Review of Three Days of the Condor (1975) by Brian B — 25 Aug 2009

When critics today talk about great conspiracy films, they're often referring to the golden age of conspiracies, the Seventies, with things like "All the President's Men," "The Conversation," "The Day of the Jackal," "Chinatown," "Marathon Man," "The Parallax View," and, yes, "Three Days of the Condor." It was, after all, the age of Watergate. Not that "Condor" is a grea" film by any means, but it is a competent, well-made one, patterned to some extent on the one-man-against-the-world theme found in some of Hitchcock's best films ("The 39 Steps," "North By Northwest"). And "Condor" has the same superstar in it who would feature so prominently in "All the President's Men" the next year--Robert Redford--so it couldn't go too far wrong.

Of course, it wouldn't be a thriller without a romantic interest. Along the way, Turner forces a complete stranger, a female bystander, Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway), to help him escape by commandeering her car. Will she eventually help him willingly? Can he trust her? Can we trust her? Only time will tell. It's too bad this is also the time the film begins to lose some of its energy and credibility because their relationship is less than convincing. Of more importance, actually, are the two head honchos of the Agency, J. Higgins (Cliff Robertson) and Mr. Wabash (John Houseman), both characters cool and calculating and not a little menacing. Their presence adds a further tension to the proceedings. But the real stand-out is Max Von Sydow as Mr. Joubert, an unflappably ruthless, cold-blooded assassin assigned to track down Turner and eliminate him. A scene in an elevator with Turner and Joubert is one of the most suspenseful moments in the film.