Movies - TV
Charade Marked The End Of An Era For Cary Grant's Film Career
By JEREMY SMITH
Despite critics raving that Cary Grant was as charming as ever, the actor retired at 62 after his role in “Walk, Don’t Run,” as he had reached the age where his future roles would mostly be older and sexless. Grant truly retired from being the suave, romantic charmer Cary Grant several years earlier in the espionage thriller “Charade,” where he starred opposite Audrey Hepburn.
In a wrong-person/wrong-place situation, the film glides on the chemistry between Hepburn’s naive, innocent, but capable young woman and Grant’s graceful, dead-sexy older gentleman. Despite his age, the mileage wasn’t apparent, as his real attraction, according to Pauline Kael’s “The Man From Dream City,” was Grant's curiosity about women, his desire to learn about them, and his attentiveness to their needs.
One of Grant’s former collaborators, Billy Wilder, said, “Cary Grant would still be a heartbreaker. He would still be the most attractive man on the screen. He did not age one bit. His hair got gray. That's all.” Grant could have continued acting, as fans still desired more from him, but he wanted to be a present father to his daughter, Jennifer, giving him the finale we wish for all screen legends.