10 Best Cary Grant's Comedies, Ranked By IMDb | ScreenRant
Cary Grant, both on-screen and in real life, was handsome, charming, and had incredible comedic talent. Throughout his career, he would dabble in many genres, but he consistently found success in romances and comedies which played to his strengths as an actor.
The suave leading man has a name still recognizable to moviegoers today, and his best comedies will still have them laughing to tears. It's been over eighty years since he made his film debut, but that shouldn't take away from the impact the actor had on the silver screen.
10 Father Goose (1964) - 7.4
Walter Eckland (Grant) is a beachcomber living a quiet and lazy life when he is convinced to help spy on Japanese aircraft passing over his island during WWII. If that weren't enough, a woman and her female students come under his care while escaping from the Japanese military.
This romantic comedy was the penultimate film starring Cary Grant. Though the critical response was mixed and the genre familiar for the actor, it was also a break from his usual roles and won over audiences. Grant is known for his suave characters, but, here, plays a rugged and tattered beach bum.
9 The Talk Of The Town (1942) - 7.5
Teacher Nora Shelley rents her house to law Professor Michael Lightcap, but, much to his dismay, he discovers the "Gardener" (Grant) is an escaped prisoner who is childhood friends with Nora. Can they convince the Professor of his innocence before he goes to the police?
This film was a critical success and received a total of seven Oscar nominations including nominations for best writing, editing, and cinematography. Cary Grant received top billing in this film, the first time his co-star Ronald Colman wasn't top-billed in a sound film.
8 The Bishop's Wife (1947) - 7.6
A Bishop is trying to raise funds for a new church and hopes the fortune of a churchgoing widow will help them. His focus shifts from his family to the church, and a handsome, suave angel, played by Grant, is sent to help him. However, the Bishop fears he is there to replace him.
This picture was a critical success, was the winner of the Oscar for best sound, and was nominated for five additional Oscars including best picture. It was remade in 1996 as The Preacher's Wife starring Denzel Washington, but Cary Grant's unorthodox angel has made this iteration a classic.
7 The Awful Truth (1937) - 7.7
Jerry (Grant) and Lucy have started their divorce proceedings, and both seem happy with it until they begin romances with new people and both try to sabotage each other's dates. Old feelings have crept to the surface, and they will go to great lengths to stay together if they can see past their anger.
This comedy was a financial hit and launched Cary Grant into A-list celebrity status in addition to winning the Oscar for best director along with receiving five other nominations. This was the first of three films starring Grant and Irene Dunne, the first of two where he appeared alongside the legendary canine actor best known as Asta, and an unforgettable screwball comedy classic.
6 Holiday (1938) - 7.8
While on a holiday, Johnny Case (Grant) falls in love with Julia Seton, and they plan to marry. Johnny is a self-made man of impoverished beginnings and is surprised to discover Julia is from a very wealthy family. When he reveals his plan to take a long break from work to discover more about life, he only finds understanding in Julia's older sister and her alcoholic brother.
This is one of four films starring both Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, and it was a critical success. However, it didn't perform all that well financially, as the concept of intentionally not working didn't appeal to great depression era audiences. Yet, it has gone on to become one of Grant's best-remembered films.
5 Bringing Up Baby (1938) - 7.9
David Huxley (Grant) is a paleontologist on the verge of reconstructing a brontosaurus and marrying his assistant. While attempting to secure a donation for his department, he begins having embarrassing encounters caused by a wealthy heiress (Katherine Hepburn), a leopard named Baby, and a dog stealing his bones.
Howard Hawks directed this screwball comedy classic where every character is over the top, and it showcases the natural chemistry between the leads Grant and Hepburn. Grant plays an atypical character compared to his typical film persona, being a soft-spoken and awkward bookworm type. This also ranks among Katherine Hepburn's best roles.
4 His Girl Friday (1940) - 7.9
Hildy Johnson is a star reporter for her husband's (Grant) newspaper, but he returns after months of absence with a divorce and plans to marry an insurance salesman. Walter Burns doesn't want to give up his wife or star reporter, especially with the approaching execution of a convicted cop-killer they believe innocent.
Another screwball comedy from director Howard Hawks, this time with the intention of being more relatable and just as funny. This Hawks and Grant team-up featured Grant playing a suave and charming character, the type for which he is best known.
3 The Philadelphia Story (1940) - 7.9
Two Philadelphia socialites (Grant and Hepburn) have a quick marriage and a just-as-quick divorce, his drinking driving the two apart. When she plans to remarry two years later, her ex shows up, and so does a surprisingly noble tabloid reporter. Hepburn finds herself torn between all three men.
The central plot of a socialite second-guessing their imminent wedding is common for romantic comedies of the time, this adaptation of a broadway play ranks among the best thanks to the talent of the three leads, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and James Stewart. This ranks as Grant's best film according to Rotten Tomatoes.
2 Charade (1963) - 7.9
A woman (Audrey Hepburn) returns to Paris to find her apartment ransacked and her husband dead. She learns her husband helped steal government gold during WWII and that three men are after her for the fortune, coming to her aid is the charming but mysterious Peter Joshua (Grant). Who can she trust?
This film's mix of the comedy, thriller, and mystery genres is similar in style to the works of Alfred Hitchock, right down to the idiosyncratic characters. Grant is playing the charming and suave character that he is known for, but this masks a deeper sinister nature to the character that allows Grant to show more range than many of his roles and would stand among Hitchcock's best villains.
1 Arsenic And Old Lace (1943) - 8.0
Mortimer Brewster (Grant), a writer famous for his diatribes against marriage, just got married, and he visits the unmarried aunts who raised him to tell them the good news. As he goes through his childhood home, he keeps discovering the dead bodies of old men hidden around the house.
Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life) directed this rare example of dark comedy in early Hollywood where Grant plays the straight man to a cast of eccentric family members with a penchant for serial murder. Critical reception leaned positive, but this proved a financial success and enduring Grant classic.
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