Chapter 27
M. Glancy
Dear Kamala December 31, 2009 DOI: 10.2307/j.ctt1xhr7d5.30 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | LSD |
| Key points | Grant maintained that clinically supervised LSD sessions allowed him to explore his unconscious and overcome childhood memories and experiences that haunted him; he revealed this to journalist Joe Hyams and then denied the story once it made headlines, without damage to his popularity. His films of this period were box-office successes, and Variety called him Hollywood's "richest actor" and "most astute businessman." |
Abstract
By the time Cary Grant and Betsy Drake announced their separation in 1958, Grant had followed Drake’s lead by embarking on an intensive form of psychotherapy using the hallucinogenic drug LSD. In clinically supervised sessions, he took the drug, which was not yet illegal, and explored his unconscious mind. This, he maintained, allowed him to peer into his past and overcome the childhood memories and experiences that haunted him. He revealed this to a prominent journalist, Joe Hyams, and then vehemently denied the story when it made headlines across the country. Yet the story did not dent his popularity with audiences. Operation Petticoat (1959), directed by Blake Edwards, became his biggest box-office success. Its humour is dated now, but it is still notable as the film that paired Grant with Tony Curtis, the actor who imitated him so memorably in Some Like It Hot (1959). The Grass is Greener (1960), directed by Stanley Donen, tried to repeat the success of the sophisticated comedy-romance Indiscreet (1958), but fell short of that mark. The screwball comedy A Touch of Mink (1962) paired Grant with Doris Day, the most popular screen actress of the period. They did not enjoy working together, but the film’s star power ensured that it was a hit. These successes, together with Grant’s lucrative contract with Universal-International Pictures, led the trade weekly Variety to declare that he was the “richest actor” and “most astute businessman” working in Hollywood.