Charade

Music On Vinyl presents: Charade. Charade is a 1963 Technicolor American romantic comedy/mystery film directed by Stanley Donen, written by Peter Stone and Marc Behm, and starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It spans three genres: suspense thriller, romance and comedy. Releasedate : 2017-06-02

Charade is a 1963 Technicolor American romantic comedy/mystery film directed by Stanley Donen, written by Peter Stone and Marc Behm, and starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It spans three genres: suspense thriller, romance and comedy.

The film is notable for its screenplay, for having been filmed on location in Paris and for Henry Mancini's score and theme song. Charade has received generally positive reviews from critics, and was additionally noted to contain influences of genres such as whodunit, screwball and spy thriller.

Film director Stanley Donen had been charmed by Henry Mancini's song 'Baby Elephant Walk' from the film Hatari!, so he contacted Mancini from London to tell him about his current picture. Donen had directed several famous musical films throughout the 1950s and he now intended to put his own slant on a Hitchcock-like thriller and he wanted a strong melody in the background score.

Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics.

The title track 'Charade' is a sad, lonely Parisian waltz. It was nominated that year for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

180 gram audiophile vinyl
PVC protective sleeve
Music composed by Henry Mancini
First pressing of 500 individually numbered copies on Red vinyl.
Second pressing on black

Catalog # : MOVATM137

In his score for 'Charade,' Henry Mancini happily has an opportunity to capture the sounds, the very feel, of what is considered by many the most romantic city in the world - Paris. The film 'Charade' was shot on location in Paris where producer-director Stanley Donen put top stars Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn (this is the second time Mancini's scored a Hepburn film; the memorable 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' for which his score rated an Oscar, being the first) through their paces against a background of the Seine, the parks, the very people of Paris. As Donen and his stars unravel this 'Charade,' which is an intriguing combination of romance, humor, suspense and even violence, composer Mancini has a creative man's 'field day' as the deftly balances these seemingly conflicting elements with a score that underlies, defines and enhances the film's visual action as well as fascinates and delights the listener.

You can close your eyes and almost 'see' many of the varied sequences of 'Charade' as Henry Mancini guides your 'vision' with his perceptive and enchanting music. There's the romantic dinner scene aboard the Seine river boat, the 'Bateau Moche,' which is beautifully underscored by Bateau Moche and the song Charade. Here, once again, Mancini's Oscar partner, Johnny Mercer, has provided poetic lyrics to a Mancini melody. In Charade you feel the mood-setting appeal of their winners, Moon River and Days of Wine and Roses. Then there's a compelling, driving, completely different version of the same theme - Charade (Main Title).

The musical background for the picture's sparkling opening sequence, filmed in the beautiful French mountain resort of Mégeve, includes two Mancini sparklers, Latin Snowfall and Mégeve. The Paris scene are represented by a variety of tunes as winsome, frolicsome and unique as Paris itself. The children in the park are playfully scored by Punch and Judy, Charade (Carousel) and The Happy Carousel. In a smooky, swinging night club there's the insistent beat of Mambo Parisienne and Orange Tamouré. Bistro is typical of the Les Halles section. Cary Grant's hilarious 'clothes-on' shower scene was the inspiration for The Drip-Dry Waltz. In the unusual 'wake' scene, a classical string quartet plays a piece with the unlikely title, Bye Bye Charlie. This 'Charade' music, scored and conducted by Henry Mancini, is another vastly entertaining, stylish sampling of the seemingly limitless Mancini talent.

- LORENE SCHRAG -