Charade
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Stanley
Donen succeeds brilliantly in combining
mystery with stylish comic undertones in his 1963 thriller, Charade. The clever
plot by writer Peter Stone is perfectly suited for suave Cary Grant
(Peter Joshua) and stylish Audrey Hepburn (Regina 'Reggie' Lampert). The
latter plays the role of a vulnerable, wealthy widow whose husband
cleverly hid a stolen fortune before he died. When his war buddies, Tex Panthollow
(James Coburn), Herman Scobie (George Kennedy) and Ned Glass
(Leopold Gideon) come looking for their share of the money, Reggie is warned
by phony CIA agent Carson Dial (Walter Mattheau) that her life is in danger. One by
one the money seekers are murdered in unique circumstances. Donen
scrupulously places details of the mystery before our eyes, yet only near
the end of the story do the pieces fall together. Why does Peter
Joshua have so many identities? Who is the real villain? Where is
the money? It is pure enjoyment going along for the ride in this
mystery: whether we watch Grant and Hepburn stroll through the streets and markets of Paris,
enjoy their romantic banter during a nighttime
cruise along the Seine, or follow their chases with increasing excitement through the underground and a columned palace courtyard. The trapdoor finale in
the Théâtre du Palais-Royal turns out to be not quite the end of the
story.
In my
opinion, Charade is one of the finest movies made in 1963, and offers a
modernity and timelessness that most films lose as the years pass. Marvel
at the Givenchy clothes of Hepburn, laugh at the natural comic abilities
of Mattheau, and enjoy the screen presence of Coburn and Kennedy.
Charade won the 1964 Edgar Allan Poe Award
for Best Film; Audrey Hepburn won the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts Award for best British actress; and Henry Mancini's theme
song was nominated for an Oscar. Incidentally, the opening scene was
filmed in a new French Alps resort owned by the Rothschilds. The resort
had its grand opening shortly after the scenes for Charade were
completed.
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