Leo McCarey Movies

11 thoughts on “Leo McCarey Movies”

1. I do not know much about Leo. I do see that I have finally cracked the top contributors list. Coming for Bob, Steve and Flora. Only a couple thousand comments behind.

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   1. Hey Taylor. Well….this page is a good start to find out a little more about Mr. Leo McCarey. Congrats on cracking the Top Commenters leader board. It only took Steve and Flora about 8 years to reach those lofty totals….while Bob did it in about 5 years. I suspect that Bob is the leader…but he changes his name so much that it is hard to get an accurate total. Thanks for checking out our UMR website so much.

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2. I have seen 12 Leo McCarey movies.

   The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is Going My Way.

   The highest rated movie I have NOT seen is The Kid From Spain

   The LOWEST rated movie I have seen is Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

   Favourite Leo McCarey Movies:

   The Awful Truth (probably my favourite comedy, period)
   An Affair to Remember
   Going My Way
   The Bells of St. Mary’s
   Love Affair
   My Favorite Wife (not in Steve’s video)
   Once Upon a Honeymoon

   Other Leo MCarey Movies I Have Seen:

   Ruggles of Red Gap
   Good Sam
   Make Way For Tomorrow
   The Cowboy and the Lady (not in Steve’s video)

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   1. Hey Flora….thanks for the thoughts on Leo. After looking at Steve’s Leo video…I realized that I did not have to do much to finish our Leo page…so you got two Leo pages/videos in 2 days. I added in his two other writing credits….which is why My Favorite Wife and The Cowboy and the Lady showed up here and not on Steve’s video. Leo got an Oscar nomination for My Favorite Wife…so I felt I had to include it.

      Tally count…you 12…me 8. I have seen and love My Favorite Wife…I have not seen his other writing credit. I have seen all of your favorites with the exception of Love Affair. With the exception of Once Upon A Honeymoon….I love all the Grant/Leo movies. Seems I have seen parts of Good Sam…one day I will finish that movie. Good stuff.

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3. A nice new page and thanks for the video share Bruce.

   I’ve seen just 3 of the 22 films on the chart – My Favorite Wife, The Awful Truth and probably my all time favorite comedy – Duck Soup.

   I didn’t include My Favorite Wife on my video because McCarey wasn’t the director but it was produced and co-written by him.

   After Duck Soup failed to ignite at the box office and Paramount cancelled their contract the Marx Bros must have wondered if they were finished. Rescue came from Irving G. Thalberg at MGM, he had faith in the brothers, he reckoned that they came off as unsympathetic in their Paramount movies, thinking if he made them more human the films would succeed and he was correct. A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races were their biggest hits.

   psst I nicked that previous paragraph from my Marx Bros article at Hubpages, aaah memories. 🙂

   I should check out An Affair to Remember one of these days, I like Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr and I’ve read it looks great in Cinemascope.

   Good work Bruce. Vote Up!

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   1. Hey Steve….I figured if he got an Oscar nomination for My Favorite Wife…that I needed to include it here. I generally do that….except for being a producer…..producing credits do not get any UMR love. Tally count…Flora 12, me 8 and you 3. An Affair To Remember is worth checking out at least once. Good stuff….and thanks for providing the motivation to get this page out there. Good stuff.

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4. Below are 6 posts that I have copied from Steve’s U Tube Page. 3 are from me, one is from Steve and the first and last ones are from Bruce. As Steve points out 1957’s An Affair to Remember [Leach and Kerr] was a remake of 1939’s Love Affair [Boyer and Dunne]. Both were directed by Leo.

   The film was remade again in 1994 when it returned to its Love Affair title and starred Warren Beatty and Anette Benning. Katie Hepburn played the grandmother figure but this time as an AUNT. This version was directed by Glenn Gordon Caron but Leo was given credit for writing the original story.

   In the 1994 version there were 30 years between Warren and Hepburn in real life so 87 year old Katie was certainly chronologically suitable to play the elderly aunt of 57 year old Warren. However the Leach film took the matter to extremes because there were only 16 years between real-life Archie and his screen GRANDMOTHER Cathleen Nesbitt [53 and 69 years of age respectively] and Cathleen would have been more suitable as a big sister to Al Leach on screen.

   However what we saw was actually par for the course because it was the stock in trade of the screen Archibald Alexander Leach [aka Mr Mae West***] to surround himself with elderly women who must have conceived him and/or his mother when the latter would have been in practice children!

   “Younger than springtime, are you
   Softer than starlight, are you,
   Warmer than winds of June,
   Are the gentle lips you gave me.
   Gayer than laughter, are you,
   Sweeter than music, are you,
   Angel and lover, heaven and earth,
   Are you
   And Younger than springtime, are you to me.”!

   ***They never married but Mae implied she “owned” Al as she claimed to have discovered him. That suggestion made Archie very angry.

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   1. Thank you Bob for transferring these comments to this page…it is greatly appreciated. Highlight has to be McCarey’s thoughts on specific stars like Laurel and Hardy. Thanks again for doing this…you are the man!

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5. Added Steve’s latest You Tube Video to this page…Mr. Leo McCarey…my thoughts found on his channel.

   “Nice video subject. My first match is #19 Rally Around The Flag Boys…which is an ok movie. Also seen #18 Satan Never Sleeps…depressing movie. #17 Once Upon A Honeymoon….big hit but not a favorite Grant movie. #8 Going My Way…one of the biggest hits of all-time…and one of the highest rated movies at UMR. #7 Bells of St. Mary’s ….sequel to #8…Bergman is good in the movie. #6 An Affair To Remember…probably the movie of his that has had the most last impact…thank Sleepless in Seattle. #2 The Awful Truth…the first Cary Grant classic.watch this one regularly. #1 Duck Soap….classic Marx Brothers movie…but not my favorite of theirs. So that is a total of 9 seen….or 36%….I thought it would be more. Good job. Voted up. And shared.”

   BOB ROY to STEVE Leo McCarey Part One
   September 20, 2019 at 11:04 am
   From my perspective this McCarey video is most timely. His 1957 Affair to Remember is being given a special re-run at our local Art House cinema shortly and I intend going to see it again. It is my fave McCarey movie followed by Duck Soup, Bells of St Mary’s and Rally Round the Flag Boys.

   Whilst I am a fan of the later 1950s/60s Al Leach, the Archie of the 1940s in films like Leo’s The Awful Truth, My Favourite Wife and Once Upon a Honeymoon was never a big fave of mine. I thought he looked rather “sissy’ in those early days. [Who did Asta think he was – Myrna Loy?!]

   I might though at some stage be prepared to take a chance on the Awful Truth as the scene-stealing little Asta is in it though credited as Skippy in that particular movie. Indeed so much in demand was Asta/Skippy in those days that the production of the Awful Truth was held up for a while as he had to work on another film which took priority.

   According to Celebrity Net Worth, when Leo died in 1969 he left a net worth equivalent to approx $5 million in TODAY’s money. It is reported on the Celebrity Money site called “The Richest” that Asta/ Skippy was the 3rd highest paid animal actor in movies as of Nov 2013. Benji is No 1 on that chart and Rin Tin Tin No 10 [The Meg doesn’t make the cut].

   On three different Greatest Directors of All Time charts Leo gets ranked 4th, 13th and 27th

   BOB ROY to STEVE Leo McCarey Part Two
   September 20, 2019 at 11:11 am
   McCAREY VIDEO: FL=Foreign Language poster. LC=Lobby Card

   Best POSTERS: 1/Wild Company 2/Sophomore 3/Indiscreet 4/first one for Joel Never Sleeps [the financial failure of this movie marked the beginning of Golden Holden’s decline as a top box office star***] 5/FL Good Sam 6/Wrong Again 7/Liberty 8/entire set for Belle of the Nineties 9/first one for The Kid from Manchester 10/English language one Bells of St Mary’s [though the order of billing is decidedly incorrect-go to the back of WH’s class!] 11/FL Bells of St Mary’s [with correct billing order this time] 12/ FL Affair to Remember 13/Make Way for Tomorrow 14/Duck Soup.

   ***Leaving aside Casino Royale in which he had a cameo, Bill’s 8 remaining films in the 1960’s have a dismal total Cogerson gross of just approx $400 million, or an average of approx $50 million per movie. That contrasts with a total Cogerson gross of nearly $2 billion [average around $245 million per movie] for Bill’s last 8 movies released prior to Joel Never Sleeps].

   My pick of the STILLS: 1/still for Let’s Go Native 2/LC Let’s Go Native 3/Rally Round the Flag Boys [aka Appeal to the Brexiteers!] 4/LC Once upon a Honeymoon 5/LC Liberty 6/Al Leach’s self-proclaimed mentor in Belle of the Nineties – Archie was furious at her claims that she created him! 7/Milky Way 8/Going my Way 9/LC Bells of St Mary’s 10/Affair to Remember 11/Ruggles of Red Gap 12/solo of the one and only Groucho – probably my own fave all-time big screen comedian, matched in my personal estimation by just Kelsey Grammer in TV.

   Short but sweet as the saying goes and well worth 97.5% rating as there are some rare gems among the material for Leo’s earlier movies. Take a quiet bow for giving us those collector’s items – and have a good weekend!

   Steve Lensman
   September 20, 2019 at 12:31 pm
   Hi Bob, thanks for reviewing my Leo McCarey video, appreciate the generous rating, info and trivia. Glad you liked the picture gallery.

   Lots of info I didn’t know until reading your posts, as usual, cheers for that. I didn’t know Leo McCarey was rated so highly. I mostly knew him as the director of my favorite Marx Bros movie – Duck Soup – which is also one of my all time favorite films (in my top 50).

   Btw for some reason I had the impression you and Bruce weren’t fans of the Marx Bros, I know Flora can’t stand them. So it’s a pleasant surprise finding you both enjoyed their films. Duck Soup is probably the funniest & zaniest 65mins of comedy in film history, IMO of course. A Night at the Opera is my 2nd favorite amongst their comedies.

   Have to confess I’ve never seen An Affair to Remember but I did read the synopsis years ago so I know it gets a bit upsetting later on though the ending is a happy one. A remake of Love Affair (1939) which was also directed by Leo.

   Leo’s ‘Make Way for Tomorrow’ (1937) is a film I wasn’t familiar with, highly rated but one critic said it was probably the most depressing film ever made. An elderly couple lose their home and none of their five children will take them in. Ouch. I think I’ll skip that one thanks. I always make sure to avoid sad or depressing films.

   Five films scored 10 out of 10 from McCarey’s filmography – Going My Way, Ruggles of Red Gap, Love Affair, The Awful Truth and Duck Soup.

   Leo McCarey on Laurel & Hardy – “Laurel was one of those rare comics intelligent enough to invent his own gags. Laurel was remarkably talented, while Hardy wasn’t. This is the key to the Laurel-Hardy association. Throughout their lives (I was one of their intimates), Laurel insisted on earning twice as much as Hardy. He said he was twice as good and twice as important, that he wrote the film and participated in its creation, while Hardy was really incapable of creating anything at all — it was astounding that he could even find his way to the studio.”

   McCarey on Joan Collins – “I thought she was going to be a big star. At the start, she had no confidence in herself, but, little by little, she confided in me. I told her I’d only do this film with her if she’d send her psychoanalyst away and allow me to take over. I said, “If you want to stretch out on a couch, come over to mine.” She laughed, but she did send the analyst away.”

   BOB ROY to STEVE – Reply
   September 20, 2019 at 1:56 pm
   HI STEVE: Thanks for the reply, jam-packed with additional information, quotes etc.

   I have always adored the Marx Bros and loved the one-liners in their films such as: “What are you doing standing over there?” REPLY “I gotta be somewhere boss!” Groucho could reel them off in real life too. For example he was interviewed just as he was leaving the premier of Last Tango in Paris-
   INTERVIEWER: ”What did you think of the film?”
   GROUCHO: “Very tragic.”
   INTERVIEWER: A tragedy you say? – but I thought it’s all about sex.”
   GROUCHO: “At my age that’s a tragedy!”

   Groucho would have had empathy with Flora. He said that Margaret Dumont [aka Daisy Juliette Baker] who was often the butt of Groucho’s jokes and pranks in 7 of their movies was the perfect foil for the Bros because she like Flora didn’t see the funny side of the Marx Bros humor. Groucho opined that if Margaret HAD shared their sense of humor the adversary between them wouldn’t have worked as well as it did. As it was, he valued her contribution so much that he nicknamed her “the 5th Marx Brother!” Margaret was an opera singer in her early days. NB: My father who hated Jerry Lewis and Woody Allen [as much as he did Brando and Russell Crowe] loved the Marx Bros.

   I can’t get over how scathing Leo was of Oliver Hardy. Are you sure it wasn’t Hirsch that wrote that savage piece? It’s funny how the browbeaten put-upon-one up on the screen in the great male comedy duos of old Hollywood was always the a** h*** in real life. Apparently Lou Costello, Jerry Lewis and, now you reveal, Stan Laurel all mistreated their respective team mates, Costello for example allowing Abbott just a quarter of their joint fees whilst Lou kept three quarters. Mid-partnership he tried to get Universal to change the billing to Costello and Abbott.

   As I’ve mentioned I was a great fan of Archibald Alexander Leach in his later years, but I didn’t like the younger Archie. However as to the Work Horse, Archie is “a man for all seasons” I am surprised that Bruce had never done a Leo page it being obvious that Leo too liked Al Leach. I suppose though that WH can’t get around to everything and if he is going to expend time on ‘old hat’ like that Last Blood stuff the classy material has to fall by the wayside. Anyway take care.

   Cogerson
   September 21, 2019 at 9:15 am
   Good breakdowns on Leo McCarey from both Steve and Bob. Mr. McCarey is on our list of people to do UMR pages on….so Steve beat me to the punch. Gotta give the man credit…he was a very talented director in many genres. About to head to You Tube and check out Steve’s latest video.

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   1. Nice work moving our comments here Bob, cheers.

      Yes Leo was a bit harsh concerning Oliver Hardy. Ollie was the funnyman of the duo, Stan on his own wasn’t particularly funny. Ollie was the butt of most of the jokes. Audiences howled with laughter when ‘another fine mess’ happened to Ollie. Imagine Stan Laurel and Bud Abbott as a duo, it just won’t work as well.

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      1. Laurel and Abbott!- I agree it would not work.

         Ollie played support to Wayne in The Fighting Kentuckian of 1949. Stan would have been all at sea trying to stand toe to toe with the Duke. Ollie at least had the size!

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