Cary Grant's last film is an enjoyable, albeit entirely unnecessary, remake of the classic The More The Merrier. That film starred Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, and Charles Coburn. Grant play the Coburn role as an older man who tries to play matchmaker to a younger couple he is sharing an apartment with. The couple here are Jim Hutton and Samantha Eggar. Poor substitutes for screen legends McCrea and Arthur but both are likable. The original took place during WW2 so it used the wartime housing shortage as part of the plot. This moves things to Tokyo during the Summer Olympics in order to keep the plot intact of Grant not being able to find a room anywhere else. On the whole, it's an amusing movie but probably much less so if you've seen the original. This is pretty much a scene-for-scene remake with few changes. Grant's a rough fit for the role as it is intended but he does give it his best, using his charm and wonderful screen persona to great effect. He's certainly the best thing about the film and, at all times, my attentions were on him rather than his co-stars. Obviously I would recommend you see the classic 1943 film over this. But, if you have seen that, there's no harm in giving this one a try to see a different cast approach the same story. As far as last films of great stars goes, this could be worse. Just look at some of Grant's contemporaries and you'll see some truly sad ways to end a career. Cary wisely knew to get out while the getting was good. That's a lesson a lot of stars could still learn today.

So, having seen a lot of mixed reviews of this film, I went into it with fairly low expectations. But I wanted to see Cary Grant's last film, even as a curiosity. But I actually found I liked it a great deal!OK, let's be clear: this is no "Philadelphia Story" or "His Girl Friday". There are definitely comic scenes that just don't work. But there are also plenty that do; I laughed out loud several times during the film. I'm still chuckling right now, remembering one of my favorite bits: Cary giving up his seat on the bus.One thing I particularly liked about the film was Grant's character. He's not *trying* to be the suave romantic lead anymore, and he's totally comfortable with that. He's clearly happily married, to the point of having four grown children. He goes through the movie almost deliberately showing his age, struggling to see without his glasses or unable to keep up with all the standing and sitting for toasts. It's almost like it's a shared joke between him and the audience, as if he's winking at us and saying "Yeah, I know, I'm not the young stud anymore. ;-)" But whatever he's lost with age, he's gained in wisdom, a particular kind of wisdom that resonates with me: the wisdom of realizing that's what's most important in life is to have fun. He treats life as an adventure. Note the way that he chooses to stay in the apartment, even when his lavish hotel suite is ready for him. His climbing all over the building. His stripping down and running in the race. His total and instant distaste for the stuffy, no-fun English diplomat. This is *my* kind of character! Reminiscent of someone you might find in "You Can't Take It With You", or even the early Marx Brothers.OK, the sad truth is, Cary is really what makes the movie; without him, it's all pretty slim. The rest of the cast is nothing to write home about. Still, on the whole the writing was pretty good. Some witty lines, and the plot was well constructed. While this is essentially a remake of "The More The Merrier", it really uses only the bare skeleton of that film, and does its own, fresh take on it. Frankly, I consider this "Walk Don't Run" to be superior to "The More The Merrier" (which I found started off excellently but bogged down very badly in the second half), and I don't care one whit that I seem to be the only person who thinks so. Though I will admit that the anal-retentive morning schedule thing was handled better in the earlier film.So, all in all, I think it was a very fitting swan song for Mr. Grant. Not an ideal film, but an ideal character for him to go out playing.

Walk Don't Run (1966)In my book, Cary Grant can do no wrong, and he absolutely makes this movie. It's a bit of a 1960s farce, and is maybe exactly what everyone was reacting against with the shift in movies around this time to greater realism and pertinence. This has neither!But that's okay, it has beauty (the sets, architecture, and widescreen filming are all really fabulous) and innocence, which is weird to remember. Even sweet romances from our time, like Sleepless in Seattle, don't have the same pure innocence of this, which I think is genuine in its own way. The scene is mid-60s Tokyo, which is hard to beat for interest (and great cars). The plot? Oh, I'm not sure it actually has one that matters, except boy meets girl. It's mostly like a super high class situation comedy, and the comedy is more important than the situation. And more important than both is Cary Grant, who is in great form. Yes, Jim Hutton is there (and he's fine but forgettable) as well as the female lead, Samantha Eggar (who is not as fine, but is fine anyway, and also forgettable). But then there is Cary Grant. There are even some odd gay gaze moments, where Grant, and the camera, check out the legs or body of a man (Grant, though married, was also gay, it appears). If you catch it it's almost shocking, but perhaps the audience was so innocent, as well, it was thought of as simply funny.So: drop Cary Grant beautifully in Tokyo and create a nonsensical series of little gags, and you have it. And it's Grant's last film.

Those housing shortages. We saw this in the 1943 comedy "The More the Merrier," that garnered Charles Coburn an Oscar and 23 years later, the industry try to capitalize on another film dealing with a housing shortage-"Walk Don't Run." The results certainly were not as good.The Tokyo 1964 Olympics causes a housing shortage in England leading Cary Grant to share an apartment with Samantha Eggar. Kind-hearted Cary finds Jim Hutton, also homeless in Tokyo and takes him in.The film starts off in an hilarious way when Eggar tries to make a time schedule for using the bathroom, etc.Believe it or not, it becomes downhill when romance develops between Eggar, who is engaged to a stuff shirt British diplomat, and Hutton. With some Soviet running around trying to make trouble, the old idea of espionage develops and an international incident can only be avoided with Hutton marrying Eggar. Silly to say the least.