classicsoncall
This is probably the only movie you'll find with stars of the caliber of Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn who begin the story by getting hit in the face with a squirt gun! I'd have to say they took it pretty well in stride to create an entertaining comedy/mystery that more than a few viewers on this board compared to an Alfred Hitchcock thriller. My thoughts were in agreement as the film started out as well, the train sequence was a regular Hitchcock motif.What was distracting to me though was the age disparity between the fifty nine year old Grant at the time, romantically paired with Hepburn who was thirty two. This wasn't uncommon for the era, but it comes across as rather unrealistic today. Grant's shower scene with his suit on would have played much better with a younger actor, and probably more credible. But in relation to the main story, I think they more than pulled it off with Grant's constant change of identity right up until the surprise reveal at the American embassy. What the picture did more than anything for me was to wish that we had gotten a look at the 'real' Charles Voss. He must have been quite the character if all three of his funeral attendees felt it necessary to test the integrity of the corpse. Reading some of the other reviews for this picture, and even though I enjoyed it quite well myself, I would have to agree that there's a somewhat dated quality to the writing, most notably at the finale with Regina Lampert's (Hepburn) gushing over the idea of a marriage license. That's something that was all too typical Fifties and Sixties that wouldn't pass muster with today's audiences.
christopher-underwood
After the wonderful fun and colourful opening credits we have to wait until the final quarter of an hour for the film to equal it. For the most part this is a rather drawn out and ridiculous and unfunny caper with a few amusing moments. Cary Grant is as good as he usually is at this period of the sixties (only okay) and Audrey Hepburn, who many love and I struggle with as much as she does her parts. Here she about half Grant's age and is presumably asked to play it like a silly schoolgirl. Meanwhile she is asked to display all this haute couture stuff and whoever thought it was a good idea to display clothes on that body must be having a laugh. Sad and cringe making at times there are just enough moments, especially those with Walter Matthau to keep this going until the delirious last section. Why, oh why couldn't we have had more of this? Instead of a motley collection of gents in hotel rooms we could have been out in the sunny streets of Paris. There is colour, there is suspense, there is even romance as we race and chase in full on colour, including a scene at the stamp fair and a fantastic sequence down in the glistening metro passage ways and on the trains. A glorious ending to a very average film.
ipruben
I don't often laugh in the movies but this one made me laugh out loud a cople of times.The story is boring and simple, in a bad way. A wife to be widow, knows nothing about his husband. When he dies, Regina (Audrey) gets in the middle of an intrigue to find some mysterious money that his husband stole years ago. The movie try to make you think that someone is the bad guy and then kills him. Repeat until there is only one left. They find the money, end of the story.Two dimensional characters, very unreasonable romance. Boring, and simple. The charm of the 2 main characters kind of save the movie, but in my opinion is very very overrated.
Hitchcoc
This is a great whodunnit, using two of our most charismatic actors ever: Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Audrey has money that is hers due to the death of her husband. Once word gets out that she is loaded and is planning on giving the money to the government, three shady characters get into the act, pursuing her. There is a wonderful sense of humor to this film (much like the comic relief in the Hitchcock thrillers--usually delivered by the likes of Stewart or Grant himself). There is a masterful web of intrigue here and clever dialogue galore. Hepburn is beautiful, of course, and the photogenic Grant works his magic. Who are we looking for? Where does the danger lie? That's the question.
AD
