Torn Curtain dvd movie.|
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List Price: $19.98 Features • Anamorphic • Closed-captioned • Color • DVD-Video • Widescreen • NTSC In Theaters : 14 July, 1966 DVD Release : 06 March, 2001 |
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Torn Curtain description Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in what must unfortunately be called one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser efforts. Still, sub-par Hitchcock is better than a lot of what's out there, and this one is well worth a look. Newman plays cold war physicist Michael Armstrong, while Andrews plays his lovely assistant-and-fiancée, Sarah Sherman. Armstrong has been working on a missile defense system that will "make nuclear defense obsolete," and naturally both sides are very interested. All Sarah cares about is the fact that Michael has been acting awfully fishy lately. The suspense of Torn Curtain is by nature not as thrilling as that in the average Hitchcock film--much of it involves sitting still and wondering if the bad guys are getting closer. Still, Hitchcock manages to amuse himself: there is some beautifully clever camera work and an excruciating sequence that illustrates the frequent Hitchcock point that death is not a tidy business. --Ali Davis |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Hitchcock not at the top of his game |
| I think that one of the problems with this film is that it was made in the mid-sixties, when the style of film making was changing radically. In Europe you had Nouvelle Vague pouring out of France and comparable new styles coming from Sweden (Bergman) and Italy (Fellini, Antonioni).
In the US the Actors' Studio was changing the style of acting completely. Out was the old, glib, surface charm of the fifties, where Hitchock thrived and who actors such as Cary Grant shone. Paul Newman, coming out of Actors'Studio was wonderful in intense psychological dramas. He certainly has the looks and natural charm to make a splash in this film, but it obviously wasn't his style. He wanted to know what made his character say a certain line and Hitchcock replied "because it's written in the script, dear boy." Obviously the two were not on the same page and it really shows in this movie. Newman gives the worst performance I've ever seen him give. Perhaps no one really had their heart in it. Hitchcock is reported not to have wanted to make it but did it only at the insistence of the studio. Apparently the studio wanted Julie Andrews, who was hot at the time, although Hitchcock didn't want her. That was a huge mistake. Hitchcock loved his beautiful actresses and got great performances out of them. Andrews just doesn't have the looks, or the charisma to make us believe that the Newman character would ever want to be on the same screen with her, let alone the same bed. The dreadful hairstyle and terrible dreary wardrobe certainly didn't help. (As another reviewer said, Hud met Maria von Trapp!) (or Mary Poppins). I think that if a more appealing actress had been cast, that the whole film might have come alive. The supporting cast is terrific, though. The fellow who plays the original bodyguard, Gropek, is very funny with his American slang. Why do Eastern European villains wear those awful black leather coats? The famous farmhouse scene was hilarious, too. Carolyn Conwell who played the heroic farmer's wife was really wonderful. Some people felt the Leipzig professor was too over-the-top and I can see that, although I did enjoy him, especially in the restaurant, when he happened to mention, while a Viennese waltz was playing, that his sister was hit by a tram in Vienna. Lila Kedrova as the Polish countess was almost too good for the film. Her performance was so deeply moving that it broke through the surface of the film. She and Newman belong in their own film. When you think of other Cold War spy films, this is so poor. None of it is convincing, so it fails on that level, too. All in all, it is a film that diehard Hitchcock fans will enjoy. Others, not so much. |
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