Because KISS AND MAKE-UP was made very early in his career, I guess I can understand why Cary Grant could make such a bad film. But make no mistakes--this is a bad film. While the first 90% isn't great, the finale is truly one of the most wretched scenes in Grant's wonderful career.
The film has very unusual casting because Cary is cast as a plastic surgeon and beauty guru of sorts. He is so famous that his practice is making him a fortune, he has a radio show and women adore him. Through all this, he has a secretary who adores him. It's incredibly obvious to the audience and, of course, Cary can't see this--a movie cliché indeed. This potential romance with his nice secretary is nixed when a vain society lady falls for Cary. This lady is considered the ideal beauty and Cary is proud of his creation--the only trouble is that she's still married to Edward Everett Horton. though he is only too happy to give divorce her. Cary finds out why, as his new wife spends every second of the day working on her beauty--taking 4 and a half hours to dress for a dinner, eating lettuce and lean ham, refusing to go into the sun or swim. She's as much fun as an enema and the marriage fizzles almost immediately. At this point, Cary FINALLY realizes that his secretary is the woman for him---but she's about to marry Horton. So in a "madcap" finale, he chases her in a cab through the streets of Paris.
As for the finale, it truly stinks. It looks more like a chase scene from a 3 Stooges short--one of their poorer ones at that!! From the film to go from subtle comedy and romance to slapstick was abrupt and unnecessary. In fact, nothing about this ending worked at all and made me cringe. You'll just have to see it for yourself to understand how a sub-par Grant film became one of his worst due to this ending.
By the way, if you care, the worst film Cary Grant made during his great career was ONCE UPON A TIME--a film he made during the height of his fame. It's a "heart-warming" story of a cute little kid with a dancing caterpillar--and Cary is the promoter who wants to make them famous. It's so bad that it's actually worth seeing--just to see how bad it is!
The film has very unusual casting because Cary is cast as a plastic surgeon and beauty guru of sorts. He is so famous that his practice is making him a fortune, he has a radio show and women adore him. Through all this, he has a secretary who adores him. It's incredibly obvious to the audience and, of course, Cary can't see this--a movie cliché indeed. This potential romance with his nice secretary is nixed when a vain society lady falls for Cary. This lady is considered the ideal beauty and Cary is proud of his creation--the only trouble is that she's still married to Edward Everett Horton. though he is only too happy to give divorce her. Cary finds out why, as his new wife spends every second of the day working on her beauty--taking 4 and a half hours to dress for a dinner, eating lettuce and lean ham, refusing to go into the sun or swim. She's as much fun as an enema and the marriage fizzles almost immediately. At this point, Cary FINALLY realizes that his secretary is the woman for him---but she's about to marry Horton. So in a "madcap" finale, he chases her in a cab through the streets of Paris.
As for the finale, it truly stinks. It looks more like a chase scene from a 3 Stooges short--one of their poorer ones at that!! From the film to go from subtle comedy and romance to slapstick was abrupt and unnecessary. In fact, nothing about this ending worked at all and made me cringe. You'll just have to see it for yourself to understand how a sub-par Grant film became one of his worst due to this ending.
By the way, if you care, the worst film Cary Grant made during his great career was ONCE UPON A TIME--a film he made during the height of his fame. It's a "heart-warming" story of a cute little kid with a dancing caterpillar--and Cary is the promoter who wants to make them famous. It's so bad that it's actually worth seeing--just to see how bad it is!