Charade (1963)

   "...an absolute delight in which Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn schottische about with evident glee."

With Audrey Hepburn.

Charade - Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"Not since John Huston's Beat the Devil has there been such a gay romp as Charade.  Huston himself recently tried something similar in The List of Adrian Messenger, but the comedy thriller is a chancy little form, and he could not duplicate that first brilliant success.  More credit, then, to producer-director Stanley Donen who has brought to the screen an absolute delight in which Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn schottische about with evident glee.  

It is characteristic of the generally civilized and witty fun of the entire film, and somehow entirely appropriate that Miss Hepburn should suddenly look into a can of Calox toothpowder and ask Grant if he can tell heroin by its taste.  He tastes and says: "Heroin! Peppermint-flavored heroin!"  Charade merits not merely audiences, but addicts.

- Newsweek

New Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36 -
Number 70 - Charade (Lobby Card Style)

Part Of

For more, see also:

Quote From Today - 5 December 2022

On This Day - 5 December 2021

On This Day - 5 December 2020

Quote From Today... Charade (1963)

"...I didn't have the sense in those days to be sensible."

With Audrey Hepburn.

Charade was Cary Grant's 70th full-length feature film.

Adam Canfield: All right, get set for the story of my life.

Reggie Lampert: Fiction or non-fiction?

Adam Canfield: Eh, why don't you shut up?

Reggie Lampert: Well!

Adam Canfield: Are you going to listen?

Reggie Lampert: Go on...

Adam Canfield: Now, when I was a young man, my father expected me to go into his business. Umbrella frames. That's what he made. A sensible business, I suppose, but I didn't have the sense in those days to be sensible.

Reggie Lampert: [looking skeptical] I suppose all this is leading somewhere...

Adam Canfield: Well, it led me away from umbrella frames, for one thing. But that left me without any honest means of support.

Reggie Lampert: What do you mean?

Adam Canfield: Well, in this highly competitive world, when a man has no profession, there isn't much choice, so I began looking for people who had more money than they needed... including some, they'd barely miss.

Reggie Lampert: You mean you're a thief?

Adam Canfield: Well, that's not exactly the term I'd have chosen, but it sort of captures the spirit of the thing.

Reggie Lampert: I don't believe it!

On This Day...Charade (1963)

 Charade was Cary Grant's 70th full length film and was released today back in 1963.

Synopsis:

Regina Lambert(Audey Hepburn) is the wife of a man named Charles Lambert. Upon her return to Paris from a ski holiday, in Megève, she finds her husband's been murdered, and their apartment stripped bare.

She is told by CIA agent Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau) that Charles Lambert was one of a group of men who stole a quarter of a million dollars in gold from the U.S. government during World War II, and the government wants it back.

The money was not found among his few possessions, and Regina can't shed any light on its whereabouts. She's soon visited by Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) whom she'd briefly met whilst in Megève. 

When her husband's former partners (in crime), who were double-crossed by Charles, begin to terrorise her for the money, Peter offers to help Regina find it. So begins an elaborate charade, in which nothing - and no one - is who, or what they seem to be.

With George Kennedy,

"Hepburn, an elegant apparition in her Givenchy gowns, gives her usual distinctive performance, but Grant, skillfully handling some of the best material he's worked on in a long time, comes up with one of the happiest high-comedy performances." - Richard Whitehall, Films and Filming

"More credit, then, to producer-director Stanley Donen who has brought to the screen an absolute delight in which Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn schottische about with evident glee." - Newsweek

Did You Know?

After finishing this film, Cary Grant was quoted as saying, "All I want for Christmas is to make another movie with Audrey Hepburn." Although it never happened, Grant was offered the role of Higgins in My Fair Lady (1964), and requested Hepburn as his co-star in Father Goose (1964).


According to Audrey Hepburn, the scene where Regina spilled ice cream on Alex's suit was based on a real-life accident where Hepburn spilled red wine on Cary Grant's suit at a dinner party.


This film is in the public domain, due to the failure to put the then-required copyright notice in the released print. The attempt at a copyright notice in the film failed to include the text "Copyright", "Copr.", or "©", as was needed by pre-1989 U.S. law; only the year and supposed copyright holder were listed.


Audrey Hepburn was several years older than actresses who had already played Cary Grant's love interest back in the 1950's, such as Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield, which makes the fact that this movie often gets cited as an example of age gap relationships all the more peculiar. Hepburn was already in her mid-30's here, and "only" 25 years younger than Grant.

When looking at the receipt of Charles' possessions, the date was May 4, 1963, which was Audrey Hepburn's thirty-fourth birthday.

Cast:

 Cary Grant ... Peter Joshua
 Audrey Hepburn ... Regina Lambert
 Walter Matthau ... Hamilton Bartholomew
 James Coburn ... Tex Panthollow
 George Kennedy ... Herman Scobie
 Dominique Minot ... Sylvie Gaudet
 Ned Glass ... Leopold W. Gideon
 Jacques Marin ... Insp. Edouard Grandpierre
 Paul Bonifas ... Mr. Felix
 Thomas Chelimsky ... Jean-Louis Gaudet

With Audrey Hepburn, James Coburn, Jacques Marin and Ned Glass.

On location.

Lobby Cards:

Alternative Posters:

Directed by Stanley Donen.

Distributed by Universal-International.

Running time: 113 minutes.

Another Archi(v)e Update!

 Here are new additions to my collection of Cary Grant books and reference works.

Cary Grant - In Name Only 

by Gary Morecombe and Martin Sterling (2003).

"Gary Morecombe's father, the legendary comedian Eric Morecombe, enjoyed a twenty-year friendship with Grant. For this unique vantage point, the authors have examined the life, loves and career of the troubled screen icon. This first truly objective study explores what drove this funny, flawed man who never confronted - let alone exorcised - his inner demons." (from the back cover blurb)

Cary Grant

by Chuck Ashman and Pamela Trescott (1986).

"In this new biography the authors have traced the extraordinary chain of events that subsequently led Archie Leach, boy acrobat, to become Cary Grant, Hollywood's most sophisticated leading man. As well as providing a detailed analysis of his unique cinematic career they also examine the personal life of this most private man, from his disastrous first marriage to Virginia Cherrill, dubbed "Hollywood's greatest beauty", to fatherhood at the age of 62 and a fifth marriage at 77. The result is a revealing portrait of a Hollywood legend." (Front and back cover blurb)

Women I've Undressed: The Fabulous Life and Times of a Legendary Hollywood Designer

by Orry-Kelly (2017)

- from the foreword by Catherine Martin.

An interesting reference book, Orry-Kelly describes in his own words the friendship and time he spent with Cary Grant, it what at times feels very bitter.

All The Best Lines: An Informal History of the Movies in Quotes, Notes and Anecdotes

by George Tiffin (2013)

"Stylishly designed, and punctuated with 120 beautiful photographs from every movie era, All The Best Lines is an endlessly entertaining and richly informative history of the cinema" - Inside Cover.

Containing CG quotes from His Girl Friday, Notorious, I'm No Angel, North By Northwest and None But The Lonely Heart.

The Audrey Hepburn Treasures

by Ellen Erwin and Jessica Z. Diamond (2006)

Full of great pictures and pull out copies of letters, pictures, tickets, postcards...the list goes on!

Its a great book!!!

It contains a number of references to CG who appeared in Charade with Audrey Hepburn. And it also contains a copy of a letter he wrote to her on June 29th, 1982, .

"Lights, camera...action!" - The Directors - Part 3

The next director, who worked with Cary Grant on four films, was Stanley Donen.

Stanley Donen:

13th April 1924 - 21st February 2019

On Grant - "Cary was lavish in his giving to me. He gave me lots of gifts, always thoughtful ones. Something was always arriving."

Kiss Them For Me (1957)

With Ray Walston and Jayne Mansfield

Indiscreet (1958)

On set with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman.

The Grass is Greener (1961)

With Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum

Charade (1963)

With Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn

Stanley Donen was behind many hit musicals including On The Town, Singing in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Cary Grant, Stanley Fox and Stanley Donen set up Grandon Productions, Ltd in 1957.

Four directors worked on three films each with Cary Grant...

..."Lights, camera...action!" - The Directors - Part 4...

Leading Ladies...Part 3

So that brings us to those actresses who appeared only on screen once with Cary Grant.

Adrienne Ames
Sinners in the Sun (1932)

Tallulah Bankhead
Devil and the Deep (1932)

Ethel Barrymore
None But The Lonely Heart (1944)

Constance Bennett
Topper (1937)

Janet Blair
Once Upon a Time (1944)

Mary Brian
The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1937)

"He was the most fun and the most romantic man I've ever known."


Leslie Caron

Father Goose (1964)

"Cary liked women who had a distinction and a certain education about them."


Jeanne Crain
People Will Talk (1951)

Also appeared on the radio, Jan 25th, 1954, in People Will Talk.

Doris Day
That Touch of Mink (1962)

Laraine Day
Mr. Lucky (1943)

Also appeared on the radio, Oct 18th, 1943, in Mr. Lucky.

Marlene Dietrich
Blonde Venus (1932)

Lily Damita
This Is The Night (1932)

Frances Drake
Ladies Should Listen (1934)

Samantha Eggar
Walk, Don't Run (1966)

Faye Emerson
Destination Tokyo (1944) The only credited actress in the cast.

Frances Farmer
The Toast of New York (1937)

Jean Harlow
Suzy (1936)

Rita Hayworth
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Charlotte Henry
Alice in Wonderland (1933)

Audrey Hepburn

Charade (1963)

"Working with him was a joy. There was something special, which was quite undefinable, about Cary. He was a quiet man basically, for someone who dealt in comedy, and yet very much to the point."


Benita Hume
Gambling Ship (1933)

Grace Kelly

To Catch a Thief (1955)

"Everyone grows old, except Cary Grant."

"Grace was astonishing. When you played a scene with her, she really listened. She was right there with you. She was Buddha-like in her concentration. She was like Garbo in that respect." - Cary Grant


Elissa Landi
Enter Madame! (1935)

Priscilla Lane
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Helen Mack
Kiss and Make Up (1934)

Jayne Mansfield
Kiss Them From Me (1957)

Gertrude Michael
The Last Outpost (1935)

Grace Moore
When You're in Love (1937)

Also appeared on the radio, March 8th, 1937, in Madame Butterfly.

Marilyn Monroe

Monkey Business (1952)

"She seemed very shy, and I remember that when the studio workers would whistle at her, it seemed to embarrass her." - Cary Grant


Joan O'Brien
Operation Petticoat (1959)

Suzy Parker
Kiss Them From Me (1955)

Paula Raymond
Crisis (1950)

Rosalind Russell
His Girl Friday (1940)

Eva Marie Saint

North By Northwest (1959)

"Other men wear suits. But with other men, there'sthe man and then there's the suit on him. That didn't happen to Cary Grant. For him, style was like a skin."


Martha Scott

The Howards of Virginia (1940)

"He was conscious of his body movement, like a dancer. It was wonderful to watch."


Jean Simmons
The Grass is Greener (1961)

Alexis Smith

Night and Day (1946)

"There was such an intense quality and focus about his work...He was mesmerizing and very exciting."


Shirley Temple
The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer (1947)

Also appeared on the radio, June 13th, 1949, in The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer.

Thelma Todd
This is the Night (1932)

Jane Wyman
Night and Day (1946)