Charade (1963)

Director:

Stanley Donen

Writers:

Peter Stone (screenplay)
Peter Stone (story) ...

Release Date:

5 December 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

You can expect the unexpected when they play..."Charade"

Plot:

Romance and suspense in Paris, as a woman is pursued by several men who want a fortune her murdered husband had stolen. Who can she trust?

Plot Keywords:

CIA | Punch And Judy | Rooftop | Reference To The Hunchback Of Notre Dame | Public Domain

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Peter Joshua
Audrey Hepburn	...	Regina Lampert
Walter Matthau	...	Hamilton Bartholemew
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 - Stamp Dealer
Thomas Chelimsky	...	Jean-Louis Gaudet

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G (alternate rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved | Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Alps, Haute-Savoie, France

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Seven studios rejected the original screenplay. Peter Stone turned it into a novel which was serialized in Redbook, and it was then turned back into a screenplay - which had interest from all 7 studios.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Scobie is covering "Dyle" with a gun held in his artificial hand, so there's no way that he can pull the trigger.

Quotes:

Reggie Lampert: Well, wasn't it Shakespeare that said, "When strangers do meet in far off lands, they should e'er long see each other again"?
Peter Joshua: Shakespeare never said that!
Reggie Lampert: How do you know?
Peter Joshua: It's terrible. You just made it up.
Reggie Lampert: Well, it sounds right...

Movie Connections:

References My Fair Lady (1964)

Soundtrack:

Charade

The Best Hitchcock Movie Hitchcock Never Made!

CHARADE is the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made! With romance, sophisticated comedy, and stylish suspense (including a smattering of graphic-for-its-era violence) balanced out deftly, CHARADE is the movie that made me a fan of both Peter Stone and Stanley Donen (yes, I actually saw this before I ever saw one of Donen's musicals!). Every other line is sparklingly quotable, and Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn are among my favorite screen couples; pity this was their only big screen teaming (I liked the wry way they kidded the age difference between them, too). James Coburn, George Kennedy, and Walter Matthau (all Oscar winners now!) are in top form in these early screen appearances of theirs. Both Hepburn and Paris look their sophisticated best, and the theme is my favorite by Henry Mancini next to the PINK PANTHER theme. I believe this is on DVD now as well as VHS, so you have no excuse not to check it out! (Cable's Encore movie channel also has a gorgeous print of this.) Update for 2009: There's a marvelous Criterion Collection DVD of CHARADE floating around, and it's well worth seeking out, with nifty extras including an utterly delightful commentary track by Stanley Donen and Peter Stone. CHARADE is also piggybacked onto the DVD of the disappointing remake THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE.