CHARADE (1963)

Charade is a film I've been meaning to cover for quite a while but could just not form the words for. Often dubbed as "The best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made", it's a film that's gone down in film history as "lightning in a bottle" in so many ways.

Audrey Hepburn as Regina "Reggie" Lampert

Cary Grant as Peter Joshua (and far too many other names to fit here)

Ned Glass as Leopold W. Gideon

James Coburn as "Tex" Panthollow

George Kennedy as Herman Scobie

Jacques Marin as Insp. Edouard Grandpierre

Walter Matthau as Hamilton Bartholomew

Swept into a race to find $250,000 stolen by her recently-deceased husband Charles, interpreter Regina Lampert finds herself paired with dashing stranger Peter Joshua, who helps and protects her when Charles' old WWII comrades come after her for the money. All the while, new names are introduced, shaky alliances are formed, and Regina has to think for herself and act fast when her trust in Joshua starts to falter.

Charade's "centerpiece", if you will, is the push-pull

relationship between Regina and "Joshua".

Adapted by Peter Stone (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three) from his novel The Unsuspecting Wife (based on an earlier screenplay by him and Marc Behm), Charade could have gone wrong in so many ways. Providing the audience a real sense of danger through its great villains, Charade also keeps in the air its important romantic comedy elements, great locations, and a sense of cinematic fun all the way through.

"Meglio stasera, che domani o mai..."

Indeed, Charade is a difficult film to describe because all in all, it flows and moves so naturally that it "sucks you in", sweeping you up in its pacing, music, dialogue, and thrills. This is likely chiefly thanks to Stone's script and Stanley Donen's swift direction, taking the audience right along with the characters.

Special credit should be given to cinematographer Charles Lang

(Some Like It Hot) for his excellent use of light and shadow.

Unlike many thrillers a "bad movie fiend" could name today, Charade benefits tremendously from its characters acting like actual (mostly-logical) human beings. Grant's character may constantly lie due to his motivation, Regina may fall a bit victim to her feelings for him, and Tex, Scobie, and Gideon are often fuelled by their own paranoia and greed, but they are all still smart, intuitive, and clever, participating in the film's constant battle of wits.

Charade's baddies are dangerous and intimidating, but still fun and energetic.

You know a screenplay is great when even its secondary characters 

are memorable. Insp. Grandpierre is a hilarious audience mouthpiece

in lampshading the inherent absurdity of the plot.

While there are a few dated cultural aspects that will make viewers double-take a bit (Regina having married Charles impulsively, Sylvie's skewed priorities on marriage, Regina's preference for unfiltered cigarettes, how no one really comments on Jean-Louis having been kidnapped after the fact), Charade avoids a lot of baggage that many actual Hitchcock films have in that it gives us an excellently written, autonomous female protagonist.

Be honest. Even those with a cursory knowledge of Hitchcock films 

would probably expect a lot worse to happen to Regina.

A fast thinker and a fast actor, Regina is far from incapable in her situation, but is still human and flawed enough for the audience to understand and to keep invested in. Clearly the audience surrogate due to the unusual situation she's thrown into, the casting amplifies this to the hilt. No one wants anything bad to happen to Audrey Hepburn, after all.

The decision to have Regina be the pursuer rather than Grant's character 

saves Charade a bundle of awkwardness in- and out of universe.

Matthau, in the pre-Fortune Cookie phase of his career, is so fantastic, 

you'll wonder how he didn't attain star status sooner.

It's the role of the script and great direction that not only enables Charade to balance its many different tones (its editing and short bouts of violence still hold up today), but also helps it to many rewatches.

AND THE REST... 

Thomas Chelimsky as Jean-Louis Gaudel (center),

who always resembled a young Robin Williams to me.

Paul Bonifas as stamp dealer Mr. Felix,

a small but standout role.

Writer and screenwriter Stone (left) cameos in Regina's arrival

at the U.S. Embassy, dubbed by director Donen.

LOGO GEMS

Charade marks the first appearance of the 1963 - 1990 Universal Pictures logo, in its standard (or "flat" 1.66) aspect ratio version.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

This shot of Matthau (where he gives Hepburn his condolences)

has always looked too bright (overexposed?) to me, especially

compared to the other shots of him in that scene.

Me, on a not-as-regular-as-it-should-be basis.

Charade's use of real Paris locations are worth the price of admission alone.

TIDBITS AND SUCH

Check out Stanley Donen and Peter Stone's audio commentary (currently on the Criterion Blu-ray) the next time you watch Charade. Not only for their trivia, but also, amusingly, for their bickering over details.

Read James Coburn's daughter-in-law Robyn L. Coburn's review for Charade (with great trivia), as well as for his other films here.

Vanity Fair caught up with Thomas Chelimsky (Jean-Louis) in 2017.

Charade is a film that has fast become a "comfort food" movie for me, a fun, witty, all-encompassing experience that will be "on standby" for many years to come. 

Copyright © Chynna Moore

SCREENWRITING: A FEW MORE TIDBITS

Since my last screenwriting post, I've managed to put into words some more points of consideration in creating and fine-tuning a script. Since a favorite part of mine in this process is the visual aspect, i.e. set design, color, symbolism, character looks, etc., these points relate more to how you can "color" your story through the script process onward.

"STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST "

There is nothing wrong with taking a prior idea or concept and putting your own new spin on it.

So, I have a confession to make: I don't watch movies all the time.

I never go to the theater unless I'm with a friend, and I don't usually seek out a movie unless someone I know recommends it, I come across it reading about something else (rare logos, "cast reunions", etc.), or, in recent years, if I've watched a video review on it and it grabs my further interest.

So how do I bridge that little gap between new visuals and fewer movies?

Well folks, Google Images is your friend.

With just images, even if you know a film's general plot, if you haven't seen the film, a screencap can only tell you so much without its original context. This will make your brain "fill in the gaps", often with a new, different context entirely. So if you love a visual and can "plug it into" your script with a new "connection" to strengthen your story, all the more better.

In Thunderball, Fiona Volpe simply stares at Bond as they dance.

I re-contextualized this in my script as "the girlfriend and boyfriend 

stand up from their table, her staring at him the entire time".

Alternatively, if you have seen a film and want to "borrow" a visual motif or other choice, subversion is also a good method. If black is traditionally seen (in the West) as a "bad" color, while white is seen as "pure" and "good", why not switch that up entirely for your hero and villain?

And that above is really just color theory subversion. Going deeper, if you want to enhance your script's "fish out of water" theme, for example, your protagonist will solidify that by dressing like he stepped out of a Rat Pack movie, while living in a town where most of the men dress in blue jeans, T-shirts, and baseball caps.

Knowing your inspirations this way also speaks to the use of (as stated elsewhere) detail, subtext, themes, and connections. What were they going for? And how will you flip that concept?

GET ON SOME MUSIC

"Put in Cream! Put in Cream!", Martin Scorsese told Mitch Pileggi, when writing Goodfellas' famous scene where Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) plans to kill Morrie Kessler.

I don't usually use gifs here, but admit it, you heard

"Sunshine of Your Love" playing just now, didn't you?

All movies, scenes, dialogue, and sequences have a rhythm, but music has the power to transform a dull series of events into an inspired, thematically-enhancing sequence. Even if you choose not to insert songs into your script, music can be an immense help in determining your script's tone, direction, and emotional core. (Nostalgia-wise, this also relates to the heading below.)

Goodfellas also uses music to show the progression of time over the course of its story. From the earlier Crystals and Shangri-Las to the later Cream and Donovan, Scorsese pinpoints the film's eventual emotional dissonance when Donovan's lush, sweeping "Atlantis" plays over the brutal beating of Billy Batts. 

USE YOUR ROOTS

It's another trademark of Scorsese, and it's easy to see why, as he attaches the emotions to his settings as well as details, a move demonstrably invaluable to the medium of film. I can still remember my childhood backyard, with its (steep for a child) downward slope, the smell of cut grass, and the sound of my dad's lawnmower reverberating through the neighborhood. Or your childhood experience of seeing a movie you've grown to love even more as you get older. Positive associations, like your fond past memories and associated nostalgia, can really fuel your passion for your story and your script.

SAVE ALL OF YOUR IDEAS

No matter how seemingly-insignificant a quote, joke, character look, or image might seem, you should still lock it away for future use. Or better yet, you could later adapt them differently from what you originally intended, "stealing from yourself" in a way. 

TRY FOR MORE OBSCURE INSPIRATIONS

No, not for hipster points, but if you're aiming for originality, it's imperative to not only be always taking in new content, concepts, media, etc. but also to do so from works that are less remembered, i.e. films that have fallen into obscurity, but have since gained a new life on Blu-ray and DVD-R releases.

McQ, while seen as a lesser entry in its genre and era, still features several twists 

in its story, and having John Wayne as its star brings up many cultural points 

of discussion, i.e. the thematic similarities between crime films and westerns.

That's not to say more popular fare can't yield any new ideas, but a few new wells to draw from never hurts, especially in the internet age.

After all, you don't want to solely reference works that are

so entrenched in pop culture, but are still "too old" for

the kids to know. (Sorry, Season One Jughead.)

To make it easier, try and go for works that star actors (or other talent) you already know and love. After all, you just might come up with a Canadianized First Monday in October, where the protagonists are both female and the older, more experienced one is also the Chief Justice. 

Yes, the latter has happened here.

(That's former Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in the middle, by the way.)

This is especially potent if a "bad" or "mediocre" film has a sliver of pathos, creativity, subverted expectations, or a sentiment "ahead of its time" that's surrounded by otherwise dated, botched, or cringey material. You never know when your viewing of Bloodline might yield you some new creative sparks (even if only to pass the runtime).

Seriously, who wouldn't want to see a movie about a

lovable inspector who converses with a talking computer?

At least it would have better editing, that's for sure.

CONNECT EVERYTHING

So you've completed your first draft, the "skeleton" of your script. You might even have an idea of what "shading" you want to have. (Provided, of course, you have the time.) 

Now, this is the time to think over and reflect on the choices you've made in your script. How will you enhance them on an emotional level? What visual symbols will be around certain characters? What other works can you reference that are thematically similar to your own story? What dynamics in these other works are similar to the ones you yourself created?

Rick Dalton and Easy Breezy. That is all.

An important thing to remember is that you should ideally go all the way down to the last detail. Similar to my last screenwriting post's "Subtext" section, this attention will show your effort and love for your work in a deeply satisfying way. 

For example, if your "lovable a-hole" protagonist is watching something on T.V., make the connection and have him be watching a film or show featuring a similar character. This move also works double-duty in making thematic connections, while keeping obvious stated references out of your dialogue. 

(I will say, however, that this particular example runs the risk of "referencing a better movie during your own", so you should probably go with a more obscure work, as the previous heading discussed.)

Perfect!

This will take some practice, especially in terms of keeping subtlety, and every script will be different. How prominent will a symbol be shown? How prominent is it to the characters? Is your visual metaphor too obvious, and if so, how much should you de-emphasize it? Will you use it to subvert expectations instead?

Yah, no. This one's as obvious as a brick wall.

Will your song choices be on-the-nose? Or more abstract? Will it provide dissonance in your scene, or foreshadow things to come? 

This one, even more so.

In short, everything in your script, story, and concept should work to service your characters, atmosphere, setting, emotion, and payoff. If your inspiration(s) has brought you enough confidence and spark to finish your script, then chances are, it will be the gift that keeps on giving in bringing you new ideas to strengthen and visualize your story. 

So forgive me if the points I've made have overlapped a lot, but with so many ways to go in the visual language of film, hopefully, they have gotten you to think about how your script is (and should be) more than just a standalone series of events. 

Copyright © Chynna Moore