship. I mean, what pulse-having person saw To Kill a Mockingbird and didn’t develop a sudden, overpowering need to marry and/or befriend Atticus Finch?
No one. Don’t even try to be contrary. I won’t believe you.
Roger Thornhill was my first. Drug him, kidnap him and mess with his lady friend and the guy just gets wittier, crankier and more swoon-worthy. Then try to throw him off Mount Rushmore and… well, from then on, I was pretty sure no man I met in my lifetime would measure up.
Until last night. Until there came C. K. Dexter Haven.
“You think we’d have to have a séance?” I asked. “I mean, if we’re going to marry these men.”
“What we need is a whiteboard,” Sarah said.
I stared at her with a look on my face that said, are we still taking about the same thing? What’s a whiteboard to do with bringing back husbands from beyond the veil?
“I mean, how else do people make plans?”
So practical. And Sarah is probably right. Men like James Stewart and Cary Grant wouldn’t fall for any of that séance malarkey, anyway.
SO true…. Now, instead of Roger Thornhill and C.K. Dexter Haven, we have … well, whoever those characters on “Two & a Half Men” are, the entire male cast of “Friends”, Owen Wilson (gak), and any of a number of other overgrown men-children. (Sigh!)
Um. No. I’m not at all bitter……
I love the Phila. Story, but I’m always mystified by the accusations by CK & Tracy’s mother that she is somehow responsible for her father’s infidelities by being a “cold” daughter. That’s just disturbing.
If I wasn’t already spoken for I would so call dibs on Gregory Peck circa Roman Holiday…could he be any more charming and lovely whilst lying through his teeth?
what a perfect movie…cary grant.jimmy stewart and katharine hepburn. i fall for c.k. dexter haven and mccauley “mike” conor everytime. grant gave his movie salary to british war relief. stewart finally got an oscar after being over looked the year before for “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and Hepburn is pure hepburn: smart, funny and beautiful all at once.
I *still* have quite the crush on Atticus Finch. > The closest connection I have is that Gregory Peck went to UC Berkeley, like me. Go Bears. Again >
if I wasn’t certain if I liked you before, now I know absolutely – my bffs and I have this very conversation at least once a month
boys these days really don’t stand a chance against Cary, Jimmy and Gregory, poor things
Awww, “The Philadelphia Story” is my favorite movie of all time. I actually watched it so many times that I’ve worn out two VHS tapes and a DVD of it over the last 8 years… I used to fall asleep to either that one or “Casablanca” just about every night, all through college. Those movies just make me happy. Glad you found it and enjoyed.
mmmmm Cary Grant. This is exactly the kind of Monday pick up I need. You know I was just telling my roommate (about 10 minutes ago) that those are the kind of men the world is lacking nowadays! (Whoa did that make me sound old?) Seriously, what happened to witty, handsome, romantic men who aren’t afraid to fight for what they want while still maintaining their high moral values? Oh the painful reality of it all..
why would you want guys like Cary Grant and James Stewart who stand firmly on their moral highground, when you can have a guy who stands firmly on the belief that a lack of pickles on his peanut butter and jealousy sandwich is a of near cataclysmic nature.
Ah…such memories of such fine men. No, they sure don’t make them like that anymore. So sad. (..just another reason why I’m still single.) Where are the real men anyway??
cary grant was my first movie star crush … at age 10, if you had asked me who my favourite movie star was, “cary grant” … my friends were all about kirk cameron and michael j. fox … fools! the suave … the wit … the suits. oh, and i still want to be grace kelly … cool and chic and oh-so blond. i think i was born in the wrong decade.
“How else do people make plans?” That’s gold. I nearly spat out my tea when I read that.
Dex is one of my favorite characters! He could wrap me around his finger just like Hepburn, oh to live in that era and be surrounded by real men!
You’ve seen High Society, the musical version of The Philadelphia Story, with Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby, right??? I think you’d like it.
Ah, Jimmy Stewart…my first movie star crush. (Glad to know I wasn’t the only weird 8 year old girl out there!) Cary Grant and Gregory Peck weren’t too far behind.
If I could just have any one of those guys and Grace Kelly’s wardrobe from Rear Window and To Catch a Thief**, I would be set!
**Well, fabulous as the clothes are, it would help to look like Grace Kelly, too.
Oh yay! I am glad you discovered Philadelphia Story. I love that movie. “South Bend…it sounds like dancing”.
Make sure to watch Harvey. Especially when drinking. Some of my friends and I still quote it.
Philadelphia story is one my favourites too. In fact the whole genre is. I would also recommend “It happened one night” Clark Gable is dreamy too
Rock Hudson. If only I were dead and…well…a gay man. We’d be perfect.
It’s all about Gene Kelly. Seriously. The man sings and dances to woo. You can’t beat that.
*swoons*
I’m with you on the C.K. Dexter Haven crush.
Another great Cary Grant movie is “Indiscreet,” with Ingrid Bergman (who wears amazing dresses, just to make the movie even more fun!)
Clark Gable… gets me every time.
Ooooh, Gregory Peck. I still swoon over that man. Gorgeous, noble, eloquent and, unfortunately, dead. *sigh* He was my favorite good guy old time actor and I have to admit, young Robert Mitchum was my favorite sexy bad boy. A yin and yang I wouldn’t mind getting trapped between.
OK, I got another one for you guys –
What about Clark Gable in “It Happened One Night”? You gotta love a man who, as he’s carrying a spoiled heiress and her luggage across a river, asks her to hold her suitcase for a second. When she does, he smacks her behind for the snarky comment she just made, then grabs the suitcase again! And come on — Rhett Butler? Bestill my heart!
I must disagree slightly with those of you who feel that today’s leading men don’t measure up. In general, I agree, but we do have small pockets of at least somewhat classy male actors today. To wit: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Richard Gere, Denzel Washington. They’re out there, you just have to look for ‘em!
Spencer Tracy. I could take down Katherine Hepburn if I need to.
throw in paul newman – and the fact that he’s STILL married to the same woman all these years later… swoon!
I never saw why my mom was obsessed with Robert Redford and Paul Newman until I saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I swear I would give my pinkie toe to be Etta Place (Katharine Ross’ character) for just a day or two…
These old movies are so great…and I love your friend’s plan to use a whiteboard! It’s good to have someone practical around when you set out to do the impossible
If only we could all meet and have a crazy old movies all the time weekend. It would be brilliant.
Finally someone who gets me! I’ve sworn up and down for years that I was born in the wrong movie era. Everyone just looks at me as if I’m crazy.
I’d marry Cary Grant (or Bing Crosby) in a heartbeat. Nicky Ferrante… *mmmmm*
I have agree with all these men. But my all time favorite vote is for Gary Cooper. He makes me hot even in black and white!
I love The Philadelphia Story! It’s my favorite movie of all time, and I have the movie poster professionally framed, hanging in my bedroom. When I met my now-husband, that was one of the many reasons I knew we belonged together – my Philadelphia Story poster and his Vertigo poster, hanging side by side, a Jimmy Stewart matched set.
I’ve never commented before, but I’ve read your blog every day for the past several months, and it’s good stuff – makes me miss my far-flung friends a little less. Keep it up, please!
I’m 34 & still waiting to be swept off my feet by a gentlemen. Where are you Jimmy Stewart??
I named my dog C.K. Dexter Haven. I guess you could say I took it to another level, my infatuation with the character in that movie.
There is something so powerful in the dashing men of the golden age of hollywood. I wish I could be transported back to a time when everyone wore suits and hats, including the ladies!
James Cagney, but only in black and white. Game, set, match.
“CK Dexter Haven, you have unsuspected depth!…but have you read it?” pops into my head whenever I see a new friend’s book collection. So many quotables in that movie. Nobody says “doggone it” anymore, but I wish they did.
For twenty years, I have resolutely ignored all rumours of Grant and Stewart preferring each other to the ladies. If you know what I mean. It’s just not possible.
You need to see the Thin Man series. William Powell and Myrna Loy. sighh….
Maybe my attraction to older men goes back to watching Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck one too many times. I’m sending whoever says I have daddy issues to this post… they need to read that some people wish for dead husbands.
Gregory Peck is one of the hottest men ever. He’s amazing in everything, particularly Roman Holiday, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Spellbound. Who wouldn’t want to bring him back from the Great Beyond to marry him?
Tom’s Diner as in the Seinfeld restaurant? They have excellent cappuccino. Yum-o.
I’m with you when it comes to Jimmy Stewart, great actor and gorgeous. I’d also have to throw in Paul Newman he’s amazing. Cat in a Hot Tin Roof great acting with Elizabeth Taylor.
I’ll take Mike Connor, I’ll take George Bailey. I’m not picky. I’d also take Steve McQueen for a day or two.
Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Rock Hudson, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Burt Lancaster and sigh- Steve McQueen. I’m getting a little worked up at work! (that’s not gross even though they are dead, right?) But I have to agree with jb- Iâm all about Paul Newman. In anything. Or nothing.
He’s the sexiest man that has ever lived.
As for our leading men now- something about Nicholas Cage reminds me of Jimmy Stewart in “Harvey” (I think it’s the way he talks) and George Clooney gave off a Clark Gable vibe in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” And Daniel Craig reminds me of Steve McQueen.
I too was born in the wrong era! However, I am glad the era I live in doesn’t require me to wear nylons all the time and includes central air conditioning.
What’s a C K Dexter Haven? A sandwich at Tom’s? I see you like the ‘screwball comedies’. Don’t forget ‘Bringing up Baby’. Were you on the upper west side. It’s my neck of the woods.
If you love The Philadelphia Story, you must read “Love Walked In” by Marisa de los Santos. One of the main characters (Cornelia) is obsessed with The Philadelphia Story and she is constantly comparing situations to The Philadelphia Story. The book is full of rich language and smart dialogue and its a wonderful story. Paramount has the rights to “Love Walked In” and Sarah Jessica Parker is playing Cornelia, the lead!!
I love Kate movies… Her leading men were always so…what real men ought to be. I love Cary Grant…I love Spence in everything he was ever in with her, I love Jimmy Stewart opposite her… They were well-spoken, intelligent, polite, and just enough smart-assy to be amusing. I swear that boys should be schooled by watching these gentlemen…perhaps they’d learn to be just that…gentlemen (versus the 12-year-olds stuck in 30ish year old bodies…)
Granted, the man I love has moments where his inner 12-year-old is really evident, but for the most part, he’s a true gentleman. (stop gagging! I keep him for a reason!!)
mmm… yes Carey Grant was a dreamy sort of fellow wasn’t he? i do have to say though, the best part of this whole post was that you used the word ‘malarkey’.
Steve McQueen, Paul Newman (baby blues to slay you), mmm. Old Style Hollywood is bandied around a lot these days, but those guys really had something. George Clooney, I’ll agree with (and marry if necessary), Daniel Craig – not sure about that one.
Steve McQueen – any day. They just don’t make them like that anymore!
I think for me, it would be Rita Hayworth. Actually, I think for everyone, it would be Rita Hayworth.
You’ve discovered my new obsession: classic movies. The Philly Story was one of the first and I completely fell head over heels for those men. I’ve always had a thing for Cary Grant (the looks, the British-American accent, the general aire about him) but Jimmy Stewart won me over in that one. And Peck? Don’t even get me started. Le sigh, again and again. Pardon me while I go see who this Roger Thornhill fella is… maybe he’s a new one to oogle.
Doh, Thornhill is Grant. Silly me, North by Northwest hasn’t arrived via Netflix yet.
I’ve read post after post about how men don’t sweep us off our feet anymore. Why should they? They don’t have to! Women in today’s society throw themselves at men in a desperate attempt to secure the attention they crave. The reason men of the past acted like men and pursued their leading ladies is because they were dignified and demanded it. Their clothes were modest and left a lot to the imagination and not allowing themselves to be used made the thrill of the hunt that much more appealing. WE have the power to be treated any way that we want to.
With all that said, Harrison Ford gets better with age
Tom Selleck, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Richard Gere, that guy who played Magyver…just to name a few of mine….
Well, I have to go with you on the old fashioned gentlemen knowing how to woo a gal, but Daniel Craig is working on me for modern men. I mean is he completely Steve McQueenish or what!
This morning I changed my 3 week old baby girl’s diaper, declogged two sinks, cleaned the bathroom and hung up the washing, all without waking my sleeping wife. I’m afraid I’m a little too tired to engage in witty putdowns with arch-nemesi.
“If the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.” Red Green
Ladies: Those men are all great, and we have much to live up to. But have you considered their leading ladies? Are there any current stars to match the wit and beauty of Hepburn, O’Hara, Bergman, Leigh, de Havilland? The women of the 30′s were the best.
I adore Jimmy Stewart too, and I totally know what you mean about the ability to wear a suit. God, I love a three piece suit, and the scene where Jimmy’s character is drunk and talking to Grant’s character in Philadelphia Story is my favorite…so brilliant…movies and moments like that transcend all time!!
I love the oldies like Philadelphia Story, An Affair To Remember and other classics. But I came of age with the next generation of actors on the screen… Robert Redford in “The Way We Were”; Nicolas Cage in “Moonstruck”; Richard Gere in “An Officer and A Gentleman” & “Pretty Woman” (double good); Kevin Costner in “Bull Durham” (hottie)! George Clooney is another newer heartthrob especially in the Ocean movies, old ER reruns and Oh Brother. I agree with the other poster… you have to watch the Thin Man and it’s sequels. They are funny and romantic while solving mysteries in NYC & SF. Plus Asta is the cutest dog star ever.
Speaking as a guy, your Gregory Peck, as in Roman Holiday, is a good guy to emulate also. Witty, urban, caring, and able to get things done when they need doing.
The Philadelphia Story has been my favorite movie for years! I watch it just about once a month and I blame the reason I am single on the fact that real guys aren’t like C.K. Dexter Haven!