Farley Granger, Star of Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" Dies at 85

Farley Granger (1925-2011), star of the Alfred Hitchcock classics Rope (1948) and Strangers on a Train (1951) died on Sunday. He was 85. 

The North Star was Farley Granger's first movie role.

Teenage Movie Star
Plucked from obscurity by a talent scout representing Samuel Goldwyn, Granger starred along side Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter, and Walter Houston in his very first film, The North Star (1943). The plot revolved around the residents of a Ukrainian village preparing for a Nazi invasion in the early days of World War II. Lewis Milestone directed the movie written by playwright Lillian Hellman. Milestone directed the anti-war classic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). 

The Purple Heart was Granger's second film.

Navy Blue
Granger’s boyish good looks made him an instant hit with film fans. After The North Star, he again starred alongside Andrews in The Purple Heart (1944). After completing that film, Granger went into military service in the Navy. 

Granger, James Steward, and John Dall in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope

Post-War Movie Career
Upon his return to Hollywood after the war, Granger was loaned out to Hitchcock for Rope (1948) starring James Stewart. The film about two young men who murder a former schoolmate for the thrill of it was quite jarring for post-World War II audiences. Considered a classic today by many modern critics, the film wasn’t well received when originally released. Granger went on to star as Bowie in the Nicholas Ray classic They Live By Night (1949).  

Most Famous Role
Probably his most famous role was that of tennis pro Guy Haines in the Hitchcock directed Strangers on a Train (1951). In the film, Granger is manipulated by an obsessed, opportunistic fan (Robert Walker) who concocts a plan to “swap murders.”  The climax on a run-away carousel is one of the most famous in the history of cinema. 

Granger, left, with Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train

Stage Struck
Being under contract to Goldwyn was confining for Granger, who found himself constantly suspended for turning down film assignments. Eventually he bought himself out of his contract so he could pursue a career on Broadway. While he was learning how to navigate the stage world, Granger supported himself by starring on TV during its Golden Age in the 1950s. During this period, he made the occasional film like The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955), but Granger remained a mainstay on the small screen well into the 1960s. Although the stage career never turned out the way he had hoped it would, Granger did have some memorable roles. He starred as the king in The King and I at New York's City Center in 1960 and played John Proctor in the 1964 Broadway production of Arthur Miller's the Crucible.

In 2007, Granger published his autobiography, Include Me Out: My Life From Goldwyn to Broadway, written with his longtime companion, Robert Calhoun.

Loretta or Cary: Who Is more Beautiful?

Loretta Young: a photographer's dream

The Faces of Beauty
Both Loretta Young and Cary Grant were known as much for their classic movie star looks as their acting abilities. Young, a star since the days of silent films, is considered one of the screen’s great beauties. Her big expressive eyes and lovely cheekbones made her a photographer’s dream. Grant’s was the face that the top female stars of the 1930s wanted next to theirs on the big screen.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...
When Young and Grant costarred together in The Bishop’s Wife (1947), audiences were faced with two of the most beautiful and most photographed faces in the movies. With those two great faces on the screen side by side, the question comes up; who is the most beautiful of all?

Publicity photograph of Cary Grant

Dressed to Impress
In the film, Grant plays a very dashing angel named Dudley. Dressed by five-time Oscar-winner Irene Sharaff, Grant looked as if he just walked off the set of Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946). He’s as dapper as, well, Cary Grant. Young on the other hand, plays Julia Brougham, the wife of a Bishop (David Niven). Throughout the movie, Young is dressed modestly, but beautifully. Likewise, her hairstyle is pulled back, simply styled, but framing that beautiful, luminous face.

Vanity, Vanity
Like the public that adored them, Young and Grant were aware of their respective good looks and did all they could to present themselves on screen in the best way possible. The story goes that when director Henry Koster blocked out a two-shot between Young and Grant, both protested that the blocking did not exploit the best sides of their faces. To appease the two stars, Koster had them look out a window in the same direction. This shot satisfied Young and Grant because their best sides (the left sides of their faces) were photographed.

I'm not Paying for Half a Face

 Tyrone Power and Young

When producer Samuel Goldwyn saw the dailies (film shot that day), he was critical of Koster’s decision to shoot the scene in such a manner. When Koster asked Young and Grant to explain why the shot was set up and filmed this way, Goldywn let go with one of his famous “Goldwynisms.” He said to both stars “Look, if I'm only getting half a face, you're only getting half a salary!” Young and Grant, both being freelance movie stars and not contracted to a major movie studio were also conscious of workplace politics.

After that confrontation with the boss, the subject of what side of their faces looked better on film never came up again.

The "Wright" Stuff: Teresa Wright Makes Her Mark

Studio portrait of Teresa Wright

"I only ever wanted to be an actress, not a star."
During the early 1940s, few movie actresses made the impact that Teresa Wright did. Wright was Oscar-nominated for the first three movies she appeared in, a record that no other actor or actress has accomplished. Embraced by the public and critics as well, Wright never wanted to be a movie star.

Muriel Teresa Wright was born in 1919 in New York City. After seeing Helen Hayes on the stage, Wright decided she wanted to be an actress. After gaining experience in regional theater, she decided to try her luck on Broadway during the late 1930s.

Early Broadway Success
Almost immediately, Wright found herself playing a small role in Thorton Wilder’s Our Town. During the play’s run, she understudied for Martha Scott, who had the lead role of Emily. When Martha Scott left for Hollywood, Wright stepped into the lead. After her success in Our Town, she was cast as Mary Skinner in an even bigger success, Life With Father. During one performance, a talent scout from the Samuel Goldwyn studios noticed something special about Wright.

Goldwyn was looking for someone to play Bette Davis’s daughter in his production of The Little Foxes, someone who would be able to stand up to the formidable Miss Davis on the big screen. The talent scout thought Wright was up to the task. Before long, she was brought to Hollywood and signed a long-term contract with Goldwyn.

When The Little Foxes was released in 1941, Wright was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, alongside Bette Davis who was nominated for Best Actress. The Goldwyn talent scout’s faith in Wright was validated.

Hot Property
Samuel Goldwyn immediately arranged for Wright to costar in William Wyler’s production of Mrs. Miniver at MGM starring Greer Garson and Walter Pigeon. After she completed that film, she was costarring opposite Gary Cooper in The Pride of the Yankees, directed by Sam Wood. Both Mrs. Miniver and The Pride of the Yankees were released in 1942 and Wright was showered with critical accolades once again.

During that eventful 1942, Wright found herself nominated for both Best Supporting Actress for Mrs. Miniver and Best Actress for The Pride of the Yankees! She lost the Best Actress award to Greer Garson, but won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Garson’s daughter-in-law in Mrs. Miniver.

Hitchcock Comes a Calling
When director Alfred Hitchcock was casting Shadow of a Doubt, he considered  Wright for the lead role of Charlotte (Charlie) Newton. He wanted her for her obvious talent, but Hitchcock also wanted her because she was considered a hot property and her appeal would add to the box office. He was correct on both counts. From the start Hitchcock was impressed not only with Wright’s talent, but her professionalism on the set. Wright’s characterization is a tour-de-force. She begins the film as a naive, innocent girl and ends it as a mature worldly-wise young woman.

Wright is top billed in the Hitchcock classic

During its initial release, Shadow of a Doubt  was a critical and popular success. Today it is considered Hitchcock’s first great American film. Unlike his earlier U.S. movies, Shadow of a Doubt was set in a small American town populated with average people living seemingly average lives. The notion that innocence and evil live side by side would become a popular theme that Hitchcock would continue to explore in later films.

Wright starred alongside some of the biggest male stars of the 1940s.

A Major Star
After working with Hitchcock, Wright became a major star, appearing opposite some of Hollywood’s most famous leading men, including Dana Andrews, Robert Mitchum, Ray Milland, and Gary Cooper (after Pride of the Yankees, they starred together again in Casanova Brown). During the late 1940s, Wright lost out on two important film roles that hurt her career.
  

Pursued is considered the first psychological western.

The Roles That Got Away
Wright’s husband, Niven Busch was a screenwriter and popular novelist. He wrote the best-selling novel Duel in the Sun and adapted the screenplay for producer David O. Selznick. Wright was set to star as the half-breed Pearl Chavez. The role was to be a change of pace for the actress. During production, Wright became pregnant and had to drop out. Jennifer Jones, another actress with a girl-next-door image picked up the role and a Best Actress nomination to boot.

The role of Pearl Chavez was written for Wright.

The next role that Teresa Wright lost, again due to pregnancy, was the portrayal of Julia Broughan in The Bishop’s Wife. The role eventually went to Loretta Young, and again, another box office hit slipped through Wright’s fingers.

You're Fired!
In 1948, Wright made a movie for Goldwyn called Enchantment. Goldwyn had high hopes for the film and Wright had one of the key roles. When production wrapped, Wright didn’t particularly like the result. Scheduled to travel to publicize the film, Wright said she was ill and couldn’t participate. Goldwyn didn’t believe Wright and he fired her. Overnight, Wright was a star without a studio. Used to making $5000 a week and $200,000 per picture, Wright was now a freelance artist during a turbulent time in Hollywood. The major studios were losing money because they were forced to give up their theater ownership, which reaped them huge profits.

Wright was Marlon Brando's first leading lady.

In 1950, Wright agreed to star opposite a Hollywood newcomer named Marlon Brando in what would be his very first film, The Men. The film was an independent low-budget production for which Wright accepted a salary of $25,000. Wright said that after she made that film for that low fee, she was rarely given A-list material again. She still had starring roles in movies, but none matched the quality of her early successes.

Wright Finds Work During Television's "Golden Age"
Instead of giving up on acting, Wright started working in TV during its golden age. She was Emmy-nominated for playing Annie Sullivan in a TV production of The Miracle Worker five years before the film version was made. Later she portrayed famed photographer Margaret Bourke-White in a 1960 TV production. In addition to her TV work, Wright went back to Broadway starring in The Country Girl, Bell, Book and Candle, The Heiress, and Death of a Salesman opposite George C. Scott.

During the 1970s, Wright occasionally worked in films and television. During this period she had roles in Roseland and Somewhere in Time. Her last major role was playing Miss Birdie, Matt Damon’s landlady, in John Grisham’s The Rainmaker in 1977.

Teresa Wright died of a heart attack on March 6, 2005. She was 86 years old.