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Charade
(In Sept. 2002 issue of my
school paper)
Charade
is sometimes called the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never directed.
The film, Directed by Stanley Donen, has all the elements of a
Hitchcockian thriller, a cool-headed couple, astonishing events, criminal
happenings, and an unexpected, slightly dark sense of humor.
Most of all these films have a sense of class and style, something Charade
has in spades.
Audrey Hepburn stars as a wealthy
Parisian woman who is planning to divorce her husband.
Her plans go awry when she comes home to find him dead, and all of
her possessions sold. It turns
out her husband was living a duel life, and 3 men are after her for his
ill-gotten loot. The only
problem is, she doesn’t know where the money is.
She befriends a CIA worker played by Walter Matthou, and a mysterious
man played by Cary Grant, who seems to know a little too much about her
husbands past.
The
chemistry between Grant and Hepburn is amazing. There banter back and forth is both witty and compelling.
Grant, after having his attention diverted across the river towards the
Notre Dame Cathedral, glibly remarks, “Oh, who put that there?” The cinematograph is also superb, capturing endearing
snapshots of the Parisian landscape. The
mystery aspect of the film works wonderfully, never cheating and showing you
the solution long before it is reveled.
The climax, which is actually a series of climaxes, works out
wonderfully, and keeps you guessing to the very end, even after you thought
the surprises were over. Charade
is a great movie for fans of mysteries, comedy, thrillers, and is my
personal favorite film of all time.
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