This year for my weekly Monday reviews, I’m focusing on films in my physical collection in what I’m calling “Disc Dive”. As long as I have not already covered it on the blog, it is fair game. Some I may have seen dozens of times, others maybe only once or twice. There are even a few that were blind buys and will be first-time watches for me, like the one kicking things off for us… Charade (1963).
Title: Charade
Director: Stanley Donen
Released: December 1, 1963 (Austria, Belgium, Mexico, Norway, Sweden)
Runtime: 1 hour 53 minutes
Disc Format: Criterion Blu-ray
Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) is vacationing in the Alps when she breaks the news to her friend that she’s going to divorce her husband.
While on vacation, Regina meets a man by the name of Peter Joshua (Cary Grant). The two exchange some friendly banter before realizing that they’re both on their way back to Paris. Peter tells Regina that he’ll look her up and then they go their separate ways.
Upon arriving back home in Paris, Regina finds her home stripped bare. A police inspector tells her that her husband auctioned off all their household belongings. Then she learns that someone murdered him and hurled his body from a moving train while he was in Paris.
While at her husband’s funeral, Regina notices three odd men who each walked up to her husband. Each one of them took time to make sure he was actually dead, then left. Understandably, Regina is full of questions about her husband’s dealings. The next day, she’s summoned to meet with CIA admin Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau).
Hamilton explains to her that the three men at her husband’s funeral were actually after $250,000 that they believe he had in his possession. In fact, the money in her husband’s possession at the time of his death is actually property of the United States government.
Despite claiming not to know anything about a sum of money that large, Hamilton insists that Regina look everywhere she possibly can. Because whether she believes it or not, she has the money and these men will kill for it.
Meanwhile, Peter has looked up Regina and helped get her set up in a hotel. She confides in him and tells him all about her meeting with Hamilton Bartholomew. Peter agrees to help Regina find the money and clear all of this up.
With so many people after her and the money she knows nothing about, who exactly can Regina trust?
Charade was an absolute blast.
For starters, it seamlessly blends the comedy, romance, and thriller genres. One minute you’re watching a chase, the next you’re chuckling at a witty one-liner. The writing in Charade is also incredibly clever. It’ll lead you to believe you know what’s happening before turning things completely on their head. There are several smart twists and turns that wind up leaving you guessing up until the very end.
Having great writing only goes so far, you need great performances to help bring the writing to life. Luckily, the performances from everyone in Charade don’t disappoint. I mean shoot, we get Matthau, Hepburn, and Grant all in the same film. While Matthau is great, make no mistake, Grant and Hepburn steal the show as their chemistry together is undeniable.
I love the way this movie looks, the Technicolor just as vibrant as ever. Add to that the locations in and around Paris and a super catchy score from Henry Mancini, and Charade is the complete package.
If you’ve yet to see Charade, please take this as your recommendation to fix that.
As of this writing, it is available to stream on both Kanopy and Tubi in the United States.
So, if you have seen Charade, I want to hear from you!
Leave a comment below or reach out to me on Bluesky and let me know your thoughts on it!
As always, you can stay up-to-date on everything else that I’ve been watching over on Letterboxd.
Stay tuned this Thursday for another edition of Letterboxd Map where I’ll be crossing Montenegro off my list.