Hitchcock Does James Bond. Badly.

One benefit of being prolific is that you can afford to be hit and miss. Alfred Hitchcock is a great example. With films like Psycho, Rebecca, and Rope under your belt, you can afford an occasional Topaz.


The Story

Topaz begins with the daring defection of KGB official Boris Kusenov, who holds no great love for America but fears that recent developments between Cuba and the USSR endanger the world. He and his family are whisked away to a posh house outside of Washington, where he's given the option to spill his guts and live comfortably with a new identity, or to try and find his way in the world alone, with his former cronies hunting for him.

Kusenov does not know all the details, but he reveals that a Cuban diplomat, Rico Parra, who happens to be in New York at the moment, is carrying documents that can fill in the blank spots. But the Americans will never be able to get close to them. So Michael Nordstrom, the American agent, calls in a favor from his good friend Andre Devereaux, a French agent in Washington.

France isn't particularly pleased at the idea of lending America a hand. But Devereaux is willing to do this for his friend. What he discovers is something deeper than anyone expected, something that threatens the entire planet. Devereaux, now feeling a higher duty, agrees to further help the Americans by traveling to Cuba to investigate firsthand. Eventually, his conflicting loyalties will lead him back to Paris, where he learns he has some housecleaning to do.


The Acting

Topaz is overstuffed with intriguing characters. Devereaux, played adequately if stiffly by Frederick Stafford, is the hero, but he isn't even introduced until fifteen or twenty minutes into this 143-minute film. Until then we're treated to Per-Axel Arosenius's acerbic Kusenov, played with a nice disdain for the Americans, including John Forsythe as Nordstrom.

We're eventually introduced to Devereaux along with his family. His wife, Nicole, is given a sophisticated presence by Dany Robin's acting, which includes some nice suspicion and guilt. Their daughter and her husband, played by Claude Jade and Michel Subor, are darling. Another good performance is delivered by Karin Dor as the sultry Cuban spy Juanita de Cordoba. Devereaux's friends in Paris, and the members of the ring of Soviet spies called Topaz are also well played by the likes of Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret.

If you're not recognizing some of these names you're not alone. Hitchcock intentionally steered clear of big-name Americans for Topaz. The result is mediocre performances by some of the leads, and a plethora of good acting by the little-known and mostly European cast of secondary and tertiary characters. Not exactly the formula for blockbuster success.


The Writing

Leon Uris adapted his own novel for this film, but Samuel Taylor was brought in at the last minute to rework it. I'm not sure how much this fickleness on Hitchcock's part has to do with it, but the story simply flops. Its attention is divided among too many players, it takes too long to introduce its ultimate protagonist, and despite its plodding length it seems spread too thin as it globetrots from Moscow to Washington to New York to Cuba to Paris, all the time feeling like it's on a business commute—there's no panache.

Andre Devereaux does suffer from a rich set of conflicting loyalties, and there are some nice twists in the story, particularly with Nicole Devereaux and Juanita de Cordoba. But the payoff for these is muted by the movie's lack of focus. It never really takes off like a spy thriller should, mired instead by its uninspired pacing.


Behind the Camera

Hitchcock must, of course, bear the brunt of the blame for this failure. But while his pacing and mood deaden any excitement the story might have generated, he does do some beautiful, very Hitchcockian things behind the camera.

A good example of Hitchcock gracefully accomplishing a scene in a manner inappropriate to what this film really needs comes in the florist's shop. Here Devereaux and the florist (nicely played by Roscoe Lee Browne) step into a glass display case for a quiet conversation. The camera simply watches them in silence. We know the substance of what's being said and we're left to our imaginations to fill in the details and emotions. It's not subtle, but I like the effect, which is repeated, with additional tension, when the florist visits with the Cuban secretary in a hotel lobby while Devereaux watches from across the busy street.

Another laden pause comes with a close-up of Juanita de Cordoba's wrist being clutched by Rico Parra, and then a lovely crane shot of her brilliant blue dress billowing as she sinks to the floor. This is the only scene where Hitchcock's manipulations of color actually add significantly. A second shot from above, this time of a staircase outside a NATO official's apartment, adds less to the film, but is not as distracting as the tracking crane shot in the meeting hall at the film's end.

In all, a fan of Hitchcock's direction, as opposed to just his morbidity (I'm a fan of both), can find some delicious treats here. The disruption of the Mendoza's picnic by gulls was an amusing, quiet reference to The Birds. But the Hitchcockian style is a poor fit for a story that needed, more than anything, more conventional pacing and action.


Recommendation

The espionage, the femme fatale, the generic foreign accents, the globetrotting and the gadgetry all mimic a Mission Impossible or a James Bond. And a story wrapped around the underbelly of the Cuban Missile Crisis seems promising. But Hitchcock and James Bond make an odd couple, and whileTopaz has some interesting plotlines, it lacks energy and fails to engage the audience.


– Panguitch


For Hitchcock's earlier attempt at a cold war spy thriller, try Torn Curtain: http://www.epinions.com/content_412337081988

For some short Hitchcock, try Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Volume 1: http://www.epinions.com/content_97352781444

For a Hitchcockian comedy try Mr. and Mrs. Smith: http://www.epinions.com/content_197202644612

To see Hitchcock defend the wrongly accused, try The Wrong Man: http://www.epinions.com/content_251007372932

But to see Hitchcock in top form, try Rope: http://www.epinions.com/content_79681719940