By the early 1960s director Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense,
was practically his own brand.
"Hitchcockian" covered the full range of his trademark thrillers.
From dark, disturbing obsessions to light, sparkling entertainments.
Actor Cary Grant meanwhile was entering his fourth decade as on-screen epitome of the latter.
Glamorous adventures of immaculate stars in exotic locations
whose witty, flirtatious, deception-fueled romances
echoed the thrilling mysteries they're embroiled in.
Hitchcock and Grant had recently collaborated on their biggest commercial hit
1959's North By Northwest,
the primary reference
and reverence
for Singin' In The Rain co-director Stanley Donen's Charade in 1963.
Charade's vintage trailer shows how Donen deliberately aimed
to take classic Hitchcock tropes and blend them for his own cocktail
...or should that be "Hitch-cocktail"?
Compare the opening titles from two legendary designers
In its designs, styles, and fonts, Maurice Binder's Charade sequence
clearly draws on Saul Bass's groundbreaking work on Vertigo,
North by Northwest,
and Psycho.
Thankfully, Charade isn't content to stay a faithful Hitchcock tribute act,
and has a lot of fun spoofing what it loves.
It also doesn't shy away from mocking the age-gap relationship
that its then nearly 60-year-old male star
regularly had with his much younger leading ladies.
Though to Cary Grant's credit, he recognized this in Charade
and insisted on Audrey Hepburn's character doing the chasing.
"Look I know it's asking you to stretch your imagination"
"but don't you think you can pretend for just a moment"
"that I'm a woman?"
"Now listen I could already be arrested for transporting a minor above the first floor."
Hepburn herself, not the preferred Hitchcock blonde,
never worked with the master.
But she proves here to be a perfect foil for this kind of deluxe, blackly comic caper.
Arguably even more of a style icon
and yet still a deft enough performer to be able to switch from screwball
to serious at the drop of a Givenchy hat.
And she could certainly hold her own with Grant in the traditional
sexually charged, romantic banter.
"Oh, knock it off. Now come on, listen to me."
"Oh, here it comes, the fatherly talk."
"You forget I'm already a widow."
"And so was Juliet at fifteen."
"But I'm not fifteen."
Even getting away with a riff on a famous North By Northwest line of dialogue.
"Roger O. Thornhill. What does the 'o' stand for?"
"Nothing."
"Do you know what's wrong with you?"
"No. What?"
"Nothing."
Elsewhere Charade stylishly finds multiple other points on the North By Northwest compass.
Up-and-coming or class-act character actors as ruthless villains.
The same actor in a colorful supporting role.
And a MacGuffin, the plot device or object that is ultimately unimportant,
that actually has a clever twist here.
But Charade's biggest homage of all is its use of Cary Grant.
Grant's made four films with Hitchcock.
The first two Suspicion and Notorious
toyed with a more sinister side to his debonair appeal
something Donen's film also briefly flirts with.
But Charade mainly takes its cue from his two later Hitchcock collaborations
showcasing peak Grant charm offensives.
Yet there's another North By Northwest in-joke that Donen doubles,
in fact quadruples down on.
Grant's character's shifting identities.
"Did you call me Kaplan?"
"I know your a man of many names, but I'm perfectly willing to accept your current choice."
"What's your name?"
"Peter Joshua."
"Dyle. That's his name."
"Sorry, the name's Adam Canfield."
"What's your first name today?"
"Brian."
"Brian Cruikshank."
It's North By Northwest and Charade's sharpest gag that Cary Grant
the singular personification of suave sophistication
could ever be mistaken for anybody else.
...Or are they actually subtle critiques
as to whether someone as perfect as Grant appears could ever really exist.
Speaking of impersonations, ultimately North By Northwest still stands as an unique example
of Hitchcock on seemingly effortless, peak form.
To use, as just one example, its iconic action sequences alone.
Charade simply can't compete...
then few, if any, other movies can.
But in terms of a then contemporary film attempting to recreate
and even knowingly tweak the master's formula
the combination of Hepburn, Grant, Donen, and company helps make
Charade about as potent a substitute Hitch-cocktail as a shot of the real thing could ever be.