The Howards of Virginia

Politics and social stature divide a Virginia couple (Cary Grant and Martha Scott) as events lead to the Revolutionary War.

The Howards of Virginia is a seldom seen Cary Grant film and there’s a reason: it’s not very good.

The film starts with a needless prologue featuring a younger version of Cary Grant’s character. The boy comes across as a whiney brat, and his big dramatic scene is so overplayed it’s almost comical.

It takes almost twenty minutes for Grant to finally make his entrance (look fast for Peter Cushing when Grant’s character is introduced to Thomas Jefferson’s friends), and he couldn’t look more out of place wearing that buckskin suit and coonskin cap. Sure, his natural charisma comes through, but Grant is simply ill suited for costume roles and thus, never really works in this part.

Compounding this, the script comes off as preachy, melodramatic, and worst of all, boring. This movie runs almost two hours and spans over thirty years, yet nothing much really happens. The supporting cast is no help, with not a single multidimensional character among them. Indeed, they seem to exist solely as stereotypes.

This is a movie that’s flawed at almost every turn, and one I’m sure Grant would have liked to forget. Grant enthusiasts may find curiosity value but others beware.