The vendor's husband, Peter Stone, wrote the screenplay for Charade and, as the vendor was the same size as Audrey Hepburn, he acquired this coat and dress for his wife at the end of filming.

The plot of Charade hinges on a valuable set of stamps and a case of mistaken identity. Audrey Hepburn as Reggie Lambert is seeking to find out how her husband, Charles, has been killed. This coat is seen in the build up to the climax of the film when she and Adam [Cary Grant] go to the stamp fair in the park; it is here that they realise the significance of the stamps on the letter sent to Reggie by her husband. She is still wearing the coat in the final chase sequence through the metro and streets of Paris, culminating in the theatre scene when Adam [Cary Grant] prevents Mr Bartholemew [Walter Matthau] from killing Reggie. The dress is first seen worn underneath a rain coat when Reggie is talking to Adam in a phone booth trying to establish his identity, and later in the hotel room after Adam's fight with Herman Scobie [George Kennedy] as she tends to the wounds on his back.

Photographs supplied by BFI stills
C Universal Pictures