Customer Reviews

Charade (1963 Film)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you've seen the movie you don't have to be convinced that this is one of the most effective soundtracks ever produced. What you may not realize is how strong these pieces are individually. Often without the visuals and storyline of the film soundtracks can be a little mundane. They are written to compliment the movie not take it over. Charade is one of the strongest movies ever made. The cast, director, writers and crew all were at peak when this film was done. So was Mancini. The pounding and complex title theme is a brilliant intro to the plot twists that will baffle all first time viewers.The same song played later and softer with the beautiful lyrics barely touching our conciousness, is proof of how versatile the piece is as Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn fall in love in Paris to the same tune that a short while ago was signalling menace and danger.And maybe it still is signalling caution to Audrey. Does she really know any thing about this handsome stranger? Watch the film and find out! So many other works on this album are so affecting and effective. If you need a romantic piece for candlelight dinner try "Bateau Mouche" and the vocal rendition of the theme. You'll get points for romance every time.

My mother bought the album shortly after the movie debuted in winter of 1963 and our entire family fell in love with it immediately. Being only eight when the movie was released, I did not see it until the early 1970's and was not disappointed. Like a prior reviewer, I do agree that "The Drip-Dry Waltz" and its accompanying sequence were a low-point in an otherwise stellar and entertaining movie and soundtrack. I'm not too fond of "Goodbye, Charlie", either.

My favorites are the three versions of the title track, the best being the instrumental played over the opening credits. Also the beautiful "Latin Snowfall", the romantic "Bateau Mouche", the energetic "Orange Tamoure" and the joyful "Bistro". The soundtrack and the movie are a snapshot of more innocent times, which were shattered by the assassination of JFK by the time the film was released. This was Cary Grant's swan song as leading man, this last time to the beautiful Audrey Hepburn, and this film was a true last gasp of the romance and sophistication of old Paris, and the death of a pre-Beatlemania world where cultural standards were still set by adults. The soundtrack is a fitting tribute to this world, soon to vanish, and stands on its own as not only a great soundtrack, but one of the final great mood music albums.

Of the great 1960s film composers, Lalo Shifrin, Jerry Goldsmith, Quincy Jones, a stack of others, Henry Mancini may have been the most well rounded. He was actually retro: a lot of his work is based on tangos, waltzes, and orchestral music/

But Mancini had a gift of making music square in lesser hands swing, and on Cherade, this is starkly and delightfully highlighted.

Cherade was a light thriller--basically a more comic Wait Until Dark where Audry Hepburn can see and is being chased by themes. For the score, Mancini uses a lot of tango, and some orchestral tracks.

But even in 2010, this music never sounds dated. The melodies hold up so well, and the orchestrations are kept so tasteful, this works where a Percy Faith track would date terribly. As jazz and orchestral, will get into your skin with its undenialble Mancini charm

If you don't have this CD, buy it now. Perfect theme music for every occasion. One of Mancini's greatest.

This album is a great collection of some of the best cool-jazz sounds of the early-60's. The excellent and memorable main title draws you in quickly and, btw, loosely establishes the blueprint from which the otherwise diverse selections are derived - but they're more related to each other, and to the main theme, by timing than by melody. This strategy allowed Mancini to write instrumentals as if they were (and in hopes they would become) contemporary instrumental hits of their day, each a separate and distinct track unto itself. Some other Mancini soundtracks bear this pattern, like "Hatari". Originally the vocal version of the main theme (The Ray Coniff Singers) faired very well on the charts, but it's the cool-jazz tracks (7 in all) that hold the most interest for me. Their interest holds up very well indeed, but at least 2 absolutely transcend: "Megeve" and "Latin Snowfall". "Snowfall" has the most relaxed feel of the bunch, the almost downright romantic 'dreaminess' of which seems itself a throwback to the 40's. But, even though we listen to this CD with at least some measure of nostalgia for the 60's, this 'nostaligia-within-nostalgia' effect never negatively intrudes into the experience - in fact it only seems to sell you on it all the more.

Moreover, these are fantastic musicians; the mostly Latin-tinged percussion (I for one don't mind Mancini's seemingly unrelated fascination with latin rythms) absolutely slams, swings, glides and grooves. The perfect and captivating solos, by turns, smoke, cook and glow. All of it is so sumptuously done, always pulling out all the stops compositionally, and with consistently above-and-beyond levels of vituoso playing - and yet the overall effect is never over the top - I mean, that just wouldn't be cool, now would it?

All of this is more than enough, but you may find still more in the remaining tracks. "Punch and Judy" is pure fun and exuberance, and is at least an enjoyable listen. But, "Goodbye Charlie" surprised me. From the film experience I assumed it was, at best, simply an ersatz funereal dirge, but hearing it on this CD, I pleasantly found it to be wonderfully crafted - most rewarding, depite that I obviously can't recommend it as party music(!).

There are currently a dizzying array of editions of this album, some now in print and some not, but I strongly suspect all have the same content and number of tracks. The edition I have is the "XRCD2" version imported from Japan, originally meant for Japan's borders. There's also a corresponding version meant for export that is exactly the same pressing, but with English liner notes (I bought the printed Japanese-language version simply because I found it for a few bucks less). This "XRCD2" (a tedious CD pressing method) version is a true audiophile edition that thankfully bypasses the screwy 1960's "Dynagroove" equalization developed by RCA for their selected LP's back in the day (including this title) by transferring to CD straight from the original-session, 3-track masters. If you like to be picky about sound quality, as do I, I can tell you flat out: this disc is the real deal. I have a fairly resolving HiFi and these instruments, percussion and vocals really do sound as though they were laid down on tape yesterday. The closest thing to an exception I can think of is that the lush, massed violins here sound, comparatively, faintly canned, apparently because they were recorded separately and not live along with the rest of the musicians, evidently since the critical timing of the musicianship involved at that point was not an issue and could be done at a later time - but, the impact on the overall sound is far from fatal. Apart from that, the rest of the disc exhibits truly faultless sound quality - in tonality, dimension, timing and clarity - considerably above what one might even have the right to expect from the original 1963 recording date! - (some of which from that vintage are known to stand tall with the best work of modern-day recording engineers). I don't know how close other editions come to this one, I haven't heard any of them. All I know is that I paid $32, new, for this one and it was worth every penny, but I will say that if you're just not that into sound quality, other editions must surely be recommendable on content alone! If you like Mancini, or any kind of cool jazz, it's a must-have.

This is great cocktail party music. I don't know what it is about it, but it just reminds me of martinis and cosmopolitans. I just love this soundtrack. Every track is unique and zippy with lots of flair with probably the exception being the "Drip Dry Waltz" which wasn't one of my favorite parts of the movie either.

Latin Snowfall is particularly appealing to me and be sure to go back and watch the scene of Audrey Hepburn skiing in France to enjoy the track along with the movie.

This was always was one of my favorite soundtracks, from when the LP was first issued. This remastered CD is a treasure and represents one of the best from Mr. Mancini.

As a "Mancini-phile" I snatched up this CD, hooked by the 5-star cudos of my fellow reviewers. I mean, if you "get" Mancini you spread the word, rught? I must say I was a little dissappointed with this issue for a couple reasons. First, I can't read Japanese, so the liner notes are useless. A great piece of music needs thoughtful, comprehensive liner notes to add information and color commentary...to put the music into context. Secondly, some of the cuts just don't measure up. There are annoying disruptions to the otherwise imminently listenable score, namely the "carousel" numbers - 2 of 'em - that are simply tedious one-dimensional diddies; the 2nd one, the last track, concludes the CD with all the subtlety and listening pleasure of a door being slammed- shut in your face! The "Charade" vocal is a warmed-over Ray Coniff Singers number with none of melancholy soulfulness and elegance of "Moon River" or "The Days of Wine and Roses" (if I could read Japanese I might have learned that the Ray Coniff Singers actually performed this one...).

Still, there are great moments here! Most notably the early, early "007"like theme; the sultry / smooth jazziness of "Megeve"; the intoxicating accordion & violin stroll-along-the-rive-gauche "Bateau Mouche"; the sorrowful "Bye-Bye Charlie"; the wacky, frentic "Orange Tamour" (I could swear I heard this played on "Pee-Wee's Playhouse"); the B@Tiffany's-like sophistication of "Latin Snowfall"; the coyness of "The Drip-Dry Waltz"; the head-on hipness of "Mambo Parisienne" (oh la la! dig ze crazy seine, non! );the truly amazing circus ring romp of "Punch & Judy" - musical gymnastics that make you think you've been temporarily transported to Felini's "Clowns", with Nino Rota at the baton!

All-in-all, not a bad investment!

This xrcd2 is one of Mancini's FINEST works.
A true sonic delight !
Don't miss this Super Remastered CD.

I did not give it any stars as I returned this article. It was written in Chinese/Japanese and I did not appreciate that. It was in the front cover and the song listing on the back of the cover was also in another language. I speak and read ENGLISH only.