I recently watched Charade and Paris when it Sizzles. (I needed some Audrey for a little pick-me-up.)
Charade was a fun who-done-it sort of thing with twists (some expected, and at least one very unexpected, in my opinion). Who stole the money? Who can you trust? And maybe there is a romance involved? ... It is an Audrey movie...
*It is also fun to note that Cary Grant turned down the role along side Audrey in How to Steal a Million (that O'Toole got) because he thought he was too old for her love interest (26 years older). He was still hesitant with the role in Charade, but the script was re-written so that lines originally made for him to pursue Audrey were switched so Audrey pursued him. I found this to be a nice, unexpected change to her character.
In Paris when it Sizzles, Audrey is working as a typist for a screenwriter (William Holden, who she also worked with in Sabrina) who needs to write a movie in a few days. I did not know the premise coming in, and I tend to find that movies from the point of view of a movie writer rarely work well. Paris when it sizzles is no exception. It is all over the place. Sure, it captures the possible haphazard thought-process of a writer, but I prefer the polished end-product of a well constructed movie. *Apparently, Audrey herself thought something similar - she had fun making the movie but it has been noted (by her son) that this was her least favorite movie in her body of work.
It did work well to watch these back-to-back, since they were both filmed in Paris back-to-back. So in terms of chronological order, the way Audrey did it, this makes sense. Otherwise, the films are very tonally different. I recommend Charade but could do without Paris when it Sizzles.
* = facts courtesy of IMDB
Charade was a fun who-done-it sort of thing with twists (some expected, and at least one very unexpected, in my opinion). Who stole the money? Who can you trust? And maybe there is a romance involved? ... It is an Audrey movie...
*It is also fun to note that Cary Grant turned down the role along side Audrey in How to Steal a Million (that O'Toole got) because he thought he was too old for her love interest (26 years older). He was still hesitant with the role in Charade, but the script was re-written so that lines originally made for him to pursue Audrey were switched so Audrey pursued him. I found this to be a nice, unexpected change to her character.
In Paris when it Sizzles, Audrey is working as a typist for a screenwriter (William Holden, who she also worked with in Sabrina) who needs to write a movie in a few days. I did not know the premise coming in, and I tend to find that movies from the point of view of a movie writer rarely work well. Paris when it sizzles is no exception. It is all over the place. Sure, it captures the possible haphazard thought-process of a writer, but I prefer the polished end-product of a well constructed movie. *Apparently, Audrey herself thought something similar - she had fun making the movie but it has been noted (by her son) that this was her least favorite movie in her body of work.
It did work well to watch these back-to-back, since they were both filmed in Paris back-to-back. So in terms of chronological order, the way Audrey did it, this makes sense. Otherwise, the films are very tonally different. I recommend Charade but could do without Paris when it Sizzles.
* = facts courtesy of IMDB
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