Charade (1963)

[Neville]

Plot: A French woman returns from her ski vacation decided to divorce her husband, only to find out he's been murdered. After a visit to the police and the American embassy she learns that her late husband stole some gold during the war and that his three accomplices believe she's hiding the money. Soon enough the three criminals start stalking her, and the only thing preventing them to kill her is a new friend she made during her vacation. But how much can she trust him?

Comments: Believe it or not, I had never seen this film before. I mean, who doesn't like Audrey Hepburn or Cary Grant? But in the other hand, Stanley Donen directing a thriller? And one that spoofs Hitchcock? So I never cared much about it, but now I'm glad I checked it out. It's excellent, plain and simple. It's almost an straight comedy, based on the chemistry between Hepburn and Grant, but now and then Donen inserts genuinely disturbing bits. At one point Grant and Hepburn talk the criminals down into searching each others rooms, to see if they can convince them that Hepburn doesn't have her husband's money. Together in a room, Hepburn and Grant flirt and play cat and mouse. And then, out of the blue, one of the criminals appears drowned in a bathtube, the faucet still throwing water over his distorted face.

And as the corpses begin to pile, another question begins to rise. Is Grant the murderer? Of course, Grant is well known for his portrayal of a false guilty in Hitchcock's "North by northwest". Is he now playing a false innocent? And Cary Grant is a joy to watch here, playing the joke knowingly, while Audrey Hepburn's character can't decide wether to get in his pants or run away. Great stuff. So great, actually, that I'll forget that I guessed the ending right away or that that fight in the rooftop between Grant and Arthur Kennedy was a bit too silly. Moments like the funeral scene where the three criminals appear to pay their respects to the deceased or the exchanges between Grant and Hepburn more than compensate.

5/5    

P.D: Just remembered that Jonathan Demme made a remake of this one called "The truth about Charlie". All the sources I've checked out consider it awful, but I'm tempted to take a look at it anyway. What intrigues me is that it may have taken a different approach and played they whole thing seriously this time.

[The Burgomaster]

I have this on DVD and I had it on VHS before.  One of my favorite thrillers.  MAD Magazine did a pretty good satire of it, too.

[BoyScoutKevin]

So great, actually, that I'll forget that I guessed the ending right away or that that fight in the rooftop between Grant and Arthur Kennedy was a bit too silly. Moments like the funeral scene where the three criminals appear to pay their respects to the deceased or the exchanges between Grant and Hepburn more than compensate.

Arthur Kennedy. A great actor and much underappreciated, but the Kennedy in this film is not Arthur, but George Kennedy. The one that has a hook for a hand. The other two villains are played by James Coburn and Ned Glass. There is a fourth villain, but I won't mention who it is, as it gives away too much of the plot.

Actually, I remember the fight on the roof between Cary Grant and George Kennedy being one of the more memorable scenes in the film, because when Kennedy gets knocked off the roof of the building, he grabs on to the building's gutter with the hook to prevent himself from falling.

Otherwise, Neville is right. It's a great film and well worth seeking out.

[Neville]

You're right, it was George Kennedy! I think I've been mising up those two actors for a while...

As for the fight in the rooftop, it was one of the highlghts of the film, true, but it struck me as one of those moments where Donen was trying too hard to be Hitchcock. The final straw was Arthur Kennedy escaping death by the skin of his teeth and appearing unscathed in the next scene (IIRC). Too much to stomach.

[Allhallowsday]

I think the unnamed actor is the highlight of the film.     I like CHARADE.