Life is a Charade
Life is a “Charade” or, at least, Peter Stone believed it was...
It has been described as a romantic comedy mystery film, which is no easy feat. Indeed, it is recognized for masterfully spanning three genres: suspense thriller, romance, and comedy. It takes a very adept writer to be able to pen such a impactful script. Charade was praised widely and has been called “the best Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made.” And in 2022, the film was even selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The Library of Congress cited this movie for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” Oh, it’s significant alright, but my personal reasoning may be interesting to you.
Charade was a movie produced in 1963 that starred such Hollywood heavyweights as Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn, and George Kennedy whose embittered character had more than a chip on his shoulder for losing his hand during war times. Herman, the iconic character, was forced to don a hook, a tool that proved to be both amusing and frightening for the audience. But, I digress.
I love this movie for a myriad of reasons. I have watched it countless times and am well versed in the film’s folklore in regards to the making of it. For example, Cary Grant was reticent to take the role (his character goes by numerous aliases throughout the movie, but I won’t divulge too much more...you know, spoilers more than 60 years after it came out) because he felt the age difference between the ethereal Hepburn and him was far too significant for them to be romantic leads. In fact, his character constantly pokes fun at their age difference through crisp banter and humorous dialogue.
I could go on and on about how the movie impacted me as a viewer, but I want to take a moment to reflect on how it was significant for me as a screenwriter. And how it could possibly be for you as well.
You see, Peter Stone’s script for Charade took a pretty circuitous route from page to screen. In fact, it was rejected all over Hollywood. Co written with screenwriter, Marc Behm, the script was originally titled The Unsuspecting Wife. It made the rounds around Tinsel Town and guess what? Rejected virtually everywhere! I’m sure Stone and Beam were dejected, defeated, and desirous of sitting in a corner somewhere to bemoan their tragic professional fate. Stone even admitted that he submitted his script “everywhere and nobody wanted it.” Sound familiar? Almost every writer worth his, her, or their salt will feel the sting of rejection. It comes down to whether or not, as the scribe, you let that sting poison your process or if you look for the creative antidote as Stone did.
Stone’s agent, Robert Lance, suggested that he turn the script into a novel. Ultimately, it was published with excerpts even printed in Redbook, a very popular American magazine at the time. Following the success of the novel, Stone sold the script to the incomparable film director, Stanley Donen. Explaining why he chose Donen, Stone remarked, "One, was he was the only person who hadn't seen it before and I felt silly selling it to the people who rejected it. Two, It got me out of New York, which at that point I wanted to...And three, Stanley got stars, and I had written with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in mind”.
What a turnaround for a script that had been rejected so consistently! Stone didn’t give up on his genius; he just reconfigured it. Also, he found somebody to whom the script spoke. Donen clearly had a vision (I mean the guy was responsible for Singin’ In The Rain) and the ensemble cast was perfect.
Another thing Stone did was to be a significant part of the process. There’s space on a film set for everybody and that might be something screenwriters should insist for themselves if we look to Stone as an example. He claimed to be on set every day with very positive results.According to Stone’s account, “There were few hands involved, It was just Stanley...and me and the actors, and we all worked it out together. It was an absolutely grand experience.” And so positive was the experience, Universal, who made Charade, promptly signed Stone to write two more films: Mirage, based on a novel by Howard Fast, and Father Goose, based on a story by Frank Tarloff, which Stone did at the behest of Cary Grant, who wanted to star. When Charade came out, it was a huge success and Stone signed an exclusive five-picture deal with Universal. Talk about things turning around for the determined screenwriter!
Even though I had to look a little far and wide for this book, (well, not really, I just went to Amazon) I got a copy of the original to serve as my own personal inspiration. The yellowed copy sits on my desk as a reminder that there are no easy ways to get a movie made, but if the story is good and written with passion and commitment, it will find a home, be it on screen or on paper. As writers, we have to develop a thick skin when it comes to rejection, even if we are covered in band aid from bleeding out for our art. That reminds me of a sad and interesting fact about the movie.
When the film was released at Christmas 1963, Audrey Hepburn's line, "at any moment we could be assassinated", was dubbed over with "at any moment we could be eliminated" due to the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The dubbed word stood out quite clearly but was sensitive to America’s lost president, so official video releases of the film have since restored the original dialogue, though some public domain videos taken from original release prints still carry the dubbed line. Interesting...
A story within itself. Now, go out there and write your own personal Charade...At the very least, watch this flick in its entirety. You, too, might pen your own Charade...