Charade [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn star in this stylish comedy-thriller directed by Stanley Donen, very much in a Hitchcock vein. Grant plays Peter Joshua, who meets Reggie Lampert (Hepburn) in Paris and later offers to help her when she discovers that her husband has been murdered. After the funeral, Reggie is summoned to the embassy and warned by agent/friend Bartholemew (Walter Matthau) that her late husband helped steal 250,000 dollars during the war and that the rest of the gang is after the money as well. When three of the men who attended her husband's funeral begin to harass her, Reggie goes to Joshua for help, at which time Joshua confesses that his name is actually Alexander Dyle, the brother of a fourth accomplice in the gold theft. The three men from the funeral are revealed to be the three other accomplices in the crime, and though she knows next to nothing of the heist, Reggie is caught in a ring of suspense as she is followed by the shadowy trio, all after the money. Apparently, the only person she can trust is Joshua/Dyle -- until Bartholomew tells Reggie that the fourth accomplice had no brother, and Joshua/Dyle reveals that he is, in fact, a crook named Adam Canfield. Now Reggie doesn't know where to turn. The musical score by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini was nominated for an Academy Award. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Features:
  • cc
  • New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound, enhanced for widescreen televisions
  • Audio commentary: A conversation with director Stanley Donen and screenwriter Peter Stone
  • The Films of Stanley Donen: A selected filmography, with an introduction by Donen biographer Stephen M. Silverman
  • Peter Stone's career highlights
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Song - 1963 (Johnny Mercer, Henry Mancini)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Won Best British Actress - 1964 (Audrey Hepburn)

• Edgar Allan Poe Awards

•     Won Best Screenplay - 1963 (Peter Stone)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comed - 1963 (Cary Grant)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Com - 1963 (Audrey Hepburn)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Cary Grant - Peter Joshua/Alexander Dyle/Adam Canfield/Brian Cruik
       Audrey Hepburn - Regina Lampert
       Walter Matthau - Hamilton Bartholomew
       James Coburn - Tex Penthollow
       Ned Glass - Leopold Gideon
       George Kennedy - Herman Scobie
       Jacques Marin - Inspector Edouard Grandpierre
       Paul Bonifas - Felix
       Dominique Minot - Sylvie Gaudet
       Thomas Chelimsky - Jean-Louis Gaudet

• Director:

  Stanley Donen

• Producer:

  Stanley Donen

• Screenwriter:

  Peter Stone

• Cinematographer:

  Charles B. Lang

• Composer (Music Score):

  Henry Mancini

• Songwriter:

  Johnny Mercer

• Editor:

  Jim Clark

• Art Director:

  Jean D'Eaubonne

• Costume Designer:

  Hubert de Givenchy

• Short Story Author:

  Marc Behm