A couple of weeks ago I posted the review of The Children's Hour, one of the few movies I hadn't seen by Audrey Hepburn, one of my favorite actresses and an icon of Hollywood history. That same night I saw another, unpublished for me, and it's precisely that movie I'm gonna talk about in today's review.

Hace un par de semanas subí la reseña de The Children's Hour, una de las pocas películas que no había visto de Audrey Hepburn, una de mis actrices favoritas y un ícono de la historia de Hollywood. Aquella misma noche vi otra, inédita para mí, y es precisamente de esa cinta de la que hablaré en la reseña de hoy.

Charade is a 1963 film, written by Peter Stone and directed by Stanley Donen, who collaborated several times with the protagonists of this story (although this was the only time they worked together) and whose greatest success was the famous 1952 musical Singin' in the Rain.
In Charade, the story begins with Regina, Reggie, Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) vacationing in the French Alps where she accidentally meets Peter Joshua (Cary Grant). Reggie's life is a bit complicated at the moment and she has decided to divorce her husband when she returns home, but when she arrives in Paris she discovers that her husband has been murdered and her apartment is completely empty. At the American embassy they inform her that her husband, along with other dangerous characters, had stolen a quarter of a million dollars from the United States government (equivalent to almost four million today), the probable cause of his death, and that the money has missing. Of course, the first suspect is Reggie for being the wife of the deceased, but not only has she become the widow of a man she did not know and with whom she did not want to continue living, but now she is practically alone. Upon hearing the news from the newspaper, Peter goes to help Reggie but things begin to get complicate from then on.

Charade es una película de 1963, escrita por Peter Stone y dirigida por Stanley Donen, quien colaboró varias veces con los protagonistas de esta historia (aunque esta fue la única vez que trabajaron juntos) y cuyo mayor éxito fue el célebre musical de 1952 Singin' in the Rain.
En Charade, la historia empieza con Regina, Reggie, Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) vacacionando en los Alpes Franceses en donde conoce casualmente a Peter Joshua (Cary Grant). La vida de Reggie está un poco complicada en el momento y ha decidido divorciarse de su marido al volver a casa, pero cuando llega a París descubre que su esposo ha sido asesinado y su apartamento está completamente vacío. En la embajada americana le informan que su marido, junto a otros personajes peligrosos, había robado un cuarto de millón de dólares al gobierno de los Estados Unidos (equivalentes a casi cuatro millones actuales), probable motivo de su muerte, y que el dinero ha desaparecido. Por supuesto, la primera sospechosa es Reggie por ser la esposa del difunto, pero no sólo ha pasado a ser la viuda de un hombre que desconocía y con quien no quería seguir viviendo, sino que ahora se encuentra prácticamente sola. Al enterarse de la noticia por el periódico, Peter acude a ayudar a Reggie pero las cosas comiezan a complicarse de allí en adelante.

A multiple investigation then begins: on one hand, the French police try to clarify the case; on the other, Reggie tries to understand who her husband's accomplices could be and what relationship he had with them; and on the other, those same accomplices are desperately seeking the astronomical lost sum, which is why they are not willing to stop at anything.

Comienza entonces una investigación múltiple: por un lado la policía francesa intenta esclarecer el caso; por otro, Reggie intenta comprender quiénes pueden ser los cómplices de su esposo y qué relación tenía con ellos; y por otro, esos mismos cómplices buscan desesperadamente la astronómica suma perdida, razón por la cual no están dispuestos a detenerse ante nada.

I was used to seeing Audrey Hepburn in romantic comedies alongside the well-known leading men and actors of the day (Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Anthony Perkins, Burt Lancaster) none of whom did justice to her beauty and charisma (except maybe Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday); They were always older men, unattractive in my opinion, and with a character that pretended to be charming and that seems a bit forced to me. I understand that they were the stereotypes of the time and that these characters were created from the ideal of man that was promoted on screen, but in most of those films, including this one, I feel that none of Hepburn's co-stars (the characters , not the actors) were up to sharing the scene with her; although I also recognize that some of the roles that Audrey played were very naive, typical of romantic comedies (she also played dramatic roles in films like The Children's Hour or The Nun's Story)

Estaba acostumbrado a ver a Audrey Hepburn en comedias románticas junto a los galanes y actores reconocidos de la época (Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Anthony Perkins, Burt Lancaster) ninguno de los cuales le hacía justicia a su belleza y carisma (excepto quizás Gregory Peck en Roman Holiday); siempre eran hombres mayores, poco atractivos a mi parecer, y con un carácter que pretendía ser encantador y que a mí me resulta un poco forzado. Entiendo que eran los estereotipos de la época y que estos personajes eran creados a partir del ideal de hombre que se promovía en la pantalla, pero en la mayoría de esas películas, incluida esta, siento que ninguno de los co protagonistas de Hepburn (los personajes, no los actores) estaban a la altura de compartir escena con ella; aunque también reconozco que algunos de los papeles que interpretó Audrey eran muy ingenuos, propios de las comedias románticas (también hizo papeles dramáticos en cintas como The Children's Hour o The Nun's Story).

What I hadn't seen before was Audrey Hepburn act in a thriller. Charade is a type of story closer to Hitchcock movies than to the romantic comedies in which the iconic actress had acted. Mystery, murders, disappearances, police investigations, the threat of an unknown killer and the strange circumstances in which different corpses appear are elements typical of the films by the director of Dial M for Murder; however, and again this is a personal opinion, Stanley Donen is far from having the impact of Hitchcock and this pseudo-romantic thriller doesn't seem a great story to me. Contrary to my opinion, in the different Internet film portals (IMDB, Filmaffinity, Rotten Toamatoes) it's usually one of the best ranked Audrey Hepburn films, so the blame may be mine, but the truth is that it's one of the movies that I liked least of classic Hollywood.

Lo que no había visto hasta entonces era a Audrey Hepburn actuar en un thriller. Charade es un tipo de historia más cercana a las películas de Hitchcock que a las comedias románticas en las que había actuado la icónica actriz. Misterio, asesinatos, desapariciones, investigaciones policiales, la amenaza de un asesino incógnito y las extrañas circunstancias en las que van apareciendo diferentes cadáveres son elementos propios de las películas del director de Dial M for Murder; sin embargo, y nuevamente se trata de una opinión personal, Stanley Donen está lejos de conseguir el impacto de Hitchcock y este pseudo thriller romántico no me parece una gran historia. A diferencia de mi opinión, en los diferentes portales cinematográficos de internet (IMDB, Filmaffinity, Rotten Toamatoes) suele ser una de las películas mejor ranqueadas de Audrey Hepburn, con lo que la culpa quizás sea mía, pero la verdad es que es una de las películas que menos me ha gustado del Hollywood clásico.

Let's see, it's not that I was disgusted or disappointed like I was with Green Mansions or The Unforgiven, both also starring Hepburn, but I feel that certain plot twists are too forced and that constant name change of Peter who impersonates by different people throughout the film I found it annoying. I also didn't feel like there was any chemistry between the leads, but then again, maybe it's suggested by my reverence for Audrey Hepburn and that feeling that none of her princes do her justice. The film does have an acceptable direction, a certain narrative rhythm and some attractive plot twists, but when I judge the whole, the final result is not a film that I would recommend or see again (something that I would do with Roman Holiday, for example)

Reggie