Charade (1963)

Audrey Hepburn is a widow aided by Cary Grant, who may or may not be who he says he is, in finding a fortune hidden by her now deceased husband.

Hepburn is Regina Lampert, a recently widowed woman who discovers that he now dead husband is not who he claimed to be. After stealing a fortune in American money during World War 2, the deceased Charles Lampert hoodwinked his 4 partners-in-crime and took off with the money, leaving them to face German troops which resulted in the death of one of their number. Now that he's dead, the 3 still-living crooks (Played by James Coburn, George Kennedy, and Ned Glass) want Regina to hand over the money, which they believe she has.

Unfortunately for her, she doesn't, and she's helped by Peter Joshua (Cary Grant), a man she met on holiday who may or may not be after the money as well.

Grant and Hepburn are wonderful in this film. They have a great deal of chemistry and despite being in his late 50's, Grant is still as charming and suave as ever. Luckily, the film plays up the fact that this is a May-December romance, so it makes the somewhat implausible pairing more believable, especially since they make it clear that Audrey Hepburn's character is pursuing him, not the other way around, so it avoids any sort of creepiness of an older man leering over the younger Audrey Hepburn.

Hepburn is gorgeous in the film, and she shines as a woman who was trapped in a loveless marriage who finds herself falling for a man she may or may not be able to trust. The two have great chemistry and their dialogue crackles with wit.

The plot itself is filled with great twists and turns and it always has you guessing until the very end, which makes it all the more enjoyable. Even if you're able to guess a few of the upcoming reveals, I'm sure there are still a few that will take you by surprise.

The film is set in Paris, so it's obviously a gorgeous film at which to look. The settings are lush and beautiful, and Hepburn wears some great and stylish clothes.

It's a wonderful film, entertaining, thrilling, and funny and it features two screen legends reciting a fun and smart script. One to watch.

His Girl Friday (1940)

Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant star in what may be the greatest screwball comedy ever made.

Russell is Hildy Johnson, an ace reporter for a Chicago newspaper who has decided to quit, upsetting her editor (and ex-husband) Walter Burns (Cary Grant). Hildy has decided that she wants a more quiet life and plans on leaving Chicago to marry insurance man Bruce Baldwin, causing Walter to scheme and plot to try and get Hildy to stay in the business by getting her to cover one last story about a murder.

The two leads in this film are absolutely fantastic, playing off each other in a brilliant love/hate relationship. They're both strong, hard-headed people who feed off their work, and it's brilliant watching Rosalind Russell become more and more invested in a story she didn't even want to cover in the first place, and Cary Grant again shows why he is the king of the screwball comedy, charming and funny, even when he's trying to steal another man's woman.

The main attraction of this film is the dialogue, which crackles with wit and humor and is delivered at such a rapid fire pace, it's easy to get lost when watching the film. I'm not joking when I say that, the lines are delivered so fast and often at the same time, that the film requires your attention in order to full enjoy it. It's a classic example of the kind of dialogue that doesn't really occur very much in movies anymore, and when it is attempted, it usually comes off as overly quirky and forced, which is sad.

The film is just a joy to watch, you have two of the greatest actors who ever lived going at eachother with intelligence and zeal and it all moves at a fairly brisk pace.

There isn't much left to say that it's hailed as one of the greatest comedies ever for good reason, and it's something I recommend for anyone.

I'm No Angel (1933)

Yes, another Mae West movie, which guarantees entertainment. I know I've said it before, but Mae West's movie are endlessly entertaining. They aren't necessarily the best movies, but they don't need to be, it's essentially Mae West walking around being a sassy whore.

Mae West plays Tira, a circus performer who, of course, is the darling of all the men who visit the circus. When she needs some money, she decides to perform a risky new act involving tons of lions. The sequence itself is filmed pretty poorly, but it's entertaining in how bad it is. Tira becomes even more famous and begins to flirt with the various rich men that are enchanted by her. Until she meets Jack Clayton (Cary Grant), the love of her life, but her sordid past catches up to her and she must fight to keep her man.

Really, there's not much else to say, since the best part of the movie is Mae West wearing insane looking outfits and tossing out zingers, much like She Done Him Wrong. Which is probably the strength of Mae West's movie, you know exactly what's going to happen, yet you're entertained the entire time, because she doesn't try to make her movies anything more than they are. Like She Done Him Wrong, this film is very short, it's not even a full 90 minutes, which means it never wears out its welcome.

It's easy to recommend this movie, simply because it's pure entertainment, even when it gets into melodrama and cheese, it's still fun because it's Mae West, the queen of Pre-Code Comedy. It's especially fun to watch it (And any other Mae West movie) with other people, because it's just a big cheesy, sassy mess that is easy to enjoy.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

My first Katherine Hepburn (And James Stewart) movie and it's a star-studden affair with a crackling script.

Katherine Hepburn is Tracy Lord, a Philadelphia socialite who called off her marriage with C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) two years ago and is about to marry the fairly boring George Kittredge (John Howard). However, her wedding is disrupted when Dexter returns, bringing with him two "friends" of Tracy's brother, who are in fact a writer, Macaulay "Mike" Connor (Stewart), and photographer, Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) from Spy magazine, trying to get the scoop on Tracy's wedding. Will she go through with the wedding? If so, who will she end up marrying?

The performances in this film are all fantastic. Hepburn is brilliant as the perfection obsessed socialite who slowly begins to climb down from her ivory tower. She gives Tracy a strength that also reflects some insecurities and fears being held deep inside her that slowly become more and more apparant as the film goes on.

Cary Grant is also in fine form as well. Before the film was made, Grant was given the choice between the two male leads, instead doing with the less showy role of Dexter, and Thank God he did. In the Screwball Kingdom, Grant is king, able to fire off dialogue like a true master, making his verbal sparring with Hepburn crackle with wit and a few dashes of venom.

James Stewart is good as well, playing his character with a bit if intellectual snobbery that allows for Tracy to have someone to relate to. Where Tracy is very critical on anyone who cannot meet her demands for perfection, Mike is a bit if a jaded snob when it comes to the upper class and as the film goes on, we see their views and ideas changing. Stewart actually won the Oscar for this film (though it is generally considered undeserved and that it was a make-up for his loss the previous year). While he isn't given a whole lot to do for the first part of the film, he becomes one of the most entertaining aspects of the film once his character gets drunk halfway through the movie.

Ruth Hussey also deserves mention for her performance as Elizabeth. She's able to see right through everything going on as well as see Mike falling in love with Tracy, but she finds comfort that Tracy is supposed to be married to someone else, thinking it will leave Mike for her. She also gets some of the best lines in the film, standing on the sidelines and offering her imput every so often.

As previously mentioned, the film crackles with wit, and there's a lot of great wordplay and dialogue between all of the characters. It also creates a love triangle that could work on all sides of it, both couples involved make sense and could work.

If I didn't already make it obvious, this is a wonderful film that deserves to be seen.

She Done Him Wrong (1933)

I can't believe that I've been doing this blog for a while (and by a while I mean a week or two, with as far as I know, no readers) and I've yet to write up a Mae West movie. Shame on me.

Mae West's movie are essentially male harem movies, there's minimal plot and it basically involves Mae West cavorting around with several different men. But that's not really a knock to the movie, because Mae West may be one of the greatest entertainers ever, despite not being a very good actress or singer. She just embodied this character of a wise-cracking, seen-it-all, man eater, as well as writing a great deal of her films and stage plays. The actual plot of She Done Him Wrong revolves around Lady Lou (Mae West) who is a nightclub entertainer who used to date a dangerous criminal who is now in prison. She promised to remain faithful to him, and being Mae West, she didn't. So he's out to get her. In addition to this, she has to deal with shady goings on in her night club as well as the local missionary Captain Cummings (Cary Grant).

The great thing about this film is that it knows what it is, it's a breezy, fun film about Mae West using man after man, and it doesn't wear out it's welcome, since it's only around 66 minutes (the shortest film ever nominated for Best Picture). It's filled with Mae West's double entendres and sexual suggestion. The plot is a bit ridiculous, involving the already mention vengeful lover as well as some sort of white slavery ring, but it doesn't bog itself down in such details, instead focusing on Mae West walking around and being fabulous.

I know I haven't said much in terms of substance about the film, probably because the film itself is light on substance, which is probably why its such a fun movie, one that should definitely be checked out. And even if you don't like it, it's only 66 minutes.