Search - Charade on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1963 DVD Release: 12/14/1999 Format: DVD Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Studio: Ventura Distribution Total Copies: 1 Genres: Mystery, Comedy Thriller, Romantic Mystery See Also: Charade [Special Edition], Charade [Criterion Collection], Charade [Collector's Edition], Charade, Charade, Charade [Widescreen], Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn: Charade, Charade, Charade, Charade

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, All Movie Guide

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

Charade seems to have somehow fallen into the public domain, which means that there are usually several editions available at any given time. DVD editions have appeared from Laserlight, D3K, Criterion, and others, each with their own variant qualities. This particular edition, from Diamond Entertainment, is presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio of the original film, though the transfer is not anamorphic. The mono soundtrack has been cleaned up to reduce hiss and eliminate hum and artifacts, with excellent results -- dialogue, music, and effects are all clear and demonstrate good range, with no roll-off at the top end or indication of distortion. The image shows a small amount of windowboxing, with very narrow black areas at the sides, though nothing seems to be missing from the picture. The transfer appears to have been made from a fairly good distribution print. There are some scratches here and there, and a few print artifacts, but nothing terribly unpleasant. The print is somewhat faded, however, with the color balance consequently slipping; the extremely vivid Maurice Binder main titles are sadly muted in this edition. The mastering has helped the image quality very little. Image enhancement has resulted, most immediately, in obvious color bleed, particularly toward the red end of the spectrum, as well as a tendency toward softness and grain. Contrast is tilted away from shadows and highlights, toward mid-range, eliminating solid blacks and flattening the look further -- a definite problem, considering director Stanley Donen was making a Hitchcockian picture in which the look is all-important. Problems with edge enhancement manifest mainly as color washouts along hairlines and jawlines, curiously enough. There is also a degree of blurring with movement. The result is not an unwatchable mess, but it could have been better. There are only four chapter stops, and the only extras are three single-screen bios. ~ Steven E. McDonald, All Movie Guide