Movie Music: Henry Mancini's "Charade" (1963)

Is there any composer at all who embodies '60s cool so completely as Henry Mancini? Yeah, didn't think so. And nowhere does his music exude cool so much as in the soundtrack for Charade (1963).  It's a thrilling adventure that stars Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and James Coburn and Walter Matthau and George Kennedy, and if you want to know more about it, you can read my review here.

If you like cool '60s movies OR rompy mysteries OR classy, sassy movies with a Hitchcock vibe, then you need watch this movie. But if you don't have time to watch it just this minute, you can hang out here and listen to a few of my favorites from the soundtrack. 

"Main Title" has this sexy, lounge-y theme set over some very tense and insistent percussion. Like someone telling you to run away from the bad guys, but be sure to look really fetching while you do so. 

"Megeve" has that mellow '60s sound going on -- a good rhythm to keep life moving along, but overall it's laid-back and happy to just hang out in the background while you sip a few cocktails and discuss who's cooler, Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. 

"The Drip-Dry Waltz" comes from that super-famous scene where Cary Grant takes a shower, fully clothed. Oh yes, he does, in his own charming Cary Grant way, and it's a scene almost guarantee it will make you laugh (and want to watch the whole movie -- that's what happened to me. I saw this scene in some sort of PBS program when I was a teen and could not rest until I'd found and watched the whole movie). But anyway, the song is a frothy little bit of adorableness that perfectly matches the scene in every respect. 

If you want, you can listen to the whole album here on YouTube!

(This review originally appeared here at J and J Productions on May 10, 2016.)