Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Year Released: 1969
Rating: 2.0
This is one of those Hitchcock films that people love to bash in - I hardly think it's one of his worst films due to a few gem sequences (the New York Hotel-briefcase one in particular is extremely well-executed) and Bond-esque spy secrets (cameras in sandwiches, microfilm hidden in typewriter keys). Otherwise, it's pretty much a disaster - too many subplots are unresolved, too much of the dialogue - done in English - is delivered by foreign actors (the broken English adds a certain plasticity and phoniness to the lines), too many main characters are utilized for the Trans-continental story line and the two real villains (and most important pieces of the plot) only appear in the very last act, and because of their late arrival are never properly developed. Unlike most of Hitch's work, the scenes are static and frozen; there's no fluidity to the performances (look at the conversation between actor Frederick Stafford and his blonde wife). Upon reading piles of essays on the film I have come to the conclusion that this was a project Hitch could care less about, and most likely wished he would have never agreed to do - following in his footsteps, I shall dismiss the work, too. Am I off in saying Claude Jade is cute-as-hell?
