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Hey, I’m Jamie! I’m the authoress of
Through Two Blue Eyes, but today I’m taking a break to review a film classic. I did want to say thank you to James, as he’s the first person to ask me to guest post! Thank you so much, James, this means a lot to me and I had a lot of fun throwing this together! :)
Today, I’ll be reviewing one of my favorite films, Charade, which stars Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant! This film was on a list of being one of the top ten films to have the most twists throughout; it can easily cover the three genres ‘comedy’ ‘thriller’ and ‘suspense’. This was my first Audrey Hepburn film but not my first Cary Grant—the two were both wonderful actors and I loved seeing them together. This is not an action film; instead the plot slowly builds to the big climax. There are enough twists throughout it to keep one interested, though!
Here is a beginning summary I’ve written, using Wikipedia as a guide:
Regina Lampert, nicknamed Reggie, is on holiday with her friend and young son when she meets a charming stranger, Peter Joshua. She had no idea how much she would be seeing him until she returned to Paris with her plan to ask for a divorce from her husband Charles. Only, she found all their possessions sold and a police waiting to inform that he had been murdered and thrown off a train. She had no information to give to their questions and the only thing she takes out of the police headquarters was the single handbag her husband had had on the train with his few possessions. Reggie, at her husband’s funeral, than runs across three strangers who all are very interested in making sure he’s dead.
No sooner than the funeral was over, she was summoned to meet a CIA administrator Hamilton Bartholomew from the U.S. Embassy. From Bartholomew she learns that her husband Charles had been involved with a large theft during World War II with four other men, three of whom who’d been to the funeral. The five had stolen 250,000 dollars in gold from the US; they’d buried the money but were than ambushed by Germans. Charles and the three men she’d see had escaped, the fifth had been wounded and had supposedly died. Later, though, Charles double-crossed his three other partners and re-dug up the gold and sold it himself. He was murdered for that money but it had remained missing. And now the US wanted their money back, convinced that Reggie had it with her. She has no idea where it is.
Her new friend, Peter Joshua, becomes her one friend and he offers to help her but she’s reluctant to tell him what’s wrong. But Charles’ partners begin scaring her in attempts to frighten her into giving them the money, since they believed she knew where it was. She begins to trust Peter until she hears from one of the men that he is was only after the money too. She decided to remain in Paris to try to solve which one of them had murdered her husband.
But then, they start dropping dead . . .
This is a classic ‘spy thriller’, ‘whodunit’ plot, with some well-cast characters. It’s been called ‘the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made’. I loved it for the delightful character of Reggie and the constant twists in the plot. It seemed like I was just adjusted to the flow of the story when the plot went in a new direction!
While Reggie was my favorite, the other characters was good too.
Cary Grant plays the man she falls for but is never sure if she can trust. His character is constantly changing for reasons which I don’t want to give out!
The three villains, Charles’ double-crossed partners, are terrifying in their own ways: a big bully with an iron claw for a hand, a deep voiced drawling Texan and the constantly sneezing sly one. These three all play off each other nicely for good dialogue.
Little things which one might thing wouldn’t matter ties in later on. The dialogue is especially fun and were most of the comedy lies. The music isn’t spectacular but is perfect for the film it’s self. There are several very humorous moments. I don’t want to say too much more for fear of giving out something though! :D
My favorite character is Reggie. She is classy and humorous without really meaning to be. She also has a humorous habit of needing to eat something when she gets nervous or upset (which is all the time throughout the film). I like how she decides to find things out herself when she could have easily been frightened enough to run away. By the way; last summer when we rode our bikes up and down our street, I wore a handkerchief and dark sunglasses to get the same look she had in the film!
A downside to the film is that, with the constant plot changes, it may take a second viewing to get everything straightened out in your head. I know I needed to see it again to really figure everything out. However, I often get the most out of a film the second time through, though.
This is a great classic; for those like me, who enjoy whodunits and suspense, this is for you. This is also a must-watch for Audrey Hepburn or Cary Grant fans.
I give this film a 9/10 rating.
~Jamie
