Educational Media Reviews Online

Since this DVD release was originally produced for a television series The Hollywood Collection, its presentation is direct and episodic. Apparent are the place cuts where commercials last appeared. The film unveils a simple chronology of the facts of Archibald Alexander Leach’s life, although more current sources would describe some rather major pieces as discretely missing. All the movies made, mostly triumphs, are there with a competent array of clips and stills. The biographical narration, skillfully told by actor Richard Kiley, begins in Bristol, England, and ends with the one-man series of appearances “A Conversation with Cary Grant.” Grant remained, until the end, a very popular, yet private man. He successfully manufactured Hollywood’s most sophisticated image, and worked continuously to guard, and keep it. The trailers for other DVD’s in the series, and short films on the series’ producers, can hardly be listed as extras. Nevertheless, Cary Grant: The Leading Man is a recommended purchase.