MovieChat Forums > Charade (1963) Discussion > Bosley Crowther Review

Bosley Crowther Review

posted 11 years ago by pgamiz4353
3 replies | jump to latest

I Know that this was a different era and Crowther loathed films that glorified violence, but his complaints about Charade's "violence" seemed kind of ridiculous. He calls the rooftop scene "one brutal sequence," and says the movie is "full of such gruesome violence." I really don't know what I'm getting at here, but I really love this movie and it's frustrating to see a critic pick it apart and discredit it just because of minor instances of violence (can't even imagine what he would say about Tarantino movies!)

Here's the link to his review: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE6DA1E30EF3BBC4E53DFB46783 88679EDE

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

You're right! Half the review is spent condemning "the violence", which frequently is only suggested anyway and almost laughably tame by today's standards. He kind of begrudgingly praises the film in the second half of his review.

He WAS, as you say from a different era and obviously prudish about certain things depicted onscreen.

[–] DryToast 11 years ago

He WAS, as you say from a different era and obviously prudish about certain things depicted onscreen.

By the time Charade came out, Crowther was even considered out of step with his own times for his prudishness. Just a few years later he was pretty much laughed out his career for his relentless condemnation of Bonnie and Clyde.

"You must sing him your prettiest songs, then perhaps he will want to marry you."

[–] Hermies_Purrbuckets 10 years ago

Yet ironically, Mr. Crowther was correct on both counts: Charade and Bonnie & Clyde are both highly over-rated pieces of junk. Not because they are violent, but just because they are so obvious.