Special Exhibit: CHARADE

 

Year: 1963

Duration: 113 minutes

Where to watch: Amazon Prime. However... This one fell on the public domain in some territories due to a copyright mistake, so you might watch it for free. But find a qood quality copy because the film is gorgeous to look at.

Unlike our last recommendation, Charade was a success at the box office and even after all these decades is relatively well-known. In fact, you might have heard about it under the cliché "that Hitchcockian film Hitchcock never made", which in fact holds true.

However, maybe because modern audiences are reticent to watch films of a certain age, having heard about it doesn’t equal to actually watching it, as I found out.

Indeed, this particular recommendation was directly inspired by an anecdote back when I was at film school. We were discussing Hitchcock, and someone brought this film. I was surprised to know that most of my classmates hadn’t ever seen it (then again, one of them had no idea who Cary Grant was, which is perfectly acceptable unless you keep proclaiming yourself as a great film buff and then you reveal you don’t know the existence of one of the most famous movie stars ever). But I digress.

Anyway, Charade immediately entered my mental list of films I should recommend. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s masterfully done in the sense that it’s exactly what it promises to be.

It’s equally a comedy, a romantic movie and spy thriller in the North by Northwest vein. The film’s trailer even featured the tree genres being mixed together in a blender, which already sets the tone for this fun feature.

The storyline is the standard “regular person accidentally caught in spy plot” one. Audrey Hepburn plays a glamorous glutton (because she’s always glamorous and quirky) whose unloved husband is killed. He has left her tickets to Venezuela, fake passports, and other suspicious items.

The CIA informs her that the husband was a thief, and that his criminals associates are after the money he stole. That puts her in harm’s way in a voyage across exotic locales, partnered with a suave and funny man played by Cary Grant (because he’s always suave and funny), even though the widow is never fully sure about who he really is.

The film also features Walter Matthau, George Kennedy and James Coburn (What’s with these suggestions and recurring actors?) and is directed by Singin’ in the Rain’s Stanley Donnen. As stated above, it delivers on all of its promises: It’s amusing, the romantic leads are likeable even for an aromantic like me and the Hitchcockian elements are perfectly emulated, which makes it fundamental for us who love the works of the Master of Suspense but also enjoyable for casual audiences.