Movies - Topaz

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	Movies - Topaz

Topaz, director Alfred Hitchcock's 51st movie, filmed between 1968 and 1969, was adapted from a book by Leon Uris. It is a Cold War and spy story with nearly 10 persons, none of them acting with a real heroic impulse.

It stars Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, Claude Jade, Michel Subor, Karin Dor, John Vernon, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, John Forsythe, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Per-Axel Arosenius.

The movie was not very successful or popular. Hitchcock changed the script shortly before the beginning of the filming and the distributor Universal forced a different ending to the one preferred by Hitchcock. For Topaz, Hitchcock engaged the 19-year-old French actress Claude Jade. She and Dany Robin, cast as her mother, would provide the glamour in the story. "Claude Jade is a rather quiet young lady," Hitchcock said later, "but I wouldn't guarantee about her behavior in a taxi".

On discovering an agreement between the Russians and Cubans, agent Nordstrom (John Forsythe) enlists the aid of his friend, and French agent, Andre Devereaux (Frederick Stafford) who accompagny at that time his daughter Michèle (Claude Jade) at her honeymoon with journalist François Picard (Michel Subor). André accepts, but his wife Nicole (Dany Robin) is worried for him. After managing to get hold of some seriously damning papers from the visiting Cuban official Rico Parra (John Vernon), sneakily of course, a concerned Devereaux jets off to Cuba and catches up with his mistress Juanita de Cordoba (Karin Dor), who is now secretly involved with a local underground movement whilst also being involved in another way with Parra. He finds out and kills Juanita. Ever the jetsetter, Devereaux is now off home to Paris to get to the bottom of this whole leak problem. Michèle wants to reconcile her parents. Nicole cheats Andre after his cuban affair with the leader of the spy-ring "Topaz", Jacques Granville (Michel Piccoli). François goes on, to find out, who is "Topaz" and he interrogate NATO-official Henri Jarre (Philippe Noiret). A short time late Michèle finds the murdered Jarré - and François is missing...

Three different conclusions were filmed. The first includes a duel between the French agent André Devereaux (Frederic Stafford) and his old friend but traitor Jacques Grandville (Michel Piccoli) in a soccer stadium while his wife (Dany Robin) and his worried daughter (Claude Jade) are waiting outside, the second shows the two men stepping into two different planes, one flying to Paris (with Devereaux) and the other flying to Moscow (with Grandville). The third - official - alternative includes the suicide of Grandville, rudely embedded into the flow of the story.

Critics

Some critics said, there is no star in the movie, no Bergman, no Grant. The cast in fact was full of renowned international film stars (Jade, Piccoli, Noiret), whose previous successes had come primarily in France. In Topaz Hitch created a very international film - why not have an international cast too?

However, it is believed that because of the negative experience Hitch had with working with Paul Newman on Torn Curtain, he decided not to cast actors who were "stars" in retaliation. Some believe this created an aloof and detached atmosphere to American audiences.

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Movies - Topaz

Critics

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