Review of Topaz (1969) by Mark S — 31 Oct 2008

This had always been my least favourite Hitchcock film until I saw Number Seventeen. The story of cold war shenanigans hasn't aged well and is now cliched and dull. Hitch's own direction seems quite lazy (although to be fair maybe his age was just beginning to show) and there are only a couple of fleeting examples of the pure cinema for which his work is usually so admired.

The lack of Hollywood stars is noticeable, but in this case I think that is an irrelevant point, as Hitch could have cast Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly in Topaz and it would still have been a bad film.

The ending is just farcical; preview screenings didn't go down well so Hitch was forced to change the conclusion to include events that he hadn't even filmed and therefore are just said to have occurred 'off-screen'.

It's one of the sloppiest endings to a film I've ever seen. The Leonard Maltin "appreciation" of Topaz that appears on most copies of the dvd really irritates me too; his comments about a more "discerning" audience perhaps enjoying the original film are just a prime example of misguided snobbism.