Torn Curtain
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Brian Moore
1966/US
Universal Pictures/Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] “I did not have to act in ‘Torn Curtain’. I merely went along for the ride. I don’t feel that the part demanded much of me, other than to look glamorous, which Mr. Hitchcock can always arrange better than anyone. I did have reservations about this film, but I wasn’t agonized by it. The kick of it was working for Hitchcock. That’s what I did it for, and that’s what I got out of it.” – Julie Andrews[/box]
The Master disappoints in this, his 50th film. Still quite watchable though if only to gaze at Paul Newman and Julie Andrews in their prime.
Professor Michael Armstrong (Newman) is a genius nuclear scientist. He has been working with his faithful assistant and fiancee Sarah Sherman (Andrews) on a device that will render offensive nuclear weapons obsolete. Simultaneously, an East German scientist is working on the same idea. Out of scientific curiousity, he agrees to pretend to defect to East Germany so he can talk to his counterpart and then escape to the West. He tells Sarah nothing of his plans but departs, he says, for Sweden. She learns he’s on a plane to East Berlin and books herself a ticket.
The remainder of the film is devoted to cloak-and-dagger intrigue between amateur spy Armstrong and the East German Intelligence Service. The high point is protracted hand-to-hand combat between Armstrong and the agent who has discovered his secret.
This was a first-time viewing and I found it distinctly odd. Its script really lets it down. Hitch could neither make me believe that anything resembling the farfetched plot could have taken place behind the Iron Curtain nor make me suspend my disbelief. The patriotism was somehow off as well. Andrews spends virtually all her time wringing her hands and looking good. Not a winner in my book. Still I did pay attention for the entire run-time which is more than I can say for some other films in my seemingly endless journey through 1966.
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