Search - Charade [Collector's Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1963 DVD Release: 02/24/1998 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 53 mins Studio: Madacy Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Mystery, Comedy Thriller, Romantic Mystery See Also: Charade [Special Edition], Charade [Criterion Collection], Charade, 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

Madacy Entertainment's release of director Stanley Donen's stylish comedy-thriller boasts "over four hours of content" and offers a staggering amount of extras, including two features and a number of bonus materials for a remarkably low price. Presented in the original 1.85:1 widescreen theatrical aspect ratio, the image of the main feature vividly displays the film's colorful mise-en-scène, though falters slightly in regard to annoying digital interference and artifacting. Edge enhancement is also present, rendering the image slightly grating at times, and skin tones take on a reddish hue throughout as well. Though adequate, the sound as presented in English Dolby Digital Mono is unremarkable. It should also be noted that upon selecting the feature from the main menu, the disc plays a theatrical trailer before playing the feature itself. The second feature on the disc, also named Charade (1953), is an episodic feature written by and starring James Mason and offers a trilogy of stories of tragic love. Presented in 1.33:1 full-screen, the image appears slightly oversaturated, with rough sound and some wear on the original source material, but it is a welcome addition and proves entertaining enough to dismiss its aesthetically disheartening shortcomings. With extra features including a 20-minute documentary on the life and career of Cary Grant, the disc far overshoots any previous expectations in regard to the disc's budget price. An interactive trivia game concerning events in the main feature offers reward and punishment in the form of clips from the film, and provides a quirky distraction after enjoying the feature. Though the main feature is not presented as well as the renowned Criterion release of the film, Madacy Entertainment offers just as much valuable and entertaining material as that release (save for Criterion's inclusion of director Donen and screenwriter Peter Stone's commentary track) and will certainly not disappoint fans of the film who opt not to pay three times Madacy's suggested retail price for Criterion's release of the same film. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide