Topaz

Topaz (1969)

Runtime: 143 minutes

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Karin Dor, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret

From: Universal

In my last review until early next week-as starting on Thursday I'll be out of state for a few days and I need to prepare for the journey-I will reveal why this movie was more enjoyable to me than apparently many other people. Many people at the time did not care for this serious version of a spy adventure and there are plenty of film fans today who feel the same way. Me, I thought this was pretty good.

Simply, it was an interesting story-to me-concerning French spy Andre Devereaux getting wrapped up in the Cuban Missile Crises of 1962 between the United States and Soviet Union. The movie explains it in a cursory manner for those not familiar with it... as I understand it was explained in X-Men: First Class and I know it was discussed in the 2000 movie Thirteen Days, the details won't be elaborated upon here... except that World War III came uncomfortably close to happening before cooler heads prevailed. Real life inspired this tale where a Soviet official defects to the West and the end result is that Devereaux has more to deal with than assisting the United States in Cuba.

It is an unglamorous look at the life of a spy. Sure, Andre gets to go around the world and sometimes visit beautiful tropical climates... but he does some things that the viewers probably won't approve of and his relationship with his family is not great; a key theme is the negative impact his line of work has on everyone in his immediate family, along with his inner circle. Admittedly, in 2020 it does not look great to have German actress Karin Dor and Canadian actor of Central European heritage John Vernon in prominent roles as Cubans but at least they were solid with their performances. The cast only has a few faces that people in general would recognize (unless they were familiar with 60's and 70's European movies) although it was also nice to see the likes of Roscoe Lee Browne & John Forsythe.

It did not seem like it was 2 ½ hours (the version Hitchcock preferred, although not the theatrical cut. This full cut did not come out until 1999) as I was always intrigued by this story and all the intrigue concerning this mysterious world. It did not always seem like a Hitch movie, although of course it was still filmed quite well and it has some great moments. The fact that they could never find an ending everyone was happy with-they filmed three and the one that is in the 143 minute version was not the first one shot. That said, it did not ruin the entire experience for me. Even on Letterboxd there will be many who think this is “boring” or wish there was a big star of the time; myself, it was a relief that this was a pleasant surprise and not a long dull slog. Knowing this isn't one of Hitch's many masterpieces and understanding its themes may help others appreciate this once they do give it a shot in the future.