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Click above to purchase "Torn Curtain" at amazon.com
Torn Curtain
review by Anthony D.
Studio: Universal
Running Time: 128 minutes
Starring Julie Andrews, Paul Newman, Lila Kedrova,
Ludwig Donath, David Opatoshu
Screenplay by Brian Moore
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Retail Price: $29.99
Features: Documentary, Still Gallery, Theatrical
Trailer
Specs: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 2.0, English Subtitles,
French Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles, Chapter Search
Alfred Hitchcock's 50th feature film, "Torn Curtain," is
quite a departure from his normal blend of mystery and
suspense, and not altogether a successful one. "Torn
Curtain" is set against the pre-glasnot world of Cold War,
nuclear missiles and the Soviet Union. Its title alone is a
reference to the post-war moniker for the Eastern half of
Europe, split by the Berlin Wall, nicknamed "The Iron
Curtain." In those long half-forgotten days (ask anyone
under thirty about the Iron Curtain, and see what kind of
response you get), the United States and The Communist Bloc
were engaged in a chilling game of spy versus spy accessing
government secrets, nuclear warhead information and every
now and then a defector: a citizen who would give up their
own democratic country to become a member of the Communist
Party and take up residence as well as employment in
Communist controlled country. Although dealing with many of
the same themes as "North by Northwest," "Torn Curtain"
lacks the light touch, the witty script and the clear-cut
villainy to make it work as well as the former.
"Torn Curtain" does however, have a brilliantly
constructed screenplay, neatly divided into three
self-contained acts. Screenwriter Robin Moore creates a
sense of mystery, turns that mystery inside out for the
second act, and in the third act, manages to successfully
tie up most of the loose ends.
Act One begins on a luxury liner, where a convention of
international physicists are ensconced without heat. Michael
and Sarah, professor and lovely assistant whose nuptials are
drawing nigh, have found a way to create some heat in their
stateroom: our first shot of Julie Andrews and Paul Newman
show them frolicking beneath the sheets, the quilts and
their clothing. I can imagine audiences' responses to that
combination in 1967: Mary Poppins is in bed with Cool Hand
Luke!, ah, the times they are a-changin'. Well, that's not
so difficult to take to, but, Paul Newman is playing a
nuclear physicist! And that's hardly a spoonful of sugar to
swallow. It seems that Michael is planning to defect to the
state of East Germany in order to find a formula needed for
his nuclear research. Instead of giving his speech at the
convention of physicists in Norway, Michael books passage to
East Berlin where he hopes to work out his formula with a
brilliant German physicist. Sarah is shocked to see Michael
going behind the Iron Curtain; but becomes even more
frustrated once she has followed him and discovers his
intentions to defect. Michael once in bed with his fiancee,
is now sleeping with the enemy.
Act Two follows Michael's adventures in East Berlin to
garner the information he needs. Michael and Sarah are under
constant supervision by the Communist party; and while Sarah
grieves in their accommodations, Michael attempts to ditch
his guardian by losing him in an art museum, then trekking
out to a farm, where he meets with his contact. It is here
that we learn that Michael is actually working as a "double
agent," and his defection is a ploy only to get the
information that the United States needs. As Michael is
about to make his way back into town, his guard arrives on
the scene with an escort. Michael and the farmer's wife must
silently murder this man, Gromek, so as not to alert the
escort, and to get rid of this major problem of the
guardian. In one of Hitchcock's most exciting scenes, we see
how difficult and how time consuming killing a man can be.
With this brutal slaying, he has put himself and Sarah in
graver danger, a danger that can only be resolved through
escape from East Germany.
Though he is now both a liar and a murderer, Sarah stands
by her man as they frantically try to evade the authorities
in "Torn Curtain's" Third Act. It is in the final segments
that Hitchcock's genius for the "wanted man on the run"
genre takes hold and grabs the viewer. Ever wonder what it
would be like to yell "FIRE!" in a crowded theater? Well,
"Torn Curtain" supplies the answer, even if it ultimately
leaves more questions unanswered.
Presented by Universal in an anamorphic widescreen
transfer, "Torn Curtain" possibly looks even better now than
when first released. Its 1.85:1 aspect ratio boasts and
intriguing display of colors often used in a symbolic manner
by Hitchcock: the reds speaking for Communism and danger,
green for safety and serenity and the infamous Hitchcock
grey; made famous by Kim Novak's suit in "Vertigo," and here
worn with style by Julie Andrews. And though the image of
Julie Andrews in a beret and trenchcoat may at first be
off-putting, she pulls off the look with class. The second
unit work looks sub-standard, even for a Hitchcock title,
but reasons are given in the film's supplemental material;
to me it looks as if Universal had done some restoration
work on "Torn Curtain," and then quit abruptly near Chapter
14, but the process camera work has always looked shoddy,
and in the digital domain these flaws are much more
apparent. The colors hold very true throughout, and the
contrast level couldn't be better: compare the cobalt blue
eyes of Paul Newman to the ocean blue of Julie Andrews'and
you can see just how right the color scheme is. If at times
the picture seem a little on the soft side, this was
Hitchcock's intent; he used a smoke-grey filter when
shooting "Torn Curtain" to give the film a certain
unsettling quality.
If only the sound were half as good as the picture, but,
alas, this 2.0 mono digital soundtrack is quite problematic.
John Addison's workable score often comes off quite harsh on
the high end, otherwise dialogue is intelligible, if
all-too-often processed. Some added effort could have gone
into restoring the film's soundtrack. The disc also supports
a 2.0 French mono soundtrack for those who find the idea of
a French-speaking Paul Newman even sexier than the English
speaking one.
In the Special Features category, Hitchcock buffs will
find a truly rare treat: Hitchcock's most frequently used
composer Bernard Herrman was supposed to have scored "Torn
Curtain," but the suits at Universal wanted a more
"commercial" soundtrack - - they may have even comissioned a
title tune to be sung by Julie, "Ah, look! A Torn Curtain. I
with no needle nor thread," to be sun during the films'
credits for all we know - - and decided to tack on the
cheerier, easier on the ear score of John Addison. The
supplemental material makes up for lost time by including
several scenes from "Torn Curtain" with Herrmann's brilliant
right-on-the-money score intact. While Addison's score plays
up the romantic aspect of the film, and softens the serious
subject matter, Herrmann's score cuts to the quick weaving a
tapestry of sinuous suspenseful motifs more appropriate to
the subject matter. The full-frame Theatrical Trailer is one
of the roughest pieces of film I've encountered on any of
Universal's titles, thus hardly watchable. The original
documentary, "Torn Curtain Rising" features some interesting
stills of unused scenes, but is narrated more as a film
student's senior thesis than most "making of" documentaries.
The Special Features' decidedly mixed bag is rounded off
with a Photo Gallery of posters, production photographs and
original artwork as well as Biographies and Film Highlights
of most of "Torn Curtain's" main cast of filmmakers.
"Torn Curtain" is most assuredly a mixed bag from a
gifted director, a film with a limited appeal, though it was
one of Universal's highest grossing films of 1967. Working
with a literate script, but under forced studio conditions,
Hitchcock's energy and creativity seem stifled by the
enforced casting of studio picks Paul Newman and Julie
Andrews. Newmans' Actor's Studio Method performance works
less and less as time goes by, whereas Ms. Andrews' natural
charisma and simplistic work methods have aged gracefully.
Perhaps Hitchcock found a kindred soul in the sheer
Britishness of Miss Andrews, a similar soul, so to speak,
that she comes off more realistically than the All-American
charms of Newman. Co-star Lila Kedrova, recent Oscar-winner
for "Zorba the Greek," adds much needed humor in the final
third of the film, with her flaming red hair and
mittle-European accent; while fifth billed ballerina Tamara
Toumanova registers haute humor in an earlier scene which is
punctuated with a corker of a punchline in the final reels.
Two Hitchcock set pieces keep "Torn Curtain" head over other
1960's espionage tales: the brutal killing of Gromek,
mentioned previously, and the final escape from a crowded
theater featuring the stunning dance work of Toumanova. When
"FIRE!" is yelled, the theater's audience becomes a pre-punk
mosh pit for stars Andrews and Newman; now whoever said that
Hitchcock was behind the times!?!?
Fans of the spy genre looking for a tale with a
difference will likely be disappointed at "Torn Curtain's"
look at the male-female question of compatability, though
for Hitchcock completists, this "Torn Curtain" is already
sewn up.
 (4.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
(4.5/5)
 (2/5)
 (3/5)
 (4/5,
NOT an average)
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