Movie Review: “Charade” 1963
Charade produced and directed by Stanley Donen, screenplay by Peter Stone, and music by Henry Mancini; starring Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy. Universal, 1963, (1hr, 54min). We watched this movie on Friday, July 16, 2021. This was an odd, interesting, and fun movie; it’s not going to be a favorite, but worth the time nonetheless. It was almost a crime-noir/Hitchcock/Bogart-Bacall romance with comedy. Yes, a mix of all those genres included.
The opening credits to the movie have that weird 1960’s style that is unmistakable for those of us who lived through those years, and it reminded me of both James Bond and Alfred Hitchcock movies. The first scene is of a man’s body being thrown off a train, much like a Bond movie would do it, or Agatha Christie perhaps, then it moves to a snow skiing scene in the French Alps and you see Audrey Hepburn as Regina Lampert and Dominique Minot as Sylvie Gaudet, with a 7-8yr old (approximately) Thomas Chelimsky as Jean Louis Gaudet. What you see is Regina eating and then a Luger pistol pointing at her from a hidden position. This is a murder/theft movie so you really do not know what to expect…then the pistol is fired…aaand we have a water-gun being fired by Jean Louis at Mrs. Lampert. I was very perplexed by this comedic scene immediately following the murdered man being tossed off the train; it seemed odd to me. But after viewing the movie in its entirety the scene made sense. This movie is a romantic comedy framed as a Hitchcock-esq thriller. The little boy provided some comedy, but also was used to pre-figure what the movie was all about: Regina Lampert’s life was in danger and the little boy would be a big part in solving the mystery. Director’s don’t put scenes like that into movies for no purpose.
Regina Lampert eating is another gag throughout the entire movie, but this one I did not get, nor appreciate. It was a bit funny when she was eating in the office with Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau), but otherwise, that gag was more of an irritant to me throughout the movie. The point was, here was a lady who announces she was getting a divorce while eating a huge meal (and Audrey Hepburn is a cute, petite young woman of about 34 in this movie), here is a lady being hunted down by 4 men but eats big meals to compensate for her fear. Here is a woman whose estranged husband was murdered, yet she eats big meals. Oh well…I guess the point was the ridiculousness of it all.
The action scenes were good, but not excellent. The chase scene where Regina was tailing Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) was very good, particularly the phone booth scene. The fight between Joshua and Herman Scobie was good, but typical for Hollywood back then (forget Matt Damon and the Bourne Identity stuff…) The search scene for young Jean Louis was the key to solving the mystery and was well done. The deaths of the four ne’er-do-wells were done well and were a good mix of Hitchcock and Agatha Christie.
The highlight of the movie was the banter between Regina and Peter…or whatever his name was. She was at times obviously coming on to him, but he wouldn’t have it. You find out why at the very end (no, he wasn’t gay…the movies, nor commercials didn’t do that all the time like they do now.)
While we enjoyed the movie, and this is the first movie I have watched with Audrey Hepburn or Cary Grant that I can remember, it was just a fun movie, no big point, nothing to stick out. Well, there was one thing…the plot of the movie revolved around the four killers who were all WWII veterans of the US Army’s OSS, and one guy claimed to be in the CIA, the successor to the OSS. You just don’t see movies that feature the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). But this movie dates back to 1963, the war had not been over for 20 years yet, so a lot of veterans would know of the OSS and appreciate it.
How would I rate the movie? Thumbs Up, but only a 7 out of 10. A recommend, but not a strong recommend at all. One of my friends said he and his family love the movie so much they watch it once a year. It does star Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, so that is a big draw I guess.
Charade (1963 film) – Wikipedia
Charade（1963） – Theme Music – YouTube
Charade by Peter Stone (1980-04-01): Amazon.com: Books
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