Coburn Movie Review - Charade (1963)

James Coburn as Tex Panthollow in Charade (1963). I love his gingham shirt. 

I have been seeing James Coburn pictures turning up more and more often on various cable channels. When I first started writing Dervish Dust, I had to search out some of his more obscure early pictures. Now they are sitting in my DVR having been grabbed by the automatic "Search and Record" setting. I love technology, and I love that his work is more visible.

This month one of Jim's early movies that is certainly not obscure is playing on TCM. It is Charade (1963) starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, with James Coburn joining the cast as a key villain. There are plenty of neat behind-the-scenes stories in the book, which I won't spoil, but I will say that both Jim and his wife at the time Beverly, absolutely loved Paris where almost all of Charade was shot. That is despite 1962-63 winter turning into one of the coldest on record in all of Europe. In Britain it was called the "Big Freeze". Jim talked about his eagerness to go in to the soundstage to work because it was the only place he could get properly warm.

You would never know it was freezing from watching luminous Audrey Hepburn chase after and spar with Cary Grant. He thought her character was dressed like a "kook", and had less appreciation for the Givenchy wardrobe that to our modern eyes looks so beautifully elegant. There is plenty of humor interspersed with the mystery and sense of danger in the story, and the pacing is good too. Of course there is never any real danger that the charming Cary Grant could turn out to be a bad guy despite the efforts at misdirection in the story. But the cleverness of the various solutions to the mystery are delightful, and I remember the twists as not predictable, the first time I watched this many years ago.

One of Jim's most famous scenes from Charade with Audrey Hepburn.

Even having seen it numerous times, this is one of those films that continues to be enjoyable if for nothing more than the eye candy of beautiful people, beautiful clothes, beautiful locales and sparkling dialogue. It is even more so once you realize that there were often snowdrifts just off screen.

"Tex" was Jim's biggest film role to date. He came to Paris fresh from the shoot of The Great Escape, and was soon joined by Beverly and the two kids for the long shoot. Very soon he would be in a co-starring role in another TCM stalwart, High Wind in Jamaica (1965) which shot primarily on location in Jamaica, and was much more comfortable, at least as far as the weather was concerned.

You can see Charade on TCM, Thursday November 29 at 8:00 pm Eastern

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Vale James Coburn

Today is the anniversary of James Coburn's passing in 2002. He died of complications of congestive heart failure after collapsing at home. He had been spending some time that evening preparing the music play list for the upcoming family Thanksgiving Celebration.

Jim was a huge and lifelong lover of music, especially jazz and classical music. One of his favorite pieces was Stravinsky's "Rites of Spring". He credited his junior high music and choir teacher, Mrs. Spiller, with awakening a love of all kinds of music in his young teenage self.

Later, as a young adult he spent many happy summer evenings dancing to the big band jazz and swing at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa Island. In the army, one of his best friends was a musician who taught him claves, the percussion stick instrument of Cuba. In New York in the early 50's his perennial hang out was Birdland. He was very nostalgic about those great old days of music - he called them "the days of fun and frolic".

Throughout his life many of his close friends were musicians or connected to the music business, like his pal composer Herbie Kretzmer, and his other close friend Petey Kameron who once managed The Who. Perhaps his most extraordinary connection to music is his appearance on the famous cover of Paul McCartney and Wings' album "Band on the Run." And this doesn't even touch the array of fascinating artists who composed the music scores for his movies.

It is quite possible that the last things he heard in his life were the strains of some of his favorite music.

RIP James Coburn.


The James and Paula Coburn Foundation continues to pay tribute to Jim's love of music by supporting the Los Angeles Philharmonic, among other worthy causes. You can make a donation if you wish by visiting the website.

Use Your Library!

Photo: Pixabay.com

One of the most valuable resources any writer has is the public library, and I mean beyond access to the whole world of books.

Here in Los Angeles where I live, we have the Los Angeles Library system and the County Library System. With your library card and PIN, you can access for free a remarkable number of resources for learning all kinds of things including online courses from outlets that are otherwise quite expensive. These include services like Lynda.com, Gale Courses and language learning sites.

The kind of courses you can access include computer proficiency, GED and job searching skills. And you don’t necessarily have to be at the library to do it. Many of these resources are accessible remotely. Did I mention, FREE?

Meanwhile, for writers in Los Angeles – here is a page detailing how to find local writers’ groups. 

Some are free, others are fee based, and some are actually held at libraries themselves. Aren’t we lucky?

If there is one thing that will make a difference to getting your writing project finished, it is having an accountability buddy. I would probably still be muddling along with Dervish Dust, if it weren’t for mine. Your writers’ group may work to fill that role, or you may find someone to do it there.

Of course, when I was researching Dervish Dust, I visited a number of specialty libraries and also accessed material in various archives. But the public library was part of me journey too.

Veteran's Day

James wrote:"Me and the boys at work on maneuvers."

Today is Armistice Day from World War I, and tomorrow is the Veteran's Day holiday here in USA, where we honor people who have served in the Military.

I won't go in to the politics today, but I will say that the fact that there are any veterans lacking access to services, jobs or even homes should be of concern to all of us. I volunteer with a group that helps people experiencing homelessness find work, and many of the our clients are veterans.

James Coburn was a veteran. He was drafted into the Army and spent a almost 2 years in the Service Battery in Germany after WWII. He mostly enjoyed his time in the service, as you may guess from the above picture, and took advantage of the GI Bill to study acting - and we know how well that turned out!

However, Jim was not the first of his family to serve. His uncle Darrell Coburn, the eldest of the four siblings that included Jim's father, had served in World War I.  He had been inducted into the army in September of 1918, part of the last big push to wrap the thing up (the Hundred Days Offensive). In the last months the Allies were putting 100,000 men into the field every day.

Darrell was 19 at the time. He was sent to the front lines, and was fortunate to return home when it was all over. But he lived the rest of his life as an invalid, and I suspect that he had been gassed. Darrell rejoined the family business, managing the Coburn Ford car dealership in the next town over - but he and his wife never did have any children.

Very best wishes to all veterans.

Lest We Forget.