Cinema Under the Stars: Charade
Perhaps it’s the genre and the casting of Cary Grant as the romantic lead that continues to convince the easily swayed that this is the work of Alfred Hitchcock. (It’s good, but not that good.) In truth, this sparkling romantic mystery was the work of another director of many genres, Stanley Donen. This wasn’t the first time Donen had worked with Hepburn (Funny Face) or Grant (Indiscreet, The Grass is Greener), but it is the one and only pairing of cinema’s two most captivating and improbably beautiful stars. Peter Stone’s resourceful script and a rogue’s gallery of supporting work from James Coburn, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy, Ned Glass et al will keep you guessing at every turn. At the time of its release, the film was criticized by some for its gruesome violence. (Sticking a corpse with a hatpin as a means of verifying mortality is a nice touch.) Hopefully, today’s viewers will prove willing to overlook the lack of blood and concentrate instead on storytelling. — Scott Marks