Torn Curtain (1966)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writer:

Brian Moore (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

14 July 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Suspense! Azione! Sorpresa! [Suspense! Action! Surprise!]

Plot:

An American scientist publicly defects to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the solution for a formula resin and then figuring out a plan to escape back to the West.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Germany | Leipzig | Europe | Director Cameo

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Professor Michael Armstrong
Julie Andrews	...	Sarah Sherman
Lila Kedrova	...	Countess Kuchinska
Hansjörg Felmy	...	Heinrich Gerhard (as Hansjoerg Felmy)
Tamara Toumanova	...	Ballerina
Ludwig Donath	...	Professor Gustav Lindt
Wolfgang Kieling	...	Hermann Gromek
Günter Strack	...	Professor Karl Manfred
David Opatoshu	...	Mr. Jacobi
Gisela Fischer	...	Dr. Koska
Mort Mills	...	Farmer
Carolyn Conwell	...	Farmer's Wife
Arthur Gould-Porter	...	Freddy - the Bookseller
Gloria Gorvin	...	Fräulein Mann
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Boon	...	Prof. Winkelmann (uncredited)
Peter Bourne	...	Prof. Olaf Hengström (uncredited)
Linda Carol	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Rico Cattani	...	Heinrich - Escape Bus Driver (uncredited)
Andrea Darvi	...	Gretl Koska (uncredited)
Maurice Doner	...	Hugo - Baggage Manager (uncredited)
Harold Dyrenforth	...	Otto Haupt (uncredited)
Horst Ebersberg	...	East German Interpreter (uncredited)
Ben Frommer	...	Sceptical-looking airline passenger (uncredited)
Sasha Harden	...	Border Guard (uncredited)
Joe Harris	...	Ballet Member (uncredited)
Mischa Hausserman	...	Idealistic Young Man (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man in hotel lobby with baby (uncredited)
Erik Holland	...	Hotel Travel Clerk (uncredited)
Nancy Kilgas	...	Ballet Member (uncredited)
Peter Lorre Jr.	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Jan Malmsjö	...	Swedish photographer (uncredited)
Hedley Mattingly	...	Airline Official (uncredited)
Norbert Meisel	...	Factory Manager (uncredited)
Frank Oberschall	...	Airport Security Man (uncredited)
Gerd Rein	...	East German Policeman, Arresting Officer At Bus Sequence (uncredited)
Gene Roth	...	Guard in post office (uncredited)
Norbert Schiller	...	Prof. Gutman (uncredited)
Lyle Sudrow	...	Swedish Captain (uncredited)
Wilhelm von Homburg	...	Blonde Twin in Bus (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Brian Moore		(written by)
Willis Hall		uncredited
Keith Waterhouse		uncredited

Produced by
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
John Addison		(music by)

Cinematography by
John F. Warren		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bud Hoffman

Production Design by
Hein Heckroth

Art Direction by
Frank Arrigo

Set Decoration by
George Milo

Makeup Department
Jack Barron	....	makeup supervisor
Lorraine Roberson	....	hair stylist
Hal Saunders	....	hair stylist: Miss Andrews
Peter R.J. Deyell	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Jack Corrick	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Donald Baer	....	assistant director

Art Department
Joseph Musso	....	production illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
William Russell	....	sound
Waldon O. Watson	....	sound

Stunts
David Sharpe	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Leonard J. South	....	camera operator (as Leonard South)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Head	....	costume designer: Miss Andrews
Grady Hunt	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
John Addison	....	conductor
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Peggy Robertson	....	assistant: Mr. Hitchcock
Lois Thurman	....	script supervisor
Albert Whitlock	....	pictorial designs

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (presents) (as Universal)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1966) (France) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1970) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MCA Videocassette (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (199?)
• Universal Home Video (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes

Runtime:

128 min | Germany:126 min | France:126 min | Netherlands:118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Swedish | Norwegian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

France:U | Spain:18 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Germany:12 (re-rated) (video) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

According to the book "It's Only a Movie", Hitchcock said: "THERE WAS AN ENDING written which wasn't used, but I rather liked it. No one agreed with me except my colleague at home [his wife Alma Reville]. Everyone told me that you couldn't have a letdown ending after all that. Paul Newman would have thrown the formula away. After what he has gone through, after everything we have endured with him, he just tosses it. It speaks to the futility of all, and it's in keeping with the kind of naivete of the character, who is no professional spy and who will certainly retire from that nefarious business."

Goofs:

Factual errors: A few snippets of dialogue in the scenes in the East German university clearly show that the extras are Americans.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Professor Karl Manfred: Are they ever going to get the heating fixed?
Norwegian crewman: They are working at it, Professor. Perhaps some of you scientists would like to give us a helping hand!

Movie Connections:

Featured in 'Torn Curtain' Rising (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32

In many ways, Hitchcock often wore the same pants.

Hitchcock made a few clunkers in his day, but this isn't one of them, despite its reputation. I don't know if I could get away with saying it's one of Hitchcock's ten best features, but I found it to be easily one of his top ten most entertaining. I enjoyed watching Torn Curtain a lot more than some of his established classics, like Notorious and the Birds, even if it's not quite as psychologically complex as those films.

The main thing about Torn Curtain is the photography. It's full of pretty pictures--one of the most beautifully filmed of all Hitchcock's films, with lots bold swaths of primary colors and attractive and constantly changing locations--some scenes look like they were shot on location, while others are wonderfully artificial studio creations, and they're blended together perfectly. Another cool thing about Torn Curtain is that it's constantly on the move. It never stagnates. The pacing is deliberate, but engaging. It's well-plotted and suspenseful.

It's full of fantastic little directorial touches, like the scene where Paul Newman ducks into a bathroom to read his secret spy message. Hitchcock never shows us the room. He keeps the camera tight on Paul Newman, so we can't tell who or what might be in that room with us, just out of frame. It's totally simple, but it creates a highly effective feeling of uneasiness and paranoia. This movie also features one of the strangest and best-filmed death scenes I've ever seen. Hitchcock was still on top of his game here.

Most of the bad reviews for Torn Curtain seem to focus on the acting. I don't know why.

A lot of people bash Julie Andrews just for being Julie Andrews, and that hardly seems fair. Typecasting sucks. And while I wouldn't say she turned in one of the most memorable and overpowering performances of all time, her role didn't call for that. Torn Curtain wasn't a complex character study, it was a plot-based thriller. And Julie Andrews was perfectly adequate for that, even pretty good when she was given a chance to be.

Paul Newman was perfect. He wasn't his usual charming self here. He was grim and tight-lipped and stiff--as would be appropriate for a scientist feeling out of his league, playing a spy in a hostile country, having to pretend to be a traitor--a role which he found objectionable--all with his girlfriend annoyingly tagging along and complicating everything.

I understand that Paul Newman found working for Hitchcock objectionable. It makes me wonder if Hitch deliberately made life unpleasant for Paul just to get this kind of tooth-gritting performance from him. Whatever, Hitch and Paul were both great.

And so was this film.