One of Donen 's most praised films was '' Charade '' ( 1963 ) , starring Cary Grant , Audrey Hepburn , Walter Matthau , James Coburn , George Kennedy and Ned Glass . Donen said that he had " always wanted to make a movie like one of my favorites , Hitchcock 's '' North by Northwest '' " and the film has been referred to as " the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made . " '' Charade '' was produced by Stanley Donen Productions , released through Universal and adapted by Peter Stone from his own novel . Reggie Lampert ( Hepburn ) discovers that her husband has been murdered and ( at least ) three sinister men are all searching for the $ 250,000 in gold that he had hidden somewhere . Peter Joshua ( Grant ) befriends Reggie and helps her fight off the three thugs while the two begin to fall in love . The film was released in December 1963 , only two weeks after the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy , and the word " assassinate " had to be redubbed twice . It was Donen 's most financially successful film and influenced a number of romantic comedy-thrillers released in the years following it . Film critic Judith Crist called it a " stylish and amusing melodrama " , and Pauline Kael said it had " a freshness and spirit that makes it unlike the films of any other country " and was " probably the best American film of 1963 " . It was remade as '' The Truth About Charlie '' ( 2002 ) , directed by Jonathan Demme
assassination of US President John F. Kennedy
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Stanley Donen