Charade Review (1963)
Director: Stanley Donen
Writer: Peter Stone, Marc Behm
Starring: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy, Ned Glass
Release Date: December 5, 1963
It’s time once again for Throwback Thursday, and for this fourth week we’re doubling up because our Throwback Film of the Week is part of the Audrey Hepburn rewatch project.
Charade sits at number three on my Top 5 Audrey Hepburn Films list. It’s also, in my opinion, one of the most underrated films of the entire 1960s and one that doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves when people talk about either of its two leads. Most people know Cary Grant from North by Northwest or To Catch a Thief (and a dozen or so others). Most people know Audrey Hepburn from Roman Holiday or Breakfast at Tiffany’s. This is the only film they ever made together, and it is a masterpiece from start to finish.
Stanley Donen directed from a screenplay by Peter Stone and Marc Behm, and the story opens with Regina Lampert (Hepburn) returning from a ski holiday in the French Alps to find that her husband has been murdered and their Paris apartment stripped bare. It turns out her husband had been sitting on a quarter of a million dollars stolen from three of his old wartime associates, and all three of them want it back. Enter Peter Joshua (Grant), a charming stranger she met on holiday who keeps showing up at exactly the right moment — and who may or may not be exactly who he says he is.
That last part is the engine of the whole film. Grant’s character changes his name and his story multiple times over the course of the movie, and the film does an impressive job of keeping you off balance about where his loyalties actually lie. Every time you think you’ve figured it out, the rug comes out from under you again. It should feel gimmicky after the second or third time and it never does, which is a credit to both Stone’s screenplay and to Grant’s performance. He plays the ambiguity with such ease and such warmth that you find yourself trusting him even when the film is actively giving you reasons not to.
Hepburn is excellent as Reggie, and the interesting thing about her performance here is how different it is from her other work. She’s funny in this (genuinely funny, not just charming) and she has a comic timing that the more dramatic material in her filmography doesn’t give her room to show off. She also plays the fear of the situation convincingly without letting it overwhelm the lightness of the film, which is a harder balance to strike than it looks.
The supporting cast is loaded. Walter Matthau plays Hamilton Bartholomew, the American intelligence officer who keeps Reggie informed about the men chasing her, and he brings the right mix of authority and unease to the role. James Coburn and George Kennedy round out the villains, and both of them are memorable in ways that go beyond their relatively limited screen time. These are not interchangeable heavies, each one has a distinct personality and presence that makes the threat feel real even when the film is playing it for laughs.
Henry Mancini shows up again on the score, because apparently he was constitutionally incapable of writing anything for an Audrey Hepburn film that wasn’t worth listening to. The title theme is terrific, and the Paris location shooting gives the whole film a texture and authenticity that no studio backlot could have replicated. Walking the streets of Paris with Grant and Hepburn is half the pleasure of watching this movie.
People often compare Charade to Hitchcock, and it’s not a crazy comparison. The plot mechanics, the beautiful woman in danger, the dapper and possibly untrustworthy leading man, it has all the hallmarks. What sets it apart from Hitchcock is that it’s funnier and warmer than anything he made during the same period, and the comedy never undercuts the tension. When the film needs to be scary it is scary, and when it needs to be funny it is funny, and it pulls off both things in the same scene more than once.
Is it Cary Grant’s best film? No. Is it Audrey Hepburn’s best film? No. But look at who we’re talking about here and the filmography between the two of them. What is is a great film, from the start to finish, and one that’s worth watching multiple times. It’s also worth owning on Bluray, which you can pick up as part of the Criterion Collection.
Charade gets a four out of five: COMMENDABLE.
If you enjoy this one, you might also like to check out my review of Bringing Up Baby starring Cary Grant and another Hepburn, Katharine. Or check out the review of Audrey’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Or perhaps you’d like to check out one of our latest video game reviews Mouse P.I. For Hire. But if you’re here primarily for movie reviews, click here to check out more of them.
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