Who do you trust?
The Story:
Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) is on vacation. She is contemplating leaving her husband, and she bumps into a handsome stranger named Peter Joshua (Cary Grant). She returns to Paris, to find her apartment empty, everything they owned is gone! The police come calling, and inform her that her husband is dead! At the funeral, several strange men (including James Coburn and George Kennedy) come by, just to make sure that he's dead. When the CIA agent (Walter Matthau) informs Regina that her husband stole $250,000 from these men, and they want it back, Regina doesn't know what to do or who to trust. Then when she finds out that Peter Joshua may not be who he claims to be, things begin to become even more confusing.
This movie is often mentioned as the greatest Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made.
I'd have to say, that's a pretty close argument.
It follows very much in line with what Hitchcock was doing at the time. You've got action, suspense, plot twists, mistaken identity and a little romance.
Throw in Cary Grant in one of his final roles just a few years removed from his turn in North by Northwest, and you can see the similarities are very striking between this and other Hitchcockian fare of the time period.
However, this film was directed by Stanley Donen, probably better known for his musicals (Singin' in the Rain) than for something more Hitchcockian in nature, but he does a fine job. In fact, looking at his credits, the man made a ton of movies, yet to be fair, probably is completely under the radar as far as "Best Directors" in Hollywood.
The movie holds up rather nicely for being a 50 year old film, and I'm glad I finally got around to seeing it after owning it for probably over a decade, unwatched!
Who can you trust?
For those that don't own a copy, it is available for streamable viewing on Netflix as of this writing.
Final Grade: B
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'm sure I'll see it again in the future... just not sure when. ;)
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