Topaz (1969)
Saturday, November 19th, 2005Oh, the Cubans. I love the Cubans. They are so wild!
Topaz plays more like a Masterpiece Theater adaptation of Leon Uris‘ novel than it does an Alfred Hitchcock film. Long, deliberately paced and mostly lacking the dark humor that typified his other movies, Topaz demands patience of its audience. That patience is rewarded with an intelligent, if subdued motion picture experience.
This was not one of Hitchcock’s best received films. Early test screenings were disastrous, leading the director to cut the film significantly for its theatrical release. In addition, new fewer than three different ending were shot. The current DVD, also found in the new Masterpiece Collection box set, contains the uncut version with the second ending, set at the airport.
