Very much in the Hitchcock style, with a little of Huston's thieves falling out, super stylish and complexly plotted film has widow Audrey Hepburn pursued by crooks and Cary Grant, whose identity changes every five minutes. You can see Grant is uncomfortable with the romantic leading man role at his age and uses the story to push away Hepburn. With Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy, Ned Glass, Dominique Minot, Jacques Marin. Written by Peter Stone (and Marc Behm).
Jim Clark: "Stone.. was on set all the time to alter dialogue if Cary required it." He also reveals that owing to French union regulations he had to have a French assistant editor who turned into his future wife, Laurence Méry. "We also line cut a good deal to reduce the scenes and make them sharper. I would never let a character shut a door.. actions, once begun, were rarely completed... When dialogue scenes are cut up into mini cuts, the rhythms go to hell and the acting stops, as does my interest."
Donen was formerly a director of well-loved musicals such as On The Town, Singin' in the Rain and Funny Face (also with Hepburn), but the movie referenced by the Seine, An American in Paris, is not one of his.
'Hank' Mancini's score is cool, Charles Lang shot it. There's good sound mixing - sixties films seem to have very emphatic Foley, which I find funny.
In the scene where Grant's having a shower in his suit, there's a moment on his face where he looks like he's really laughing.
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| For Q, though I'm not sure Archie would have approved |
Grant and Hepburn got on famously. He retired two years later without having worked with her again.
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