MovieChat Forums > Charade (1963) Discussion > Sexist Drivel is NOTHING like Hitchcock!

Sexist Drivel is NOTHING like Hitchcock!

posted 9 years ago by Hermies_Purrbuckets
22 replies | jump to latest

I recall Charade as being a big deal when it came out. An intentional imitation of a Hitchcock. Finally saw it on TV. Wow, what a stinker! Middle-aged pig Cary Grant bullying waifish Audrey Hepburn, while hams like Walter Matthau and George Kennedy chew up the scenery. The plot is so sloppy and contrived, one could never mistake this tripe for Hitchcock. And that horrible Henry Mancini theme song - yech! Finally, the over-long film ends with Audrey squealing like a pig when Cary demands that she marry him! Paging Gloria Steinem! Seriously, was pathetic sexist drivel like this ever really considered as "good cinema?"

[–] gribfritz2 9 years ago

He bullied her? I must have missed that part. Also, a woman being excited that a sophisticated man who saved her life wants to marry her is sexist? Who knew?

[–] cultfilmfreaksdotcom 9 years ago

"Chew up the scenery" so overused.

Movie Reviews www.cultfilmfreaks.com or www.facebook.com/cultfilmfreakcinema

[–] joekiddlouischama 9 years ago

Finally, the over-long film ends with Audrey squealing like a pig when Cary demands that she marry him!

But Hepburn's character is actually the romantic aggressor, or initiator, throughout the film. No, Charade is hardly feministic, but I do not know that it is "sexist," either.

[–] louiseculmer 9 years ago

Good point. Hepburn is pursuing Grant throughout. she is hardly passive.

[–] Injinn 9 years ago

But Hepburn's character is actually the romantic aggressor, or initiator, throughout the film. No, Charade is hardly feministic, but I do not know that it is "sexist," either.

This.

Reggie (Hepburn) was the pursuer from the start. If anything, that was atypical of female roles of the time. You didn't often see the woman actively pursuing a man, chasing her own enjoyment as much, or more, than anyone else's.

[–] FilmAlicia 9 years ago

There's no accounting for taste.

[–] DukeTogo1300 9 years ago

Such an odd reaction, I found it rather feminist myself. Also, are you sure there aren't a few Hitchcock films guilty of this same accusation?

[–] Injinn 9 years ago

No joke. At the time the movie was released, you didn't have too many instances of the woman as the pursuer. In Charade, Reggie was ALWAYS the hunter -- far from the conventional pursued woman/prize that was the norm at the time. Believe me, there weren't that many films that showed the woman pursuing her own love interest (singular and plural).

I can't even fathom how the OP would get sexism out of watching the film.

[–] Thornspike 9 years ago

I can see how Charade has become dated and should then be viewed through the lens of history.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] ZolotoyRetriever 9 years ago

I don't think Cary Grant's character was exactly "bullying" Audrey Hepburn. He was a Treasury agent just doing his job. And Hepburn's character wasn't exactly a "waif": she was actually fairly resilient and resourceful throughout the film. She was able to twist and turn most of those men to her advantage. (She even shamed that police inspector into not lighting up a cigar - even though later in the film, we saw how she herself smoked cigarettes but only by ripping off the filter first!).

I think you need to watch the film again, this time with both eyes open.

[–] hka-3 9 years ago

You're right, he was just doing his job.

Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.