MovieChat Forums > Charade (1963) Discussion > Tex and the matches

Tex and the matches

posted 15 years ago by resdog781
6 replies | jump to latest

When Tex had Reggie cornered in the phone booth and kept flicking lit matches at her, he dangled them in front of her well long enough for her to blow them out each time before he could drop them on her.

i love this movie, but that one scene kinda bothered me, and it makes me laugh when i think about how they could've played that scene with Reggie standing up for herself a little by blowing out each of Tex's matches before he could drop them on her like some old screwball comedy, before he got fed up and say, pulled a gun or knife, pulling the scene back to a serious tone again.

[–] thewholeview 15 years ago

I just finished watching it and I expected her to blow it atleast one of the matches out but may be they wanted to show that she was not as clever when in pressure as the crooks she was dealing with.

[–] murph24 15 years ago

it makes me laugh when i think about how they could've played that scene with Reggie standing up for herself a little by blowing out each of Tex's matches

Except at this particular moment in the film, Reggie isn't in a "stand up for herself" frame of mind; her mental state is closer to "I'm having a nervous breakdown" (as the last line in the scene makes clear). Reggie only knows one thing about these men - they're suspected of MURDERING her husband - so the way she reacts to Tex's menacing behavior is very believable and consistent with both the situation and the way her character has been established.

Besides, having Reggie huffing & puffing & blowing out matches might have looked unintentionally comic; filmgoers might have thought she was paying tribute to the Big Bad Wolf.

[–] ecarle 15 years ago

A terrified person has a great deal of trouble BREATHING, let alone trying to blow out a match.

[–] westsalemcongress 13 years ago

I always thought that this was a truly terrifying moment in the film especially since the truly evil Alan Arkin character in Wait Until Dark terrorizes a blind Audrey Hepburn also by using matches.

[–] km9000 13 years ago

I had the same reaction when I saw it, but I guess in hindsight, maybe she was just scared that if she showed that kind of defiance to a dangerous headcase like Tex, she'd probably end up with something worse than dropped matches. I probably would. Maybe it doesn't really come across that well in today's more jaded world, but maybe back then it did.

And the scene helps further establish Tex's character as a dangerous headcase, and not some goofball villain to be taken lightly.

[–] washcloud 9 years ago

...blowing Coburn out of fear for her life sounds more legit.
Blowing out his matches though, not likely.

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