TAKEN FOR GRANT-ED Amazingly, alpha male Cary (with costar Hepburn) played the loser in ''Philadelphia Story''

The Philadelphia Story: Kobal Collection

Cary Grant

In Pauline Kael's formulation, Grant was the Man From Dream City. The ''city'' bit is clear: His acrobatic urbanity -- the dance of dapper sidesteps, teasing nods, streetwise shrugs -- is matchless. The content of the ''dream'' is complex, as his elastic suavity accommodates all manner of ambiguities. When, for instance, Grant dashes off his dashing lines, his verbal aggression can seem driven by neurosis and his voice by the crack of a silken whip. ''The Philadelphia Story'' is about a romance between Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart, and about Grant -- as the odd man out -- being uncommonly needy. His C.K. Dexter Haven is more desperate than his man on the run in ''North by Northwest.'' Rather cruel, rather too cool, he wears his sophistication as if it were armor. It is rare to find Cary Grant heartbroken, and more rare yet to find an actor who can seem terribly lonely and still find romance a jolly game.