Topaz (1969)

Nutzer-Bewertung:

6.2/10   

Regisseur:

Alfred Hitchcock

Drehbuchautoren:

Leon Uris (novel)
Samuel A. Taylor (screenplay)

Premierendatum:

19. Dezember 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Krimi | Thriller

Werbezeile:

Hitchcock takes you behind the actual headlines to expose the most explosive spy scandal of the century!

Plot:

A French intelligence agent becomes embroiled in the Cold War politics first with uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis, and then back to France to break up an international Russian spy ring.

Plot Keywords:

Espionage | Paris | Father Daughter Relationship | Factory Tour | Escape

Auszeichnungen:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Nutzerkommentare:

Atypical Hitchcock

Besetzung

Frederick Stafford	...	Andre Devereaux
Dany Robin	...	Nicole Devereaux
John Vernon	...	Rico Parra
Karin Dor	...	Juanita de Cordoba
Michel Piccoli	...	Jacques Granville
Philippe Noiret	...	Henri Jarre
Claude Jade	...	Michele Picard
Michel Subor	...	Francois Picard
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	Philippe Dubois
Per-Axel Arosenius	...	Boris Kusenov
John Forsythe	...	Michael Nordstrom
Edmon Ryan	...	McKittreck
Sonja Kolthoff	...	Mrs. Kusenov
Tina Hedström	...	Tamara Kusenov (as Tina Hedstrom)
John Van Dreelen	...	Claude Martin

Alternativ:

Topas (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

143 Min | 127 Min (edited version)

Land:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe (Technicolor)

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Altersfreigabe:

Spain:18 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:PG (DVD rating) | Iceland:12 | UK:A (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1970) | Peru:14 | Sweden:11 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Drehorte:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Firma:

Universal Pictures

Dies und das:

This was the second appearance of Karin Dor in an English Language Feature but the first time her own voice was kept in the original version. She has appeared in You Only Live Twice (1967) two years before but was dubbed by another English actress then.

Pannen:

Crew oder Equipment sichtbar: In the porcelain factory, after breaking the statuette, Tamara Kusenov goes through a door to make a telephone call. The goon following her moves towards the door, now closed, to investigate it, and the shadow of a man appears briefly on the wall to the left of the door before we cut away from the shot... and it is not the shadow of the goon...

Dialogzitate:

Francois Picard: I've been shot...Just a little.

Querbezüge:

Ausschnittsweise enthalten in 'Topaz': An Appreciation by Film Critic/Historian Leonard Maltin (2001) (V)

Atypical Hitchcock

Like so many Hollywood talents, Hitchcock was stereotyped. Also like so many Hollywood talents, whenever he tried to escape stereotyping, he would get criticized. That certainly was the case with TOPAZ. Although not as humorous, nor as romantic, nor even as exciting as the director's best films, the movie is nonetheless an intelligent and intriguing spy drama, one that compares more to a motion picture like DAY OF THE JACKYL than usual Hitchcock fare.

His other spy dramas, like NORTH BY NORTHWEST, may be more fun, but none of them are as realistic. In fact, very few spy films have the authenticity as TOPAZ. The story is based on fact. In 1962, a Russian top-level KGB defector informed the U.S. that some very high-level French diplomats, in a group called "Sapphire", were selling secrets to the Soviet Union. TIME Magazine printed this story in April 26, 1968, and did so using the same source that Leon Uris did: the U.S. sympathizing (and exiled) former Chief of French Intelligence, Philippe Thyraud de Vosjoli.

Incidentally, a viewer needs to know the chronology and key events surrounding the 1962 Cuban Missile Crises as background, or else the film will be confusing. I suspect many critics condemn it because it's easier for them to dismiss the film rather than confront their own ignorance.

Not that this movie is without weaknesses. Hitchcock was no realist, and the grim world of films like THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD is probably the type of ambiance it should have presented, but doesn't. However, I definitely join the camp of those who consider it underrated. I read writers on Hitchcock who unthinkingly rank TOPAZ with his worst stuff, and yet many of us prefer it over THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, MR. AND MRS. SMITH, and other Hitchcock works that don't get castigated as nearly as much. I can't help but suspect they receive less criticism because they are more typical Hitchcock. This film is atypical Hitchcock, so readjust your expectations accordingly.