Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) returns from her vacation to find her Paris apartment stripped bare and her husband missing. She has hardly finished walking the empty rooms when a police inspector reveals that her husband is dead. Though he reportedly earned $250,000 from selling the contents of the apartment, no money is found among his meager possessions. Where is the money?
At her husband's funeral, three men arrive to view the body; none of them seem to mourn his passing. Leopold sneezed on the corpse, Tex (James Coburn) held a mirror under his nose to test for breathing, and Herman (George Kennedy) stabbed his hand with a pin. Soon after, each visits Regina and demands the money. However, she has an ally. While on vacation, she met Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) and he has arrived to offer condolences and otherwise assist her. She is soon falling for him. She is also contacted by Hamilton Bartholomew (Walter Matthau), a bureaucrat from the American Embassy with ties to the CIA. He explains that her husband had stolen US money during WWII with 4 other men but then absconded with all the money. He assures her that the money is still out there and she should find it before the others do. If not, one of them is sure to do to her what happened to her husband.
Though directed by Stanley Donen, it has an Alfred Hitchcock vibe. Throughout the movie, one is never sure whose side Cary Grant is on. He has a variety of aliases and backstories that are highly suspect. Still, he is ridiculously charming and Regina finds him irresistible. There is a peculiar mix of humor and danger; at times, it feels like Grant is in a zany comedy while the rest of the cast are in a suspense-thriller. Even so, it is quite entertaining and recommended.
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