Stanley Donen's "Charade" 4K UHD - Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy
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Charade is a sparkling 1963 romantic thriller directed by Stanley Donen, often described as the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made. Starring the effortlessly charming Cary Grant and radiant Audrey Hepburn, the film follows Regina Lampert, a young widow in Paris whose husband is murdered, leaving her entangled in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse involving a stolen fortune, a trio of ruthless criminals, and a suave but mysterious stranger named Brian Cruikshank (Grant). Blending witty banter, stylish suspense, elegant Parisian settings, and clever twists, Charade delivers a perfect mix of screwball comedy, spy intrigue, and genuine romantic chemistry between its iconic leads. With a memorable Henry Mancini score and iconic set pieces, it remains one of the most delightful and rewatchable films of the era.
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Stanley Donen's Charade is a masterful hybrid of romantic comedy, screwball farce, and suspense thriller that has earned its reputation as "the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made." At its core, Charade explores deception, trust, and identity. Everyone wears masks: Reggie’s husband lived multiple lives; the villains and allies constantly reinvent themselves; even Reggie must discern truth amid flirtation and danger. The title itself signals a game of pretense. The film probes what relationships mean without honesty - Reggie’s loveless marriage contrasts with her whirlwind romance - and comments lightly on post-WWII greed and Cold War-era paranoia through the OSS/CIA backdrop. It balances dark elements (murder, threats) with levity, treating corpses and violence with macabre humor reminiscent of Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry. Themes of reinvention and fluid identity feel surprisingly modern. Cinematography by Charles Lang (Wait Until Dark, How to Steal a Million, Inside Daisy Clover, Father Goose, How the West Was Won, Summer and Smoke, One-Eyed Jacks, The Magnificent Seven, Strangers When We Meet, Last Train from Gun Hill, Some Like It Hot, Separate Tables, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Rainmaker, Queen Bee, Female on the Beach, The Man from Laramie, Sabrina, The Big Heat, Sudden Fear, The Atomic City, Red Mountain, Ace in the Hole, Rope of Sand, A Foreign Affair, Desert Fury, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Uninvited, So Proudly We Hail!, No Time for Love, The Shepherd of the Hills, The Ghost Breakers, The Cat and the Canary, Spawn of the North, You and Me, Desire, Peter Ibbetson, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, She Done Him Wrong,) is crisp and elegant in Technicolor, while Maurice Binder’s animated titles and Henry Mancini’s jazzy score (with the memorable title song) add playful sophistication. The film’s greatest strength is the luminous pairing of, 59-year old, Cary Grant (Father Goose, Operation Petticoat, North by Northwest, Houseboat, Indiscreet, An Affair to Remember, To Catch a Thief, The Bishop's Wife, Notorious, Arsenic and Old Lace, Suspicion, The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, Only Angels Have Wings, Bringing Up Baby, I'm No Angel, The Eagle and the Hawk, She Done Him Wrong, Blonde Venus, Merrily We Go to Hell) and 33-year old Audrey Hepburn (Wait Until Dark, Two for the Road, How to Steal a Million, My Fair Lady, The Children's Hour, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Unforgiven, The Nun's Story, Love in the Afternoon, War and Peace, Sabrina, Roman Holiday, The Lavender Hill Mob.) Grant’s suave, reluctant romantic - self-conscious about the age gap, with added dialogue acknowledging it - delivers effortless charm and comic timing. Hepburn shines as the vulnerable yet resilient, food-nervous heroine who pursues love amid chaos; her elegance and comic reactions anchor the film. Their chemistry is electric, with improvised banter and iconic moments (e.g., the chin-dimples line). Supporting players in Charade shine brightly: Walter Matthau (Hopscotch, The Bad News Bears, The Front Page, Earthquake, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Charley Varrick, A New Leaf, Candy, Mirage, Fail Safe, Lonely Are the Brave, Strangers When We Meet, A Face in the Crowd, Bigger Than Life, The Indian Fighter, The Kentuckian,) brings sly, sardonic charm as the ambiguous CIA agent Carson Dyle; James Coburn (Looker, Cross of Iron, Hard Times, The Internecine Project, Harry in Your Pocket, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, The Carey Treatment, Duck, You Sucker, Candy, The President's Analyst, Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, Our Man Flint, The Loved One, Major Dundee, The Americanization of Emily, Kings of the Sun, The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven,) delivers cool, laconic menace as the laid-back Texan killer Tex Panthollow; and George Kennedy (Creepshow 2, Death Ship, Death on the Nile, The Eiger Sanction Earthquake, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Deliver Us from Evil, Airport, The Boston Strangler, Cool Hand Luke, The Dirty Dozen, Hurry Sundown, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Sons of Katie Elder, Shenandoah, Mirage, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Strait-Jacket, Lonely Are the Brave,) is memorably intimidating as the hulking, hook-handed Herman Scobie - together they form a colorful, entertaining trio of villains who perfectly balance humor and threat. Charade is pure cinematic champagne: witty, suspenseful, romantic, and impeccably crafted. It showcases Hollywood elegance at its peak, where style, stars, and cleverness triumph over perfect logic, making it a timeless gem of 1960s cinema. Criterion’s 4K UHD of Charade excels where it matters most: delivering a gorgeous visual upgrade that makes this stylish classic look better than ever on modern displays. The core presentation and solid commentary make it a worthy purchase for fans upgrading from older editions, though the extras are somewhat underwhelming by Criterion’s usual standards. Overall, it’s a warm recommendation for anyone who loves this sparkling romantic thriller - essential for the picture quality alone.