- Actors: Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Karin Dor, Michel Piccoli
- Directors: Alfred Hitchcock
- Writers: Leon Uris, Samuel A. Taylor
- Producers: Alfred Hitchcock, Herbert Coleman
- Format: Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: Universal Studios
- DVD Release Date: 20 Jun 2006
- Run Time: 143 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000ECX0QU
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 130,410 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Alfred Hitchcock hadn't made a spy thriller since the 1930s, so his 1969 adaptation of Leon Uris's bestseller Topaz seemed like a curious choice for the director. But Hitchcock makes Uris's story of the West's investigation into the Soviet Union's dealings with Cuba his own. Frederick Stafford plays a French intelligence agent who works with his American counterpart (John Forsythe) to break up a Soviet spy ring. The film is a bit flat dramatically and visually, and there are sequences that seem to occupy Hitchcock's attention more than others. A minor work all around, with at least two alternative endings shot by Hitchcock. --Tom Keogh
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
...then this film would be largely forgotten today. As it is it would probably rank as one of the "least known" films of Hitchcock's cannon (certainly in terms of his "talkies") and whilst it does have a few moments that are of interest you would have to say it deserves it's status as a forgotten film.
It was a movie that Hitchcock was enthusiastic about in the first instance but Leon Uris' attempt to turn his own novel into a screenplay did not meet with Hitch's expectations and it's therefore very tempting to include Topaz in the list of films that Hitch lost interest in before ever really getting off the ground with it. It also has a place in another Hitchcock "list", that of the films which were not (or couldn't be) allowed to finish in a manner which pleased him. That said, the fact that the original ending was derided by test audiences and the studio insisted that the spy couldn't end the film unpunished, is perhaps the least of this film's worries.
Becuase at heart, it's simply a very dull film. We care little (if at all) about any of the characters mainly because most of them are so inherently unlikeable. And whilst it is possible that the plot line of spies and political crises between countries might have been topical at the time it all seems so dated now, not a criticism you can normally throw at a Hitchcock film.
As ever it's Hitchcock so it's not completely a wash-out, but the great death scene of Juanita (the delectable Karin Dor) and the moment when Rico Parra (John Vernon) hears something from a woman holding her dying husband in her arms (which features great use of sound and near-silence) are the only two to spring to mind and that's not nearly enough to save what it, all things told, a complete dog of a film.
Hitchcock completists may want to watch this once but unless you are a fanatic you probably shouldn't even suffer this even that many times.
It was a movie that Hitchcock was enthusiastic about in the first instance but Leon Uris' attempt to turn his own novel into a screenplay did not meet with Hitch's expectations and it's therefore very tempting to include Topaz in the list of films that Hitch lost interest in before ever really getting off the ground with it. It also has a place in another Hitchcock "list", that of the films which were not (or couldn't be) allowed to finish in a manner which pleased him. That said, the fact that the original ending was derided by test audiences and the studio insisted that the spy couldn't end the film unpunished, is perhaps the least of this film's worries.
Becuase at heart, it's simply a very dull film. We care little (if at all) about any of the characters mainly because most of them are so inherently unlikeable. And whilst it is possible that the plot line of spies and political crises between countries might have been topical at the time it all seems so dated now, not a criticism you can normally throw at a Hitchcock film.
As ever it's Hitchcock so it's not completely a wash-out, but the great death scene of Juanita (the delectable Karin Dor) and the moment when Rico Parra (John Vernon) hears something from a woman holding her dying husband in her arms (which features great use of sound and near-silence) are the only two to spring to mind and that's not nearly enough to save what it, all things told, a complete dog of a film.
Hitchcock completists may want to watch this once but unless you are a fanatic you probably shouldn't even suffer this even that many times.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Hitchcock himself loathed this and wanted to make a movie about a serial killer in 60's New York called Kaliedoscope. Just think of how that would have turned out? Instead the studio forced Hitch into this political movie, with dire results.
This coming from a fan of Hitchcock who has almost all of his films.
True there are some wonderful scenes here, the telephone exchange, the death of the woman late on in the movie and the first twenty or so mins are quite a treat.
Try as I might to like this film, I simply cannot and I have asked myself that if this was not a Hitchcock movie would it really be remembered today? I think not. The master has made at least 30 brilliant movies, this is simply not one of them. The movie gets two stars largely due to Hitch's direction.
This coming from a fan of Hitchcock who has almost all of his films.
True there are some wonderful scenes here, the telephone exchange, the death of the woman late on in the movie and the first twenty or so mins are quite a treat.
Try as I might to like this film, I simply cannot and I have asked myself that if this was not a Hitchcock movie would it really be remembered today? I think not. The master has made at least 30 brilliant movies, this is simply not one of them. The movie gets two stars largely due to Hitch's direction.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Topaz is widely regarded as one of Hitchcock's worst films, but while certainly problematic there's still a lot to admire in this spy thriller set against the Cuban missile crisis. Unfortunately, rather than the original theatrical version (to date only released on laserdisc in the 90s), the version on video and this DVD is of a longer preview version before the film was trimmed down to size. For the most part the `additions' are fairly minor - the Russian defector being coerced to give information, a party scene, possibly a longer version of a scene between Frederick Stafford and Dany Robin - although the only one that makes a real difference is the addition of the best of the three alternate endings (of one character wryly waving goodbye at the airport having got away with it). Unfortunately, aside from drawing matters out even more, it still has the same structural problems as before: the plot is all over the place, and the film is really over once it leaves Cuba, seeming to spend an inordinate amount of time tying up loose ends although in reality introducing a new plot that should have been there from the very beginning. And there's a lot of Hitchcock's technical laziness - Frederick Stafford doesn't convince in his last, poorly staged scenes, and Hitchcock doesn't help him, while the photograph on his desk is shoddy enough to be a kindergarten cut-and-paste for show-and-tell. Yet it's still an intriguing film despite its flaws, with a few strikingly memorable scenes, especially those played without dialogue - watching the New York hotel from the florist's shop, the dead woman's dress unfolding like the petals of a flower as she falls to the ground, the grim almost-silent tableaux where a torture victim whispers a name. It's just a shame that the terrific filmmaking of key scenes in the first two thirds evaporates before the end, but there are certainly worse Hitchcock films out there.
Universal's DVD offers a fine package of extras - a documentary, three alternative endings (one of them, involving a duel in a football stadium, plain absurd), storyboards, production photographs and theatrical trailer.
Universal's DVD offers a fine package of extras - a documentary, three alternative endings (one of them, involving a duel in a football stadium, plain absurd), storyboards, production photographs and theatrical trailer.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
very average
Topaz (1969) Adapting from his own bestseller, Leon Uris wrote the original screenplay for this cold war spy story. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Profr R. Cohenalmagor
Serious Hitchcock.
This is a really good thinky-hitchcock film - no birds, no killers, but engaging and complex.
Doesn't deserve bad press, it's visually stunning and massively plot... Read more
Doesn't deserve bad press, it's visually stunning and massively plot... Read more
Published 12 months ago by lomesa
Very good spy film ...
It may not be among Hitchcock's best films, but taken as a stand alone piece of work this is a very good spy film. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. D. Pyke
Splendid combination of genuine spy-suspense and the cuban revolution
Although this film is not one of the best considered of A.Hitchcock, it is clearly one that could be defined as one of the best, in those days, handling the cold-war spy-games. Read more
Published 15 months ago by sesalines@jazzfree.com
WARNING: Pan-and-scan version of widescreen movie!
For resons best known to themselves, Universal UK have issued most of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960s/1970s films (The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy) in pan-and-scan 1. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2009 by Kenneth F. Mcara
Trapped by the Iron Curtain
After the cold war in East Germany in "Torn Curtain", Hitchcock had to deal with the big bad wolf, the USSR. Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2009 by Jacques COULARDEAU
No, this will not do!
This film proves that I am right! When I see the other reviews I see the disappointments upon seeing this film. Even with its 3 alternate endings! Read more
Published on 18 July 2008 by Ogun Eratalay
A thriller with no thrills
It is hard to believe that Alfred Hitchcock was involved in "Topaz". It is most unlike the rest of his work. Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2006 by L. Davidson
Slick, stylish and utterly absorbing..
This is without a doubt one of the most underrated films in history. In many respects it is 3 stories in one - it starts off with the defection of a Russian Agent in Denmark and... Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2004 by "dht09"
I expected much better from Hitchcock
When I heard this film was very James Bondish I was instantly intrigued. Being a James Bond and Hitchcock fan, the idea of them being put together was great. Read more
Published on 14 July 2004
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