The great Cary Grant's final film,WALK DON'T RUN doesn't end the Bristol-born legend's filmography in a triumphant splash like John Wayne's THE SHOOTIST(still arguably the greatest finale to a film icon's career),but it is nowhere as embarrassing as Bette Davis' WICKED STEPMOTHER or Errol Flynn's CUBAN REBEL GIRLS.
If there is a one word description for this film,it would be 'pleasant'.There really isn't much else to say about WALK DON'T RUN,accept that it's a remake of THE MORE THE MERRIER,set around the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 instead of wartime Washington,with Samantha Eggar and Jim Hutton in the Jean Arthur/Joel McCrea roles,and Grant reprising the Oscar-winning performance of Charles Coburn as the elderly matchmaker,this time as British businessman Sir William Rutland. Even though he was in his early sixties by this time,'Elderly' is not really an ephitet to think of with Cary Grant.He still looks sleek,stylish and handsome here as he ever did,and is in fact somewhat miscast playing a lovable Mr.Fixit(as Coburn so successfully did) despite his advanced age.But it is thanks to Grant's very presence that the film is watchable. A very inconsequential,wispy and fluffy script,allied with a rather colourless romantic couple (Eggar and Hutton) is totally redeemed by the ever stylish Mr.Grant's double takes,charm and elegance,and his wry delivery gives the mostly flat,stolid lines in the uninspired script some barely noticeable comic depth.Other minor kudos are the Tokyo locations,a genial,uplifting(often whistled) musical score by Quincy Jones(another of his many underrated cinema compositions)and an amusing turn by the upper class actor John Standing as a cheesed off British embassy official,plus other surprises like a cameo from George Takei (Mr Sulu from STAR TREK),and if you catch it,a very brief bit on a TV featuring Jimmy Stewart from THE MAN FROM LARAMIE,dubbed into Japanese!
What is pleasing about this final film is that Grant retired from screen acting just at the correct time,not going on like many other film stars into decrepit old age,doing humiliating cameos and character roles like scores of his contemporaries.He alludes to his age here by not getting the girl at the film's end for the only time in his leading man career (the script makes it clear he is a happily married man anyway),but the very final scene, him successfully joining the previously reluctant young couple in an embrace (courtesy of a remote control device) and being driven away by his chauffeur,still looking remarkably untouched by the sands of time, is rather touchingly done.It would've been nicer to see one of the big screen's greatest leading men end his career on a higher note,but WALK DON'T RUN is still a likable and reasonably dignified swansong to Cary Grant's memorable contribution to film history.
RATING:6 out of 10.
If there is a one word description for this film,it would be 'pleasant'.There really isn't much else to say about WALK DON'T RUN,accept that it's a remake of THE MORE THE MERRIER,set around the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 instead of wartime Washington,with Samantha Eggar and Jim Hutton in the Jean Arthur/Joel McCrea roles,and Grant reprising the Oscar-winning performance of Charles Coburn as the elderly matchmaker,this time as British businessman Sir William Rutland. Even though he was in his early sixties by this time,'Elderly' is not really an ephitet to think of with Cary Grant.He still looks sleek,stylish and handsome here as he ever did,and is in fact somewhat miscast playing a lovable Mr.Fixit(as Coburn so successfully did) despite his advanced age.But it is thanks to Grant's very presence that the film is watchable. A very inconsequential,wispy and fluffy script,allied with a rather colourless romantic couple (Eggar and Hutton) is totally redeemed by the ever stylish Mr.Grant's double takes,charm and elegance,and his wry delivery gives the mostly flat,stolid lines in the uninspired script some barely noticeable comic depth.Other minor kudos are the Tokyo locations,a genial,uplifting(often whistled) musical score by Quincy Jones(another of his many underrated cinema compositions)and an amusing turn by the upper class actor John Standing as a cheesed off British embassy official,plus other surprises like a cameo from George Takei (Mr Sulu from STAR TREK),and if you catch it,a very brief bit on a TV featuring Jimmy Stewart from THE MAN FROM LARAMIE,dubbed into Japanese!
What is pleasing about this final film is that Grant retired from screen acting just at the correct time,not going on like many other film stars into decrepit old age,doing humiliating cameos and character roles like scores of his contemporaries.He alludes to his age here by not getting the girl at the film's end for the only time in his leading man career (the script makes it clear he is a happily married man anyway),but the very final scene, him successfully joining the previously reluctant young couple in an embrace (courtesy of a remote control device) and being driven away by his chauffeur,still looking remarkably untouched by the sands of time, is rather touchingly done.It would've been nicer to see one of the big screen's greatest leading men end his career on a higher note,but WALK DON'T RUN is still a likable and reasonably dignified swansong to Cary Grant's memorable contribution to film history.
RATING:6 out of 10.