REFLECTING ON ARABESQUE & PETER STONE
CHARADE
Charade
(1963) A woman's husband is killed, drawing her into a web of
mysterious characters and intrigue. Director/Stanley Donen,
Writer/Peter Stone, Cinematographer/Charles Lang, Music/Henry Mancini, Titles/Maurice Binder, Cast: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, James Coburn, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy.
Often
called one of the best Hitchcock films that Hitchcock never made,
Charade is a masterful mix of murder, spies, and romance. Bruce Eder
describes the film as a unique thriller with a female lead amidst the
male fantasy-dominated surge of spy thrillers in the early-to-mid 1960s.
The
stars literally aligned to bring Peter Stone's first screenplay,
Charade, to the screen. The script was written with Cary Grant in mind,
and Stone hoped to land Donen because he knew the director would give
the story its essential Parisian flavor. After a brief snag in
turn-around, the project came together to become the classic it is
today. As Peter Stone and Stanley Donen mention in their commentary on
the Criterion DVD, the cast and crew were able to blend mystery and
suspense with humor -a mixture that many imitators failed at because
they often let their films stray too far into exaggeration. Charade is
a greatly satisfying film that succeeds, I believe because, beyond the
style, plot twists, and witty dialog, are characters that evoke empathy
by their sincerity to the emotional arc of the story. The dangers and
the romantic chemistry feel real. Hepburn and Grant carry the range of
the script perfectly. Writer Peter Stone remarks that old movie
performances often seem like dated products of their time, but that the
cast of Charade brought vulnerability that is timeless- a quality that
adds to the film's longevity.
ARABESQUE
Arabesque
(1966) A university professor is asked to translate a cipher, drawing
him into a web of international intrigue. Director/Stanley Donen,
Writer/Peter Stone, Cinematographer/Christopher Challis, Music/Henry
Mancini, Titles/Maurice Binder, Cast: Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Alan
Badel.
Writer Peter Stone and director Stanley Donen teamed once again to create
Arabesque. Hoping to capture lightning in a bottle twice, Arabesque
brought together a similar alchemy of intrigue, style, humor, European
locations, and stars. The film reunited some key artists that gave
Charade its intoxicating allure. Donen and Stone were joined by
composer Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther) and title designer Maurice
Binder (James Bond series). Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck replaced
Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant in the feature roles.
The
film is highly visual. Like The Ipcress File, there is a clear effort
to push the photography in interesting ways. To echo the plot/character
twists and the overall theme of duplicity, many scenes are filmed as
reflections- in water, windows, TV screens, on metal, in fish tanks,
through chandeliers, and most often- in mirrors. When characters were
not photographed in reflection, they were often shot in frames within
frames. Though some viewers may feel the approach is too heavy-handed,
the photographer in me loved it. Christopher Challis (A Dandy in Aspic,
Kaleidoscope, A Shot in the Dark) won the BAFTA award for Best
Cinematography.
        
Another
element to the film's highly stylized look is the costume design by
Christian Dior. Sophia Loren is absolutely ravishing, and one can
understand why Peter Sellers (and generations of men around the world)
had a crush on her! She plays a wonderful, albeit cartoony, woman of
mystery, who generates much of the plot twists as her allegiances flip
again and again, much as Cary Grant's character did in Charade.
  
The
baddie Beshraavi, played by Alan Badel, is equally cartoony (and almost
a Peter Sellers homage with his thick-framed glasses and accent). Peter
Stone loved to give his characters quirks. One of the very fun elements
of Arabesque is Beshraavi's erotic relationship with Loren as a foot
fetishist- played out wonderfully in a scene where he presents her with
a new collection of shoes to try on. Donen wisely ran these scenes
fairly straight, giving the film playful nods to sexuality and style
without falling into parody or slapstick.
        
Where
the film fails to live up to Charade is, surprisingly, with its stars
and with its script. Except for one memorable scene inside the zoo and
aquarium, there is little sense of true danger or suspense in the
story. Loren and Peck run through a number of well-choreographed and
stylish escapes- including one on horseback from machine gun-toting
baddies in a red helicopter! But there is ultimately not enough peril,
or romantic chemistry, to sustain empathy from the viewer.
Stone
had worked with Gregory Peck in Mirage, but it is clear that Cary
Grant's rhythm was stuck in the writer's ear during Arabesque. Indeed,
it appears that the role was meant for Grant. I've read that Gregory
Peck would smile when he found the humor awkward and would say to the
director, "Remember, I'm no Cary Grant." Unfortunately, Peck could not
deliver his scenes with the kind of sincerity, wit, or vulnerability
that I think would have elevated the film greatly. Peck's performance
seems forced at times. Although the film never strays as far as
exaggeration, Arabesque does lean toward style over substance. That
said, however, I really enjoyed the film for its photography, costumes,
the playful sexuality between Loren and Badel- for its Spy Vibe!
MIRAGE
Mirage
(1965) A man with amnesia struggles to learn his identity and to escape
a web of murder and intrigue. Director/Edward Dmytryk, Writer/Peter
Stone, Cinematographer/Joseph MacDonald, Music/Quincy Jones, Cast:
Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy.
Peter
Stone's Mirage, released one year before Arabesque, played often on NYC
area stations when I was growing up in the 70s. It's a much less
stylish film, but it has a memorable tone of mystery. In the film Peck
has amnesia and suffers from a reoccurring flashback of a man falling
from a window in a high-rise office building. Like Charade and
Arabesque, the dialog is still fairly snappy, but Peck handles the more
serious tone of the film well. In one scene, Peck hires Walter Matthau
as a private detective. It's Mattau's first case (he looks to be a
bargain basement choice as a gumshoe), and the two share a fun moment
of dialog that celebrates his inadequacies and the spy craze of the
times:
Peck: Wouldn't it be hilarious if you did know what you're doing?
Matthau: Yeah. Then how come I don't know what to do next?
Peck: Well, pretend you're James Bond. He always knows.
Matthau: Hey, maybe we ought to get something to eat. I'm dying for a peanut butter sandwich.
Peck: Forget James Bond.
Peter
Stone and Gregory Peck's thrillers, Arabesque and Mirage -both long
overdue for DVD release- were included in the Gregory Peck boxset
(released fall/2008).
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