I've seen the series (and am a big fan of Cary Grant) and frankly, I thought it was fantastic and also very fair to all involved. I've already read a number (maybe all?) of the biographies about him. I agree that most of them take the position of "he was a secret homosexual" vs "no, he wasn't!" The concept of bisexuality in those biographies (which is my own presumption about Grant) appears not to exist.
But I'm not sure I agree the series is sidestepping the question, entirely. His arrival as part of an all-boys touring act is accompanied by the (anachronistic) music track "Jet Boy / Jet Girl" -- a song about a teenage boy that has a sexual relationship with an older male who is then rejected for a female. They also depict him living with Randolph Scott in the 30s and, as an older man, telling his audience that he was often called "gay" but he didn't consider it an insult.
You're right that no one can really know the truth at this point. The still living witnesses to his life are his 4th and 5th wives and his daughter, all who say they saw no indications of him being interested in relationships with men at that point. (The same is true of testimony from his 3rd wife in a 2004 documentary -- although she was more hilarious about it.) His daughter frankly said something to the effect of, "when I was in his life I saw no hint of it. But he lived a long life before me and if he had relationships with men, too, then I hope he had fun."
I suspect the, "We didn't know what to say..." refers to the personas of Archie/Cary contained within Cary Grant...that seems to make more sense. I haven't seen the drama, though, but it seems to have been fairly positively regarded as doing it's best with a very limited budget.
I've seen the series (and am a big fan of Cary Grant) and frankly, I thought it was fantastic and also very fair to all involved. I've already read a number (maybe all?) of the biographies about him. I agree that most of them take the position of "he was a secret homosexual" vs "no, he wasn't!" The concept of bisexuality in those biographies (which is my own presumption about Grant) appears not to exist.
But I'm not sure I agree the series is sidestepping the question, entirely. His arrival as part of an all-boys touring act is accompanied by the (anachronistic) music track "Jet Boy / Jet Girl" -- a song about a teenage boy that has a sexual relationship with an older male who is then rejected for a female. They also depict him living with Randolph Scott in the 30s and, as an older man, telling his audience that he was often called "gay" but he didn't consider it an insult.
You're right that no one can really know the truth at this point. The still living witnesses to his life are his 4th and 5th wives and his daughter, all who say they saw no indications of him being interested in relationships with men at that point. (The same is true of testimony from his 3rd wife in a 2004 documentary -- although she was more hilarious about it.) His daughter frankly said something to the effect of, "when I was in his life I saw no hint of it. But he lived a long life before me and if he had relationships with men, too, then I hope he had fun."
Claptrap!
I suspect the, "We didn't know what to say..." refers to the personas of Archie/Cary contained within Cary Grant...that seems to make more sense. I haven't seen the drama, though, but it seems to have been fairly positively regarded as doing it's best with a very limited budget.