Charade (1963)

There is something about Technicolor that makes any comedy all that much funnier and any mystery all the more intriguing. It's campy, old fashioned, but delectably fresh in a proper retro style. "Charade" is both and equally good being funny and sharp, making it a simple pleasure to watch. There is nothing special about it, but it certainly doesn't try to stand apart, and falls somewhere in between a Bond film without the gadgets and a Hitchcock thriller without the subtlety.

What it does have, however, is one of the greatest match ups Hollywood could offer in the early 60's: Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. There's is the compulsory love me, love me not story in the mystery and it's charming. But then Hepburn and Grant are both wizards at being charming so putting them together makes almost too much charm. It made the actual plot seem rather superfluous really when faced with the amour. A lovely romantic comedy like "Roman Holiday" might have been better suited to the pairing. But that's irrelevant.

Hepburn plays the Regina Lambert, wife of a wealthy, mysterious gentleman who she suddenly learns has been killed not long before she planned to divorce him. Returning home to Paris, Regina finds her house cleared out and an inspector to meet her with nothing more than bad news and a bag of secrets. Her husband was not what he was thought to be, having four passports and a warrant on his head by the CIA. Found dead at a train station in his pajamas with a small suitcase filled with nothing in particular, Regina is told that he had $250,000 of US Government money with him, but that it was nowhere to be found.

Suspicion turns to Regina as the inspector and three shady, dangerous men begin turning up pressing her to find the money lest something should happen to her. Confused and terrified, Regina turns to the only person she feels she can trust, a stranger she met on holiday named Peter Joshua (Grant). He is suave, funny and sincere in his helpful offerings, but things go awry and suddenly Regina can trust no one.

As a thriller it had its fits and starts. Sometimes the suspense was palpable, and it is a horrible thought being trapped in a close vicinity with people out to kill you. She is, in fact, sharing a wall with her potential killers in a hotel, but is told there would really be no use in her moving. However, advice like this, given by the American Embassy made the end of the story a bit too easy to solve. It tries very hard to steer its audience to two general conclusions, but as Regina explains--and as Scooby Doo always informs us--it's always the person you least suspect. I solved the mystery about ten minutes into the film.

That doesn't make the ride any less fun, though. The final chase and standoff is not as thrilling as they might have thought, but there are plenty of twists and turns (some more obvious than others) to keep you on your feet. I must admit that the hiding place of the money was somewhere spectacularly clever, and for that I tip my hat.

What I loved most about this film is the simple chemistry between two great alchemists of love. Grant and Hepburn shine as always, and set on a Parisian backdrop how could one possibly resist her doe eyes and his sleek, silver-haired smoothness? Her performance has some awkward moments, his is perfect with his pinpoint humor and easy navigation through hero and villain. In the end the two won me over and affirm my belief that this is something worth watching.

3/4