Liars and Saints

 This Thanksgiving, I plan to watch "Notorious," which has been called "Hitchcock's best film," and also "the best movie Cary Grant appeared in." (Debates begin: now.) A thick new Cary Grant biography emerged a few weeks ago ("A Brilliant Disguise," by Scott Eyman), and among its notes are these: *"Notorious" is subversive because the protagonist is rather psychologically "ugly." The villain is actually easier to like, in some ways. *Cary Grant complained that Hitch had "thrown the film to Ingrid" (though he wouldn't have a similar complaint for his final two Hitchcock films, "To Catch a Thief" and "North by Northwest"). *Ben Hecht did a great deal of the writing work, but Clifford Odets made some contributions. Grant had just made "Night and Day," one of his worst movies--so the context, here, is inspiring for all of us. I'm looking forward to a cup of tea, a filmed tale of ...

 My can't-wait books are usually different from the big splashy "press-sensation" books, so I'm adding my two cents, here, for the fall:   *"The Searcher." This actually will be a big splashy book. Tana French always gets buzz, sometimes more than the work deserves. You can anticipate a murder and a great deal of action; French has said she wanted to do a "market correction," because she felt her previous effort, "The Witch Elm," lacked action. *"Still Life." No one reads Val McDermid. Well, I read Val McDermid. I think she is among the best thriller writers alive, much better than her colleague J.K. Rowling, who seems to borrow from her. (The Strike/Robin affair seems like a rewrite of McDermid's Carol/Tony saga, if someone had stripped McDermid of her talent.) *"Cary Grant." Scott Eyman last wrote a wonderful book about Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda; now, we're getting Eyman's thoughts on Grant. Have you ...