Topaz (1969 film)
Encyclopedia
Topaz is a 1969 suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
. It is a Cold War
and spy
story, adapted from the book of the same name
by Leon Uris
and closely based on the 1962 Sapphire Affair (sapphire
was replaced by another jewel hence the title) involving French SDECE spy Philippe Thyraud de Vosjoli (a friend of Leon Uris) who "ha[d] played a considerable part in helping the U.S. discover the presence of Russian offensive missiles in Cuba".
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
.
intelligence officer defects to the West with his wife and daughter. CIA
agent Nordstrom (John Forsythe
) debriefs him and learns that Russian missiles are to be posted in Cuba
. Nordstrom enlists the aid of his friend and French agent André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford
), encouraging him to accompany his daughter Michèle (Claude Jade
) on her honeymoon with journalist François Picard (Michel Subor
) as a premise to get him to New York. André accepts, but his wife Nicole (Dany Robin
) is worried for him.
In New York, André entrusts a familiar contact, Philippe Dubois (Roscoe Lee Browne
) to get hold of some seriously damaging papers concerning Soviet plans in Cuba from the visiting Cuban official Rico Parra (John Vernon
). Parra is in New York to appear at the United Nations
and stays at the Cuban consulate in Harlem
to show solidarity with "the masses". Dubois, taking the identity of a black journalist from Ebony
, sneaks into the embassy (which is seething with visitors and surrounded by an enthusiastic mob), manages to take photos of some of the documents and then runs away, chased by Cuban revolutionaries. While cunningly dodging away, Dubois shams bumping into and overthrowing André, who was watching events from the other side of the street, and slips the camera into his hand. A Cuban guard helps André to get up, stares at him, and lets him go.
The photos confirm that the Soviets are secretly transporting and placing missiles in Cuba. Devereaux, unheeding of his wife's fear and jealousy, jets off to Cuba to find out more details. He catches up with his mistress Juanita de Cordoba (Karin Dor
), widow to a former first-hour wealthy "hero of the Revolution", and herself now leader of the local underground resistance network: she acts undercover and collects information as Parra's lover. André, on arriving, finds Parra leaving Juanita's mansion. During a scene of intimacy in the mansion, Devereaux asks her to somehow take photos of the missiles as they are unloaded from Russian boats at the harbour. But Juanita's people are arrested and tortured, while Parra's man, during a big mass rally held during a lengthy speech of the "leader màximo" recognizes André's face from the incident in front of the hotel.
Parra, who has heard from the maimed and tortured female underground member that Juanita is their leader, confronts Juanita and, hugging her in his arms, shoots her to save her from being tortured to death.
In one of the film's most memorable shots, Juanita is seen from overhead, her dress spreading out on the floor like a bloodstain (although it is purple not red) on the big black-and-white pavement tiles, as she collapses.
André is searched thoroughly at the airport on departure, but the Cuban authorities are unable to find the carefully hidden microfilms, which provide crucial information for the CIA about Soviet activities in Cuba.
When André arrives back in Washington, he finds his home empty: his wife deserted him due to his Cuban love interest and returned to Paris. He is also recalled to Paris, but before he leaves, he is informed by Nordstrom about the existence of a Soviet spy organization called 'Topaz' within the French intelligence service. He is given the name of one certain member, NATO official Henri Jarré (Philippe Noiret
), who leaked documents to the KGB. On arrival, he attempts to get to the bottom of the leak, while his daughter Michèle wants to reconcile her parents. He invites some of his old friends and colleagues, including Jarré, to a lunch at a fine restaurant, "Chez Pierre". While Jarré eats, André tells the others about Topaz in order to provoke some reaction. Jarré answers that all this is a piece of misinformation, since he knows that the Russian official in fact died a year ago. But he begins to panic, and visits the man who is the leader of the spy ring, Jacques Granville (Michel Piccoli). But Granville, in his night gown, is "waiting for somebody". As Jarré is leaving Granville's house, a woman arrives. It is Nicole, André's wife, and as they kiss we see a photo on a stand: Devereaux, Nicole and Granville were old friends from their days together in the French Resistance
...
Devereaux sends his son-in-law François to interview and extract information out of Jarré. François calls Devereaux from Jarré's home, but the call is cut short. Devereaux and Michèle rush together to Jarré's flat, and find him dead. François has disappeared. André and Michèle return to Nicole's, and a short time later François arrives: he was clubbed, but came to and managed to escape from his captors' car. He has overheard a phone number and shows a sketch of Jarré. Nicole, who was staring at the window then turns around and tells her family, with tearful eyes, that Granville must be the leader of the "Topaz" organization. Granville is exposed and apparently commits suicide.
Under pressure from the studio, Hitchcock shot an ending he actually liked better, with Jacques escaping on an Aeroflot
flight to the Soviet Union just at the same time as André and Nicole are boarding their Pan Am flight to the States. But this ending apparently confused audiences.
So, as a compromise, Hitchcock used existing footage to create a new ending: Granville is exposed and expelled from a NATO meeting, and commits suicide behind his drawn curtains (since no footage of his doing so existed).
Eventually, the studio decided to release different endings in different countries: the suicide in the U.S. and France, the airport ending in England.
forced a different ending to the one preferred by Hitchcock. For Topaz, Hitchcock engaged the 19-year-old French actress Claude Jade
from Truffaut's Stolen Kisses
. 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 [that] about her behavior in a taxi".
Some critics liked Topaz. New York Times critic Vincent Canby in 1969 wrote of Topaz: "Alfred Hitchcock at his Best" and put the film on his Top Ten list for 1969. In 1969, Hitchcock won the Best Director Award
for Topaz from the National Board of Review.
, no Grant
; the cast did however include renowned international film stars (Jade
, Piccoli, Noiret
), whose previous successes had been primarily in France. Some attribute Hitchcock's casting choices to the negative experience the director had working with Paul Newman
on Torn Curtain
; however, Hitchcock is said to have approached Sean Connery
(who had worked with Hitchcock in Marnie
) for Andre, and Catherine Deneuve
for his wife.
Some critics have inferred that Hitchcock was hoping to groom the relatively-unknown Frederick Stafford as a star of his own making, similar to Tippi Hedren
; however, Stafford remained an unknown in Hollywood, though he had a lengthy career in European films.
in which Maltin discusses the deleted scenes and alternate endings among other things.
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
. It is a Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and spy
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
story, adapted from the book of the same name
Topaz (novel)
Topaz is a thriller novel written by Leon Uris and published in 1967.-Plot:The Cold War-era story concerns an alleged plot between the Soviet Union and Cuba, and a spy ring with connections to both. It also speaks about the Russian infiltrations into the French intelligence...
by Leon Uris
Leon Uris
Leon Marcus Uris was an American novelist, known for his historical fiction and the deep research that went into his novels. His two bestselling books were Exodus, published in 1958, and Trinity, in 1976.-Life:...
and closely based on the 1962 Sapphire Affair (sapphire
Sapphire
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
was replaced by another jewel hence the title) involving French SDECE spy Philippe Thyraud de Vosjoli (a friend of Leon Uris) who "ha[d] played a considerable part in helping the U.S. discover the presence of Russian offensive missiles in Cuba".
It stars Frederick Stafford
Frederick Stafford
Frederick Stafford was an Austrian-born actor.The Czech actor Frederick Stafford , who spoke fluent Czech, German, English, French and Italian, was a leading man in European spy-movies....
, Dany Robin
Dany Robin
Dany Robin was a French actress of the 1950s and the early 1960s who was married to fellow actor Georges Marchal.She performed with Peter Sellers in The Waltz of the Toreadors and co-starred opposite Kirk Douglas in the 1953 romantic drama Act of Love.Robin co-starred with Connie Francis, Paula...
, Claude Jade
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade , was a French actress, known for starring as Christine in François Truffaut's three films Stolen Kisses , Bed and Board and Love on the Run . Jade acted in theatre, film and television...
, Michel Subor
Michel Subor
Michel Subor is a French actor who gained fame playing the lover of Brigitte Bardot's character in La Bride sur le Cou .In Hollywood Subor starred in Clive Donner's What's New, Pussycat? and in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz...
, Karin Dor
Karin Dor
Karin Dor is a German actress who became popular in the 1960s playing heroines in Edgar Wallace and Karl May movies. She starred in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice and the Alfred Hitchcock movie Topaz.Dor was born as Kätherose Derr. She was married to George Robotham, a U.S...
, John Vernon
John Vernon
John Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada.-Early life:...
, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret was a French film actor.-Biography:Noiret's father was in the clothes trade. Philippe was an indifferent scholar and attended several prestigious Paris schools, including the Lycée Janson de Sailly. He failed several times to pass his baccalauréat exams, so he decided to study...
, John Forsythe
John Forsythe
John Forsythe was an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning four decades and three genres: as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the crime drama Charlie's...
, Roscoe Lee Browne
Roscoe Lee Browne
Roscoe Lee Browne was an American actor and director, known for his rich voice and dignified bearing.-Biography:Browne was the fourth son of a Baptist minister, Sylvanus S. Browne, and his wife Lovie...
, and Per-Axel Arosenius
Per-Axel Arosenius
Per Axel Daniel Rank Arosenius was a Swedish actor of mostly supporting parts. His most prominent film role was that of Soviet defector Boris Kusenov in Alfred Hitchcock's 1969 film Topaz....
.
Plot
The story is set in 1962 and opens with images of a Soviet military parade on the Red Square. In Copenhagen, a high-ranking SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
intelligence officer defects to the West with his wife and daughter. CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent Nordstrom (John Forsythe
John Forsythe
John Forsythe was an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning four decades and three genres: as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the crime drama Charlie's...
) debriefs him and learns that Russian missiles are to be posted in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Nordstrom enlists the aid of his friend and French agent André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford
Frederick Stafford
Frederick Stafford was an Austrian-born actor.The Czech actor Frederick Stafford , who spoke fluent Czech, German, English, French and Italian, was a leading man in European spy-movies....
), encouraging him to accompany his daughter Michèle (Claude Jade
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade , was a French actress, known for starring as Christine in François Truffaut's three films Stolen Kisses , Bed and Board and Love on the Run . Jade acted in theatre, film and television...
) on her honeymoon with journalist François Picard (Michel Subor
Michel Subor
Michel Subor is a French actor who gained fame playing the lover of Brigitte Bardot's character in La Bride sur le Cou .In Hollywood Subor starred in Clive Donner's What's New, Pussycat? and in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz...
) as a premise to get him to New York. André accepts, but his wife Nicole (Dany Robin
Dany Robin
Dany Robin was a French actress of the 1950s and the early 1960s who was married to fellow actor Georges Marchal.She performed with Peter Sellers in The Waltz of the Toreadors and co-starred opposite Kirk Douglas in the 1953 romantic drama Act of Love.Robin co-starred with Connie Francis, Paula...
) is worried for him.
In New York, André entrusts a familiar contact, Philippe Dubois (Roscoe Lee Browne
Roscoe Lee Browne
Roscoe Lee Browne was an American actor and director, known for his rich voice and dignified bearing.-Biography:Browne was the fourth son of a Baptist minister, Sylvanus S. Browne, and his wife Lovie...
) to get hold of some seriously damaging papers concerning Soviet plans in Cuba from the visiting Cuban official Rico Parra (John Vernon
John Vernon
John Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada.-Early life:...
). Parra is in New York to appear at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and stays at the Cuban consulate in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
to show solidarity with "the masses". Dubois, taking the identity of a black journalist from Ebony
Ebony (magazine)
Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...
, sneaks into the embassy (which is seething with visitors and surrounded by an enthusiastic mob), manages to take photos of some of the documents and then runs away, chased by Cuban revolutionaries. While cunningly dodging away, Dubois shams bumping into and overthrowing André, who was watching events from the other side of the street, and slips the camera into his hand. A Cuban guard helps André to get up, stares at him, and lets him go.
The photos confirm that the Soviets are secretly transporting and placing missiles in Cuba. Devereaux, unheeding of his wife's fear and jealousy, jets off to Cuba to find out more details. He catches up with his mistress Juanita de Cordoba (Karin Dor
Karin Dor
Karin Dor is a German actress who became popular in the 1960s playing heroines in Edgar Wallace and Karl May movies. She starred in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice and the Alfred Hitchcock movie Topaz.Dor was born as Kätherose Derr. She was married to George Robotham, a U.S...
), widow to a former first-hour wealthy "hero of the Revolution", and herself now leader of the local underground resistance network: she acts undercover and collects information as Parra's lover. André, on arriving, finds Parra leaving Juanita's mansion. During a scene of intimacy in the mansion, Devereaux asks her to somehow take photos of the missiles as they are unloaded from Russian boats at the harbour. But Juanita's people are arrested and tortured, while Parra's man, during a big mass rally held during a lengthy speech of the "leader màximo" recognizes André's face from the incident in front of the hotel.
Parra, who has heard from the maimed and tortured female underground member that Juanita is their leader, confronts Juanita and, hugging her in his arms, shoots her to save her from being tortured to death.
In one of the film's most memorable shots, Juanita is seen from overhead, her dress spreading out on the floor like a bloodstain (although it is purple not red) on the big black-and-white pavement tiles, as she collapses.
André is searched thoroughly at the airport on departure, but the Cuban authorities are unable to find the carefully hidden microfilms, which provide crucial information for the CIA about Soviet activities in Cuba.
When André arrives back in Washington, he finds his home empty: his wife deserted him due to his Cuban love interest and returned to Paris. He is also recalled to Paris, but before he leaves, he is informed by Nordstrom about the existence of a Soviet spy organization called 'Topaz' within the French intelligence service. He is given the name of one certain member, NATO official Henri Jarré (Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret was a French film actor.-Biography:Noiret's father was in the clothes trade. Philippe was an indifferent scholar and attended several prestigious Paris schools, including the Lycée Janson de Sailly. He failed several times to pass his baccalauréat exams, so he decided to study...
), who leaked documents to the KGB. On arrival, he attempts to get to the bottom of the leak, while his daughter Michèle wants to reconcile her parents. He invites some of his old friends and colleagues, including Jarré, to a lunch at a fine restaurant, "Chez Pierre". While Jarré eats, André tells the others about Topaz in order to provoke some reaction. Jarré answers that all this is a piece of misinformation, since he knows that the Russian official in fact died a year ago. But he begins to panic, and visits the man who is the leader of the spy ring, Jacques Granville (Michel Piccoli). But Granville, in his night gown, is "waiting for somebody". As Jarré is leaving Granville's house, a woman arrives. It is Nicole, André's wife, and as they kiss we see a photo on a stand: Devereaux, Nicole and Granville were old friends from their days together in the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
...
Devereaux sends his son-in-law François to interview and extract information out of Jarré. François calls Devereaux from Jarré's home, but the call is cut short. Devereaux and Michèle rush together to Jarré's flat, and find him dead. François has disappeared. André and Michèle return to Nicole's, and a short time later François arrives: he was clubbed, but came to and managed to escape from his captors' car. He has overheard a phone number and shows a sketch of Jarré. Nicole, who was staring at the window then turns around and tells her family, with tearful eyes, that Granville must be the leader of the "Topaz" organization. Granville is exposed and apparently commits suicide.
Production
In the original ending, there was a duel between André and Jacques in a French soccer stadium, shot by associate producer Herbert Coleman when Hitchcock had to return to the U.S. for a family emergency. This ending was panned by audiences during test screenings.Under pressure from the studio, Hitchcock shot an ending he actually liked better, with Jacques escaping on an Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
flight to the Soviet Union just at the same time as André and Nicole are boarding their Pan Am flight to the States. But this ending apparently confused audiences.
So, as a compromise, Hitchcock used existing footage to create a new ending: Granville is exposed and expelled from a NATO meeting, and commits suicide behind his drawn curtains (since no footage of his doing so existed).
Eventually, the studio decided to release different endings in different countries: the suicide in the U.S. and France, the airport ending in England.
Cast
- Frederick StaffordFrederick StaffordFrederick Stafford was an Austrian-born actor.The Czech actor Frederick Stafford , who spoke fluent Czech, German, English, French and Italian, was a leading man in European spy-movies....
as André Devereaux - Dany RobinDany RobinDany Robin was a French actress of the 1950s and the early 1960s who was married to fellow actor Georges Marchal.She performed with Peter Sellers in The Waltz of the Toreadors and co-starred opposite Kirk Douglas in the 1953 romantic drama Act of Love.Robin co-starred with Connie Francis, Paula...
as Nicole Devereaux - John VernonJohn VernonJohn Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada.-Early life:...
as Rico Parra - Karin DorKarin DorKarin Dor is a German actress who became popular in the 1960s playing heroines in Edgar Wallace and Karl May movies. She starred in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice and the Alfred Hitchcock movie Topaz.Dor was born as Kätherose Derr. She was married to George Robotham, a U.S...
as Juanita de Cordoba - Claude JadeClaude JadeClaude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade , was a French actress, known for starring as Christine in François Truffaut's three films Stolen Kisses , Bed and Board and Love on the Run . Jade acted in theatre, film and television...
as Michèle Picard - Michel SuborMichel SuborMichel Subor is a French actor who gained fame playing the lover of Brigitte Bardot's character in La Bride sur le Cou .In Hollywood Subor starred in Clive Donner's What's New, Pussycat? and in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz...
as Francois Picard - Michel Piccoli as Jacques Granville
- Philippe NoiretPhilippe NoiretPhilippe Noiret was a French film actor.-Biography:Noiret's father was in the clothes trade. Philippe was an indifferent scholar and attended several prestigious Paris schools, including the Lycée Janson de Sailly. He failed several times to pass his baccalauréat exams, so he decided to study...
as Henri Jarré - Roscoe Lee BrowneRoscoe Lee BrowneRoscoe Lee Browne was an American actor and director, known for his rich voice and dignified bearing.-Biography:Browne was the fourth son of a Baptist minister, Sylvanus S. Browne, and his wife Lovie...
as Philippe Dubois - Per-Axel AroseniusPer-Axel AroseniusPer Axel Daniel Rank Arosenius was a Swedish actor of mostly supporting parts. His most prominent film role was that of Soviet defector Boris Kusenov in Alfred Hitchcock's 1969 film Topaz....
as Boris Kusenov - John ForsytheJohn ForsytheJohn Forsythe was an American stage, television and film actor. Forsythe starred in three television series, spanning four decades and three genres: as single playboy father Bentley Gregg in the sitcom Bachelor Father ; as the unseen millionaire Charles Townsend on the crime drama Charlie's...
as Michael Nordstrom - Edmon RyanEdmon RyanEdmon Ryan was an American television and film actor.-Selected filmography:* Gangway * Hey! Hey! USA * Murder in Soho * The Dark Eyes of London * Mystery Street * Two for the Seesaw...
as McKittreck - Sonja Kolthoff as Mrs. Kusenov
- Tina Hedström as Tamara Kusenov (as Tina Hedstrom)
- John Van DreelenJohn van DreelenJohn van Dreelen was a Dutch-born American-based actor, who frequently performed on television from the 1960s through the 1980s...
as Claude Martin - Donald RandolphDonald RandolphDonald Randolph was a film, television, and radio actor. The actor, who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz , acted in dozens of radio dramas, television programs, and over thirty films....
as Luis Uribe (as Don Randolph) - Roberto ContrerasRoberto ContrerasRoberto Contreras is an American actor best known for playing Pedro in the TV western series The High Chaparral. His film and television career spanned nearly 40 years from 1954 to 1993. He is also the father of actor Luis Contreras....
as Muñoz - Carlos RivasCarlos RivasCarlos Humberto Rivas Torres is a retired football midfielder from Chile who played for Colo-Colo.-International career:Carlos Rivas played for Colo-Colo, a Chilean football team, from 1978 to 1982....
as Hernandez - Roger Til as Jean Chabrier
- Lewis Charles as Pablo Mendoza
- Sándor SzabóSándor Szabó (actor)Sándor Szabó was a Hungarian actor. He appeared in 80 films and television shows between 1935 and 1997.-Selected filmography:* Különös házasság * Topaz * A Strange Role...
as Emile Redon (as Sandor Szabo) - Anna Navarro as Carlotta Mendoza
- Lew BrownLew BrownLew Brown was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States.Brown was born as Louis Brownstein in Odessa, Russian Empire...
as American Official - John RoperJohn RoperJohn Roper may refer to:*John Roper, Baron Roper , British politician*John Roper , former American football linebacker*John Roper , Major League Baseball pitcher...
as Thomas - George Skaff as René d'Arcy
- Ann DoranAnn DoranAnn Lee Doran was an American character actress.-Early life and career:Born in Amarillo, Texas, Doran began acting at the age of four. She appeared in hundreds of silent films under assumed names to keep her father's family from finding out about her work...
as Mrs Foryth
Reaction
The film was not particularly well-received or successful at the box office. Hitchcock changed the script shortly before the beginning of the filming and the distributor UniversalUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
forced a different ending to the one preferred by Hitchcock. For Topaz, Hitchcock engaged the 19-year-old French actress Claude Jade
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade , was a French actress, known for starring as Christine in François Truffaut's three films Stolen Kisses , Bed and Board and Love on the Run . Jade acted in theatre, film and television...
from Truffaut's Stolen Kisses
Stolen Kisses
Stolen Kisses is a 1968 French film directed by François Truffaut. It continues the story of the character Antoine Doinel, whom Truffaut had previously depicted in The 400 Blows and the short film Antoine and Colette...
. She and Dany Robin
Dany Robin
Dany Robin was a French actress of the 1950s and the early 1960s who was married to fellow actor Georges Marchal.She performed with Peter Sellers in The Waltz of the Toreadors and co-starred opposite Kirk Douglas in the 1953 romantic drama Act of Love.Robin co-starred with Connie Francis, Paula...
, 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 [that] about her behavior in a taxi".
Some critics liked Topaz. New York Times critic Vincent Canby in 1969 wrote of Topaz: "Alfred Hitchcock at his Best" and put the film on his Top Ten list for 1969. In 1969, Hitchcock won the Best Director Award
National Board of Review Awards 1969
- Top Ten Films :#They Shoot Horses, Don't They?#Ring of Bright Water#Topaz#Goodbye, Mr. Chips#Battle of Britain#Isadora#The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie#Support Your Local Sheriff!#True Grit#Midnight Cowboy...
for Topaz from the National Board of Review.
Criticism
Some American critics said that there was no Hollywood star in the movie—no BergmanIngrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
, no Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
; the cast did however include renowned international film stars (Jade
Claude Jade
Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade , was a French actress, known for starring as Christine in François Truffaut's three films Stolen Kisses , Bed and Board and Love on the Run . Jade acted in theatre, film and television...
, Piccoli, Noiret
Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret was a French film actor.-Biography:Noiret's father was in the clothes trade. Philippe was an indifferent scholar and attended several prestigious Paris schools, including the Lycée Janson de Sailly. He failed several times to pass his baccalauréat exams, so he decided to study...
), whose previous successes had been primarily in France. Some attribute Hitchcock's casting choices to the negative experience the director had working with Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
on Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain
Torn Curtain is a 1966 American political thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.-Plot:On a cruise ship en route to Copenhagen, Michael Armstrong , an esteemed American physicist and rocket scientist, is to attend a scientific conference...
; however, Hitchcock is said to have approached Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
(who had worked with Hitchcock in Marnie
Marnie
Marnie is a 1961 English novel written by Winston Graham, about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling from her employers, moving on, and changing her identity. She is finally caught in the act by one of her employers, a young widower named Mark Rutland, who blackmails her into marriage...
) for Andre, and Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...
for his wife.
Some critics have inferred that Hitchcock was hoping to groom the relatively-unknown Frederick Stafford as a star of his own making, similar to Tippi Hedren
Tippi Hedren
Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren is an American actress and former fashion model with a career spanning six decades. She is primarily known for her roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films, The Birds and Marnie, and her extensive efforts in animal rescue at Shambala Preserve, an wildlife habitat which she...
; however, Stafford remained an unknown in Hollywood, though he had a lengthy career in European films.
Alternate endings
When American Movie Classics aired the film in the 1990s it included alternative endings filmed by Hitchcock, which had been kept in the Universal vaults. The "Masterpiece Collection" DVD released by Universal restores a number of deleted scenes and uses the ending in which Jacques escapes. All three endings appear as extras on the DVD, together with an "Appreciation" by Leonard MaltinLeonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
in which Maltin discusses the deleted scenes and alternate endings among other things.
Hitchcock cameo
Hitchcock's signature cameo appearance occurs 33 minutes into the film, at the airport: he is seated in a wheelchair as he is being pushed by a nurse. She stops, and he nonchalantly stands and greets a man, proceeding to walk off screen with him.Real-life influences
- The plot is based on the real-life Sapphire Affair of 1962.
- The film begins with a Russian KGB agent defecting along with his wife and daughter. It was based on that of Anatoliy GolitsynAnatoliy GolitsynAnatoliy Mikhaylovich Golitsyn CBE is a Soviet KGB defector and author of two books about the long-term deception strategy of the KGB leadership. He was born in Piryatin, Ukrainian SSR...
. - André Devereaux was based on French agent Philippe Thyraud de Vosjoli of the SDECE.
- "Juanita de Cordoba" is loosely based on Castro's daughter Alina FernándezAlina FernándezAlina Fernández Revuelta is the daughter of Fidel Castro and an outspoken critic of the Cuban communist regime. She lived under her father’s rule from when he took power in 1959 until she fled the country in 1993 with her daughter because of dissenting political views.As an illegitimate daughter...
who fled Cuba and defected to America. Castro disowned her for her treason. - The red haired army captain known as "Hernandez" is based on Manuel PiñeiroManuel PiñeiroManuel Piñeiro Losada , known as Barba Roja , was a Cuban political and military figure, a leading character of the Cuban Revolution, as the first head of Fidel Castro's security apparatus...
. - Fidel CastroFidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
makes an uncredited appearance in the film along with Che GuevaraChe GuevaraErnesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
. While in Cuba, Deveraux attends a Castro rally in order to keep up the appearance of his official cover, that of a French trade attaché. The film spliced in actual footage of a real Castro rally of the era to add to the realism. - The French title is L'Étau (English : ~bench vice, ~stranglehold), to avoid any reference to TopazeTopaze (1951 film)Topaze is a 1951 French film. It stars Yvette Etiévant....
, a well known 1951 French opus by Marcel PagnolMarcel PagnolMarcel Pagnol was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. In 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie Française.-Biography:...
starring FernandelFernandelFernand Joseph Désiré Contandin , better known as Fernandel, was a French actor and singer. Born in Marseille, France, he was a comedy star who first gained popularity in French vaudeville, operettas, and music-hall revues...
and Yvette EtiévantYvette EtiévantYvette Etiévant was a French actress. She starred in Yves Robert's War of the Buttons in 1962.- Filmography :* 1945 : Les Dames du bois de Boulogne de Robert Bresson –...
. In the French script, the topazTopazTopaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces.-Color and varieties:...
gemstone is replaced by "l'opale" (opalOpalOpal is an amorphous form of silica related to quartz, a mineraloid form, not a mineral. 3% to 21% of the total weight is water, but the content is usually between 6% to 10%. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most...
).