3. CARY GRANT
The Philadelphia Story (1940)

When Grant dashed off his dashing lines, his verbal aggression could 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.