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)

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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.

"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...

The 1960's...

The 1960's saw the lowest number of Cary Grant films released; only five!

In 1966, Cary Grant, retired from film making to look after his "greatest production", his daughter Jennifer.

1961:

The Grass is Greener 1961

1962:

That Touch of Mink 1962

1963:

Charade 1963

1964:

Father Goose 1964

1966:

Walk, Don't Run! 1966

Now wait a minute! You look familiar...

They say that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".

Below are some of Cary Grant's films that were either remakes or remade.

My Favorite Wife:

My Favourite Wife (1940) later in 1963 became Move Over Darling, with Doris Day and James Garner.

Notorious:

Notorious (1946) was the basis for the story in Mission Impossible 2 (2000)

Even the horse race was kept in!

 

Charade:

Charade (1963) was remade as The Truth About Charlie in (2002)

The remake stars Mark Wahlberg and Tim Robbins.

An Affair to Remember:

Love Affair (1939) was remade as An Affair to Remember (1957) and again as Love Affair (1994)
Leo McCarey directed the first two films. Warren Beatty and Annette Bening star in the 1994 version.


The Bishop's Wife:

The Bishop's Wife (1947) took on a slight name change as The Preacher's Wife (1996)
In the 1996 version, the cast is headed by Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington.

North By Northwest:

North By Northwest (1959) was remade as Double Identity in (2009)
Val Kilmer and Izabella Miko star in 2009.

Walk, Don't Run!:

The More the Merrier (1943) was remade as Walk, Dont Run (1966)

His Girl Friday:

The Front Page (1931), became His Girl Friday in (1940), being remade as The Front Page (1974)
His Girl Friday is the only version where Hildy is portrayed is a woman.

Information sourced from "That Was A Remake!" -IMDB