Charade

"Is anyone really who they seem to be?"

1963 1h 53m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

★7.7TMDB · 1,606

ComedyMysteryRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After Regina Lampert falls for the dashing Peter Joshua on a skiing holiday in the French Alps, she discovers upon her return to Paris that her husband has been murdered. Soon, she and Peter are giving chase to three of her late husband's World War II cronies, Tex, Scobie and Gideon, who are after a quarter of a million dollars the quartet stole while behind enemy lines.

“Is anyone really who they seem to be?”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Cast

Cary Grant
Peter Joshua
Audrey Hepburn
Regina Lampert
Walter Matthau
Hamilton Bartholemew
James Coburn
Tex Panthollow
George Kennedy
Herman Scobie
Dominique Minot
Sylvie Gaudel
Ned Glass
Leopold Gideon
Jacques Marin
Edouard Grandpierre

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stanley Donen
Writers: Peter Stone, Peter Stone, Marc Behm
Languages: English, French, German, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

63 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, French, German, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stanley Donen, shot by Charles Lang. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Henry Mancini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jim Clark shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and Walter Matthau carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stanley Donen directs. Charles Lang behind the camera. Henry Mancini scores. Jim Clark cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, German, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
363 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, French, German, Italian.
5Directed by Stanley Donen, shot by Charles Lang. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Henry Mancini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Jim Clark shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and Walter Matthau carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Is anyone really who they seem to be?".
10IMDB entry: tt0056923 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 18 themes, including "central intelligence agency (cia)", "paris, france", "espionage", "age difference".

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles Lang
Original score: Henry Mancini
Editing: Jim Clark
Costume design: Hubert de Givenchy
Makeup / hair: Alberto De Rossi
Runtime: 113 min · 1h 53m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $13,475,000
Return: 337% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Charade (1963)

Also by

Stanley Donen

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2020-03-03
★ 9/10
Quality seeping from every genre pore. Charade is directed by Stanley Donen, written by Peter Stone and Marc Behm, and stars Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It also features Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy, Dominique Minot, Ned Glass, and Jacques Marin. It's shot on location in Paris with Charles Lang on cinematography and Henry Mancini provides the score - where his memorable theme tune was Oscar nominated. When her husband is murdered, just prior to seeking a divorce from him, Regina Lampert (Hepburn) finds herself pursued by a number of men who seem to think she knows the location of a quarter of a million dollars in stolen loot. Of all the men who are now thrust into her life, it's the handsome Peter Joshua (Grant) who she trusts and sides with. Trouble is, is that his name keeps changing and she's finding it difficult to determine who exactly are the good guys and who are the bad guys - especially as the corpses start to mount up. Pure Hollywood entertainment featuring two of its most endearing and classy performers, Charade shows how a multi genre spliced film should be made. It's rare to find a film that works on all levels, as a comedy, a thriller and a romance. But thanks to the astute direction from Donen, Charade comes up trumps whilst also oozing an elegant sheen about it. That Grant & Hepburn have charisma in abundance is something of a given, but they are given a quality script to work from and a Hitchcockian plot to revel in. It has been said from some critical quarters that there is no peril in Charade, thus its reputation is not entirely lived up to. Yes we can say it's a playful movie, but it's meant to be, pretty much like "North By Northwest" is. Yet the peril exists, lest we forget a great rooftop fight and the last quarter of the movie as we follow our hurried protagonists through the Parisian underground - and on to a memorable encounter at a theatre. Or what about a metal handed George Kennedy putting the pressure on, or James Coburn menacingly playing with matches? No peril my eye!. There's also been the odd dissenting voice proclaiming the structure of the story to be confused. Well it's very twisty, delightfully so, but nothing to tax the brain. Everything is laid out in simple terms and all dialogue is spoken nice and crisply. All played out amongst the splendid back drop of Paris. This was the first and only time that Hepburn & Grant appeared together. A crying shame, for in spite of Grant worrying about the age gap before hand (Grant 59/Hepburn 34), to the extent he requested some dialogue changes to make Regina the romantic pursuer, their chemistry sparkles and they make a very believable coupling. Coburn, Kennedy & Glass are effective bad boys, while Matthau is a key presence throughout. Stylish, charming, suave and suspenseful, with an ending that's truly a pleasant surprise - both in revelation and character closure, Charade is not to be missed by anyone who likes a bit of comedy, romance and thrills in their respective movie diets. 9/10
tmdb119773952021-07-01
Audrey Hepburn's acting is simply lovely and her clothes gorgeous. I loved the way old movies were made, simple, slow passed, no running around or blowing entire buildings, just the old way of telling stories. This way I got to meet all characters, like them, laugh at them and be happy with their ending. And Regina is such an elegant, feminine, brave lady that I'd hoped to be when older. In sum a wonderful movie.
Filipe Manuel Neto2023-07-10
★ 10/10
Style, class, elegance, an intriguing mystery and a pleasant game of lies and half-truths in a film that deserves to be considered a great classic. Some say this movie is the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made, and it's true. The iconic director didn't make this film, he wasn't even connected to the production, but his influence and style are very present here. The director, Stanley Donan, may possibly have been fond of the master. Maybe, I don't know. It doesn't matter, the director does a good job and the movie is good. The center of the film is the murder of a man who leaves a young wife bankrupt when she used to live a luxurious life. In the following days, she discovers that her husband was not who he claimed to be, and that he was probably killed because of his own greed: after all, he had appropriated a huge amount of money stolen years before by himself and three other accomplices who will want their share now. Meanwhile, she is also contacted by the CIA and an agile, sly gentleman, who may also be unreliable. By the way, in this film, it is really difficult to know who is telling the truth. The film has all the makings of a great classic, and is a regular on a number of television channels dedicated to old and classic films. It is also considered one of the best in the career of most of the actors involved. The production values are also excellent, and there is a good deal of money in the film: many exterior scenes in recognizable filming locations take advantage of the best that the always elegant Paris has to offer us, from its cathedral to the beauty of the Seine River. The cinematography deserves a close look: there is nothing ingenious, but is done with a lot of talent and technical competence. And the soundtrack? Magnificent. As always happens, Audrey Hepburn gives us another character full of charm and style, with an aristocratic bearing that the costumes, by Givenchy (her personal friend), emphasize even more. She was, then, experiencing the greatest moment of her artistic career, and reaping the fruits of success. Beside her, the unmistakable figure of Carey Grant gives us a friendly face, full of seriousness and credibility attested by his austere appearance, the gray hair and the decent look of the actor and his character, who is not as serious as he might seem. They make an excellent harmonization of opposites: she is young, and he is mature, he is intelligent, and she is more emotional, he is sentimentally more rational and thoughtful, she is impulsive and lets things happen, she wants to believe and trust him, he does not give her a single reasonable guarantee of trust. We also have a solid supporting cast that includes Walter Matthau, James Coburn, Jacques Marin and George Kennedy.