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For most of the running time, I was confused by this late period Hitchcock movie's lukewarm reception because I found myself really into it. Its inability to stick the landing likely explains it, but on the whole, I found it to be a pretty good Cold War spy thriller. Frederick Stafford is Andre Deveraux, a French secret agent working in D.C. who acts upon a Soviet defector's intelligence, goes to Cuba and uncovers a certain missile crisis you may have heard about. Upon returning home, his investigation takes him to a place he wouldn't have expected: his original home.
Despite a French accent that wavers as much as Keanu Reeves' southern one in The Devil's Advocate, I like Stafford as the leading man. While he's no Grant, Connery or Stewart - well, who is - he has the necessary presence and charisma. Also impressive are John Vernon as Cuban official Parra, who's at his steely-eyed intimidating best, and the incredibly charming Karin Dor as Juanita, Andre's Cuban mistress and Hitchcock's version of a Bond girl. With Dor as well as gadgets and subterfuge Q would dream up, it is not far off from being what would happen if Hitchcock made a Bond movie. There are also the moments that make you understand why he is the master of suspense, the highlight being Andre, with the assistance of Roscoe Lee Browne's spy/florist, swiping a briefcase and taking pictures of what's inside before Parra discovers it's missing.
From the Statue of Liberty in Saboteur to Mt. Rushmore in North by Northwest, Hitchcock knew how to properly end a thriller, but that is not the case here. The typical image in the third act is men in suits talking in conference rooms, and what's more, instead of seeing what sounds like an exciting getaway, someone tells us what happened instead. It was nice to see French acting legends like Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret, and given that the Cold War was not only still in progress, but also had shades of grey, an ending like the ones I mentioned may not have been appropriate. Even so, "entertaining" is not how I would describe it. I still give the movie a mild recommendation, and while this isn't saying much, it is more enjoyable than Torn Curtain. Just prepared to ask "so, that's it" when the credits roll instead of sitting in stunned silence.
For most of the running time, I was confused by this late period Hitchcock movie's lukewarm reception because I found myself really into it. Its inability to stick the landing likely explains it, but on the whole, I found it to be a pretty good Cold War spy thriller. Frederick Stafford is Andre Deveraux, a French secret agent working in D.C. who acts upon a Soviet defector's intelligence, goes to Cuba and uncovers a certain missile crisis you may have heard about. Upon returning home, his investigation takes him to a place he wouldn't have expected: his original home.
Despite a French accent that wavers as much as Keanu Reeves' southern one in The Devil's Advocate, I like Stafford as the leading man. While he's no Grant, Connery or Stewart - well, who is - he has the necessary presence and charisma. Also impressive are John Vernon as Cuban official Parra, who's at his steely-eyed intimidating best, and the incredibly charming Karin Dor as Juanita, Andre's Cuban mistress and Hitchcock's version of a Bond girl. With Dor as well as gadgets and subterfuge Q would dream up, it is not far off from being what would happen if Hitchcock made a Bond movie. There are also the moments that make you understand why he is the master of suspense, the highlight being Andre, with the assistance of Roscoe Lee Browne's spy/florist, swiping a briefcase and taking pictures of what's inside before Parra discovers it's missing.
From the Statue of Liberty in Saboteur to Mt. Rushmore in North by Northwest, Hitchcock knew how to properly end a thriller, but that is not the case here. The typical image in the third act is men in suits talking in conference rooms, and what's more, instead of seeing what sounds like an exciting getaway, someone tells us what happened instead. It was nice to see French acting legends like Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret, and given that the Cold War was not only still in progress, but also had shades of grey, an ending like the ones I mentioned may not have been appropriate. Even so, "entertaining" is not how I would describe it. I still give the movie a mild recommendation, and while this isn't saying much, it is more enjoyable than Torn Curtain. Just prepared to ask "so, that's it" when the credits roll instead of sitting in stunned silence.