Charade

Release Year: 1963
Director: Stanley Donen

Review: It’s impossible to watch this film and not draw the correlations to Alfred Hitchcock. To be fair, director Stanley Donen doesn’t seem to be cribbing from the suspense master, but rather manages to capture the same mystery-suspense equilibrium that Hitchcock mastered. The plot reads just like any Hitchcock film, Reggie (Audrey Hepburn), a young woman is abruptly widowed when her rich husband is thrown from a train, revealing a web of lies which tie him to a band of deadly thieves. In the midst of this confusion Peter (Cary Grant) a seemingly trustworthy gentleman takes Reggie under his wing and the pair embark on their quest, trying to unravel the mystery of her late husbands death and recover the small fortune that has gone missing.

Like any good mystery, the details of the case are peeled away like any onion, layer by layer, gradually building suspense and intrigue. It’s a sign of a well made mystery if every scene draws you in closer to the reveal, and yet always keeps you at arms length. The more that is revealed the more complex and convoluted it gets. Donen, to his credit, manages to pull off this technique while keeping things entertaining rather than frustrating.

This balance is mostly kept in check by the romantic chemistry between Hepburn and Grant. Both are enormously charismatic. To say that George Clooney channels Cary Grant is understatement. The two are nearly indistinguishable, both dripping with a sarcastic sexuality that melds so well when paired with a sharp, independent minded woman. In this case Hepburn plays the perfect foil to Grant’s charm. She is a strong woman, who nonetheless shows her vulnerability that Grant works to exploit. What really works are the subtle, playful flourishes between the two that maintains the chemistry between them and keeps the ever-escalating danger light and palatable.

While it’s a solid mystery thriller, and draws comparisons to Hitchcock, it’s still not on the same level as the best Hitchcock. There are elements that are a bit sloppy, especially the handling of the three goons after Hepburn’s character that seem too bumbling to ever pose a serious threat. All the same, it is a great watch and blew my expectations out of the water.

Rating: 4/5

The Great Escape

Release Year: 1963

Director: John Sturges

Review: John Sturgis' WWII prison escape epic about a prison camp in Nazi Germany housing the most prolific escape artists that are in German custody.  What is most interesting about the film is that it is based on a real event, and tries to stay as close to those events as possible.  It lets you know this straight away which adds a layer of credibility to the film making the escape that much more intense.  The biggest problem was the pacing.  It took its time, building a nearly three hour long movie around one event.  The first half dragged, followed by a great middle, followed by a dragging end.  It played almost like a television series, particularly in the beginning.  In an episodic arch characters are going about their normal prison camp lives with some hi-jinx and escape planning mixed in.  It did provide an excellent back drop for the kind of people that this camp held.  These were veteran POWs.  They didn't so much care about being caught, as long as they were causing trouble for the guards.  It felt like a well oiled machine; a regimen designed to escape.  Steve McQueen hams it up as the ultra-cool American, and while he lightens the mood and adds another dimension to the film, it comes off as a bit over the top.  His motorcycle chase scene, however, more than justifies his appearance.  This isn't the best war drama, but it has a certain quality that makes it fun to watch anyway.  The run time is daunting, but it went by surprising quickly.  It can easily be broken up into two or three sittings without losing anything.  One thing the length does add is that you get invested in the characters, you care for them on a personal level and want them to escape which makes the even all the more thrilling.
Rating: 3/5

The Pink Panther

Release Year: 1963

Director: Blake Edwards

Review: The first in series of films about the clumsy Inspector Jacques Clouseau.  In this first film, the good inspector is on the hunt for the allusive Phantom, a burglar who has evaded Clousaeu for years.  The inspector has made it his life's work to catch the thief and thinks that his next target will be the large jewel named The Pink Panther.  Considering the series has Clouseau as an indelible fixture, his screen time is actually pretty limited in this first film.  Peter Sellers is a master satirist, and is wonderful as the bumbling inspector.  He manages to pull off slapstick and nuttiness without being irritating.   

The story starts off very strong, with a surprising amount of wit, and strong dialog.  Unfortunately it did not sustain itself.  Sacrificing itself for zaniness, it takes a turn for the worse around the mid point, and ended with an utter mess of an ending leaving me frustrated with everything I had invested in the character development.  It is caught in an awkward place between a true caper film and a silly spoof.  Regardless, 'The Pink Panther' certainly is original, and has a strong enough beginning to make it worth the watch.

Rating: 3/5

8 1/2

Release Year: 1963
Review: '8 1/2' is a very influential and groundbreaking film by Federico Fellini depicting a successful film director grappling with his own demons all the while trying to produce his next masterpiece. It's difficult to underestimate how powerful the storytelling in which Fellini employs is. The meandering tangle of reality and dreams are spliced together with no discrimination between the two. It is inescapable that the film is at least partly autobiographical offering a glimpse of the struggles of Fellini himself. The stream of consciousness direction in which the story is told is incredibly effective in showing the thought process of the over-stressed director, Guido. Guido, like Fellini at this point in his career, has completed 8 1/2 films to date (hence the title), and has accumulated a significant amount of artistic freedom in anticipation for his next work. Despite not actually having the plot figured out the production has begun. Weaving an ever more complicated web of lies, Guido is continually stressed by his creative block, the pressures from producers and actors, and the many women that continually stress his marital relationship. The key concept on display is Guido's relationship with women, and his shame for his desire for all women. He wants to have many women, but society, religion, and human nature all compete with this desire and the frustration that he deals with in accepting this, and understanding love is palpable. Beyond being the best 'film about film-making', '8 1/2' is a powerful and inventive narrative on the struggles of a man with life.
Rating: 5/5