Plot: What’s it about?
Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant…were there two more beautiful faces to ever grace the screen? Cary Grant was synonymous with sophistication and the art of being suave. Conversely, Hepburn is most easily identifiable with her role as Holly Golightly from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. By the time this movie was made, Grant was getting on in years (he was 61), but still a leading man. Hepburn, on the other hand, was entering her prime and though nearly thirty years younger than her co-star; the chemistry was there. The movie was directed by Stanley Donen, who is most recognized as one of the directors of “Singin’ in the Rain” (Gene Kelly was the other director), who took this tale of mistaken identity and put a somewhat light-hearted spin on it. Hitchcock would make a career out of the innocent man wrongly accused (even Cary Grant played the part to a tee in Hitchcock’s own “North by Northwest”) and though it might feel like a “Hitchcock Ripoff”, it’s really anything but.
The story starts as Regina Lambert (Audrey Hepburn) moves to France as she’s sick of the United States. Her husband, a man who she really never knew that well, is making her unhappy and she sees him less as each day passes. While she’s on a ski trip, he’s thrown off a train and killed and summarily confronted by the authorities upon her return to Paris. Her late husband evidently had been leading more of a double life than she thought as he had many identities. She then meets a stranger by the name of Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) who is nearly as mysterious as her husband. He gives her the counseling and support she needs after being told of her husband’s past by a CIA agent (Walter Matthau). Now the fun starts! Three men (played by James Coburn, George Kennedy and Ned Glass) start harassing Regina as she finds out that her late husband and a few others had stolen an ample amount of money and stowed it away. The thought is that he was killed and they are looking for the money, but naturally her ignorance is no excuse. The cat and mouse game ensues and to say that the movie is fun – well that’s just an understatement!
“Charade” isn’t really that dated as we might expect. Sure, it’s forty years old, but the story and style are the same. The movie was re-made (again) last year with Mark Whalberg and Thandie Newton in the leads and the story wasn’t nearly as good. Newton, though, was more convincing in the Hepburn role as Whalberg was in the Grant role. Donen managed to craft an intriguing movie with just the right amount of drama, action and romance to make it enjoyable for everyone to see. The supporting cast is fairly strong as well and laced with some star power (Coburn, Kennedy and Matthau). It’s amazing, even forty years later, how women still want to look like Hepburn and the styles of the time are even back in fashion now. “Charade” might not be a perfect movie (few are), but it’s fun to watch and short of “Singin’ in the Rain”, it’s Donen’s best work. See it for Cary Grant in one of his later, better performances or see it for the lovely Audrey Hepburn. Fans of Alfred Hitchcock will be pleasantly surprised and, hopefully, charmed.
Video: How does it look?
“Charade” comes to us in a brand new 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. But before I begin explaining how the “flesh tones” and “black levels” look, a bit of history about the transfer. As most of us know, this was originally released back in 1999 when Criterion wasn’t doing anamorphic transfers, I believe their position on the matter was “…that we don’t want to alter the original film from how it was originally intended” (i.e. we aren’t too sure about DVD and if it’s worth our time/effort to sink our money into something that may or may not sell). Well time has shown that it does pay and Criterion is probably the most consistent studio that produces the most beautiful transfers, even with some of the elements that they have to work with. But wait – there’s more! The movie was re-issued as part of “The Truth About Charlie” DVD set that came out last year. This was issued by Universal and in an effort to entice people to buy it, the original “Charade” was also included complete with a new anamorphic transfer. I bough the disc just to have an anamorpic version of this movie and I’m sure there are others who did this as well. Well, Criterion has come to their senses and re-issued this disc with that exact same transfer. Is it worth the money if you already own the now out of print disc? Sort of. This isn’t the kind of transfer that leaps off the screen, say like – “North by Northwest”, but it’s a major improvement nonetheless. The differences between the two are not really night and day, but it’s clear (no pun intended) to say that the newer version is superior, not only has technology changed but if we needed even more grounds for anamorphic enhancement this is it. A very sharp, detailed look is what we get and though some of the scenes are a bit soft; this is the way the film was meant to be seen. While not on par with some of the best transfers out there, this certainly looks better than its predecessor and therefore is a must buy if you don’t own the film. If you do own the film, then it comes down to this: how serious are you about your picture quality and how well do you like “Charade”? Answer that and you’ll either save or spend forty dollars.
Audio: How does it sound?
Now audio-wise this disc is exactly the same as the previous edition. The cover makes some statement about “Sweetened Sound” whatever the hell that means. The mono track serves its purpose here, plain and simple. We get that dialogue that’s associated with many movies from the time frame and fans of the legendary Henry Mancini will love to hear how this sounds on their system (all 1 channel of it). Still, people will buy this disc because it’s A) A Criterion title or B) Because they’re a fan of the movie and/or Stanley Donen films or C) Because they have been waiting for an anamorphic version of this and didn’t want to buy “The Truth About Charlie”. Any way you go, this won’t give your system a workout but it sounds nice nonetheless.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Though Criterion has mainly been noted for their supplements on their discs, this doesn’t apply to all of them. Evidently they’re relying on the improved transfer to sell the disc, while more supplements would certainly cement that. Whatever the case, we get the exact same supplements this time as we did last. The same audio commentary is included with Stanley Donen (recorded in 1999) and Screenwriter Peter Stone as well as an introduction to the films of Donen. The commentary is active, though the two seem to sit back and watch the screen with these two acting legends (Grant and Hepburn) on it. A trailer is also included. Whatever your particular feelings are on this film, it now looks just about as good as it can and with just enough supplements to whet the appetite. Criterion usually does titles right and I hope that they’ll be going back and “re-mastering” other titles that are in need of anamorphic enhancement. There are plenty.
