Charade, which was made in 1963, was an overtly Hitchcockian romantic comedy thriller - the presence of Cary Grant ensured that audiences at the time would identify with Hitchcock films like North by Northwest, made four years earlier. Audrey Hepburn plays an elegantly dressed widow living in Paris who realises that her late husband was involved in some very dirty business - and three mysterious men who think she knows more than she actually does, are threatening her. Grant is the slightly mysterious hero who comes to the rescue. The Screenplay by Peter Stone is calculated to keep the audience guessing as to the source of the real threat, but the tone is light and amusing and the location photography and the Henry Mancini music keep it that way. Hepburn, who always seem to be cast opposite much older leading men, is charming as is Grant, and some fine character actors - Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy - lend excellent support.
Watch 'Charade'
Sunday 30 April, 6:25pm on SBS World Movies / Now streaming at SBS On Demand
PG
USA, 1963
Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Director: Stanley Donen
Starring: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy, Ned Glass
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