Charade (1963 movie)

Directed by: Stanley Donen
Released: 1963
Country: United States

 Main cast: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, William Matthau, James Coburn, Ned Land, George Kennedy, Dominique Minot, Thomas Chelimsky

Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Thriller, Romantic

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review

''Charade'' is a film which has a mixture of humor, mystery, thrills, romance... It's such kind of a film which I've rarely seen, and this is one of the things make the film quite unique and excellent. Isn't it rare for a film which has the suspense thriller genre, to have lots of humor, lots of romance in it? Well, ''Charade'' is such kind of a film!

Stanley Donen had previously directed several excellent movies, including 'Singin' in the Rain', starring Gene Kelly. That was such a film which was one of the best musical movies and one of the best comedy films ever made. And ''Charade'', also directed by Donen, may not be as an excellent movie as ''Singin' in the Rain'', but it still is a remarkable and excellent movie.

Audrey Hepburn stars as the female protagonist in this film. Before this, she had played memorable roles in several other films, including ''Roman Holiday'', ''Sabrina'', ''War and Peace'', ''A Nun's Story'', and ''Breakfast at Tiffany's''. And she plays the role of Regina Lambert in this 1963 suspense-thriller-romantic-comedy film.

In this film, Regina Lambert returns to Paris from a holiday, and after she returns to her apartment, she is shocked to see her apartment empty, and then, the police shows her her husband's dead body. At the funeral, she sees three strange men attending the funeral.

Well, I am going to too much details. Well, let's explain it in short: the three men she saw at the funeral may capture and kill her, unless she returns them something which she her husband had stolen, but the problem is, she doesn't even know where is it! 

She is very afraid. For help, she tries asking Peter Joshua, a man she met while at the holiday... But then there are twists, many more mysteries, many more thrills, and along with them, many comedic and romantic elements as well...

Revealing something more than that will not be okay, in fact. 

The film is interesting because of the twists in the story and the interesting mystery and it's solution. The story is such interesting and it so nicely told. It has an excellent screenplay.

The film also has an excellent cinematography. Also, much praises towards the music. The musical effects were truly excellent.

Audrey Hepburn's performance is excellent. Cary Grant is also excellent in his role. Their characters are the protagonists of the film.

William Matthau is present and he gives a good performance. James Coburn, George Kennedy, and Ned Land play the three men who threaten Regina and wants the fortune Regina's husband had stolen. Dominique Minot plays Sylvie, Regina's friend. Thomas Chelimsky play the little Jean-Louis, the son of Sylvie.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the film is so excellent because of the humor present at most of the scenes of the film. Even in the very thrilling scenes, in some of the serious moments, humor is present. Except a few scenes, humor is present throughout the film.

Overall, Charade is an excellent mystery film... well, an excellent romantic-comedy-mystery-thriller film! Throughout the film, it made me laugh, it made me smile, it made me feel scared and thrilled. Excellently directed, excellently edited, excellent acted, and with an excellent, interesting story, excellent screenplay, good cinematography and very remarkable musical effects, this is certainly a very remarkable film in the history of cinema, and one of the best films of the 1960s.

4 out of 5.