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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