‘Charade’ celebrates diamond anniversary and is still a gem

There are films you watched every time they pop up on TCM or streaming services. It’s like visiting an old friend. These movies put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. And one such film is “Charade,” which celebrates its 60th anniversary on Dec. 5. Deftly directed by Stanley Donen from a fun and thrilling Peter Stone screenplay, “Charade” stars Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn who exude a William Powell/Myrna Loy style chemistry that leaps off the screen. And let’s not forget that gorgeous Henry Mancini score, the romantic Oscar-nominated title tune “Charade,” with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and the pulsating Saul Bass title sequence.

I saw “Charade” when it was released, and I’ve probably seen it at least 15 more times. And each time seems like the first. Not many films have that kind of power. A 2010 Criterion Collection article by film historian Bruce Elder stated “Charade” is a delightful mix y “murder, mayhem, romance and marriage.” And even though it’s 60 years old, “Charade” really hasn’t dated.

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Hepburn plays an unhappily married simultaneous translator located in Paris who meets a handsome and rather enigmatic man named Peter Joshua (Grant) at a ski resort in the Alps. When she returns home, the Givenchy-clad Regina discovers her mysterious husband Charles has been murdered and three of his former World War II buddies arrive wanting the money they had all stole during the conflict. Charles had the money, and they will stop at nothing to get the loot. And somehow Peter, who keeps changing is name during the film, is involved with these men.

Grant was 58 years old when the film went into production in Paris in October 1962. He felt he was too old to play opposite Hepburn, who was just 33 at the time. So, they added lines that made fun of his age and the script made it clear that Regina was chasing after him. At one point he tells Regina “I’m old enough to be your father”. And when they are in their hotel’s elevator he proclaims, “I could be in trouble transporting you beyond the first floor.”

As far as Hepburn, she generally was cast opposite much older actors from Gregory Peck in 1953’s “Roman Holiday,” Humphrey Bogart and William Holden in 1954’s “Sabrina,” Gary Cooper in 1957’s “Love in the Afternoon” and Fred Astaire in 1957’s “Funny Face.”

Grant loved working with Hepburn so much he wanted her for his penultimate film, 1964’s “Father Goose.” But she had “My Fair Lady.” Ironically, Grant had turned down the role of Henry Higgins in the 1964 Oscar-winner.

There’s a great story Donen related about Hepburn and Grant’s first meeting in Warren G. Harris’ “Audrey Hepburn: A Biography.” Donen had arranged for a dinner at an Italian restaurant in Paris. Hepburn arrived first; when Grant came in “Audrey stood up and said, ‘I’m so nervous.’ He said ‘Why?’ She said, ‘Meeting you, working with you I’m so nervous.’ He said ‘don’t be nervous, for goodness sake. I’m thrilled to know you. Here, sit down at the table. Put your hands on the table, palms up, put your head down and a take a few deep breaths. Audrey put her hands on the table. I had ordered a bottle of red wine. When she put her head down, she hit the bottle and the wine went all over Cary’s cream-colored suit. Audrey was humiliated. It was a horrendous moment. Cary was a half hour from his hotel, so he took off the coat and comfortably sat through the whole meal like that.” And according to Hepburn, the scene where Regina drops her ice cream on Peter’s suit is based on the wine incident.

Perhaps that’ why Hepburn and Grant bring out a silliness in each other that they usually don’t exude in their movies especially the scenes in which Peter is the shower with his clothes on. According to IMDb.com trivia, Grant didn’t want to disrobe in the shower scene because he was slightly overweight. And besides, it was far funnier.

“Charade” just isn’t a romantic comedy, it’s also a thriller, and the reason that aspect of the movie works so well is the supporting cast. George Kennedy, who sports a Capt. Hook faux hand, James Coburn and Ned Glass, are vicious, scary and eccentric. Who can forget that terrifying scene fight scene on top of the building between Grant and Kennedy?

And then there is Walter Matthau. He’s best known for his comedic work winning the Oscar for 1966’s “The Fortune Cookie,” his first of several films with Jack Lemmon. But before that Matthau had done his fair share of dramatic role.  And he runs the gamut from comedy to killer as a CIA administrator who is also after the money.

“Charade” was released shortly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. And there was a sequence where Regina and Peter talk about assassination:

Regina: “Any minute now we could be assassinated. Would you do anything like that?

Peter: “What assassinated someone?”

That was redubbed to “any moment we could be eliminated.” Over the years, the original lines were reinstated.

“Charade” was the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall. And reviews were generally good Even the hard-to-please Pauline Kael said that although ‘Charade” was “no more than a charming confectionery trifle was, I think, [it was] probably the best American film of last year.”

Hopefully, the New York Times’ Bosley Crowther received a lump of coal in his stocking for his review. He thought it was ghoulish and had “so many grisly touches in it and runs to violence so many times the people bringing their youngsters to see the annual Nativity pageant and Christmas stage show may blanch in horror….”

Despite Mr. Crowther’s review, “Charade” broke records at the theater and was one of the top ten films of the year.

I think it’s one of the top ten films every year.

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