Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Move Clip Wednesdays: Best Opening Scene

I almost jinxed with Buzz and chose Natural Born Killers. Then I remembered the opening scene to one of my favorite movies, Charade, with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It features a delightful bit of repartee between the two about half way through this clip that oozes a wit and charm rarely seen in movies today.

Ladies and gentlemen, THAT is how you flirt.

And Hepburn's outfits are to DIE for.



To check out what every one else is doing this week, head on over to Milk River Madman's place.






12 comments:

Milk River Madman said...

That was awesome!! I loved how Cary wasn't taking any guff. And Audrey Hepburn. Swooning!!! Or as Wayne and Garth said SCHWING!!

Karl said...

Good morning Moi,

Why don't they make movies like that anymore? Cary Grant was such a fine talent as was Audrey Hepburn. I thoroughly enjoyed your choice.

Hope you have a great clip day!

Pam said...

Ooooh yes! And you know what I love about this movie? It is a more "mature" Cary and Audrey .... but it adds a layer of interest to them, don't you think? Not sure I agree with Emma Thompson's recent statements about Audrey not being able to act .... (she was meaning My Fair Lady) ... this is proof that she could hold her own on screen. Maybe her acting was dependent on the directing. Yeah, that's it, let's blame the director.

Jenny said...

*sigh* Two of my most favorite actors on the planet, together. GREAT pick and a nice way to start my morning. I love how the male bloggers also like it.

Happy MCW!

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Brilliant! I can see it making my top ten too.

czar said...

Sweet stuff. Hepburn would look good in anything. Wait Until Dark has always been a fave.

And I just looked up the original review of it. The movie apparently opened in NYC at Radio City Music Hall. The review is only so-so, but the capper is the final paragraph:

The stage show at the Music Hall is called "Show-time." It has the ballet company, with Maria Teresa Carrizo, Bill Martin-Viscount and James Morski as soloists; the Willa Ward Singers, Gerard Soules and his performing dogs. Fernando Pasqualone, a trumpeter, and the Rockettes, as friendly invaders from outer space.

moi said...

MRM: Well, now. Yours must be the first comment in the history of the universe to use the word "schwing" in relation to Audrey Hepburn :o)

Karl: They don't make movies like that anymore because we're not people like them anymore.

Pam: I think maybe that's because Audrey was pre-Method. It wasn't really until a few years later than this that actors starting acting, well, "real." The norm prior to that was for stylized exaggeration.

Boxer: A couple of smooth operators, for sure.

Poet: Go rent it now!

Czar: Oh, I LOVED Wait Until Dark! Truly creepy. Hepburn was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for that performance.

I love what the New York Times said: "[it] has so many grisly touches in it and runs to violence so many times the people bringing their youngsters to see the annual Nativity pageant and the Christmas stage show may blanch in horror when it comes on.

That sounds almost quaint by today's standards.

Aunty Belle said...

that is charmin'! Doan ya reckon they had more fun then? I mean, wif' real flirting, real tasty appetizer course afore the entree?

A. H. wuz the best thang to happen to Givenchy.

moi said...

Aunty: I suspect there was an art to human interaction that we've lost today in our haste to get to the point.

I think Audrey made Givenchy, too. All his best work was done for her. The perfume L'Interdit was inspired by and most likely made for her, and it's one of the house's best. When Givenchy retired in 1995, he sold the company to LVMH (which wields more power in the luxury commodity market than God), which at least had the good sense to hire John Galliano and McQueen for a few years. Since 2005, Riccardo Tisci has been at the helm, and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about his work. A tad bit too "dark."

LaDivaCucina said...

Yes, indeed, people back then (at least in the movies) were much more sophisticated at flirting. I imagine today her comments would puzzle a guy or he'd think she was being a bitch! Like Sean Connery, I love Cary at any age! I would not have been so nice had that brat squirted me in the face in winter! Over the edge his gun would go...ooops! Sorry!

Buzz Kill said...

I've never seen this movie but the dialog between Grant and Hepburn was pretty funny. There were some odd things in the scene that made me laugh:

The little kid with the German Luger. That was back when toy guns were authentic looking. Try doing that today and that kid would have been face planted into the pavement by violent security guards.

The women walking out of the pool area and leaving the big glass window open. What, DO YOU LIVE IN A BARN?

Grant not picking up on the over-the-top flirting by Hepurn. He could have nailed her right there on the cafe table. Bwahahaha

Good choice and Happy MCW!

moi said...

La Diva: Did you notice how Audrey's character called the child "it"? Bwahahahaha!

Buzz: He could have, but in that day, he would have bought her dinner and champagne first :o).