Movies
Topaz (1969)
| Rating: | PG |
| Genre: | Suspense/Thriller |
| Release Date: | January 1, 1969 |
| Running time: | 127 minutes |
| Cast: | Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, Karin Dor, John Vernon, Claude Jade |
| Director: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Producer: | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Writer: | Samuel A. Taylor |
| Distributor: | Universal Pictures |
Description: Filmed on locations ranging from Denmark to the Universal backlot, Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz is based on a novel by Leon Uris. Frederick Stafford, a veteran of European-filmed James Bond rip-offs of the 1960s, is cast as Andre Devereaux, a French secret agent assigned to snoop around Cuba in the months prior to the 1962 missile crisis. Someone is supplying Castro -- and, by extension, Moscow -- with NATO secrets; it is up to Devereaux to liquidate the mole. Aiding Devereaux is CIA agent Nordstrom (John Forsythe) and aristocratic anti-Castro Cuban Juanita (Karin Dor), who happens to be the girlfriend of pro-Castroite Rico Parra (John Vernon). The director seems to be in awe of the fact-based storyline, and as a result, the film is more cut-and-dried than most Hitchcock efforts. Three different endings were filmed for Topaz; the Laserdisc version carries all three, as does the print available to the American Movie Classics cable service. According to the MPAA, the film was originally rated M but later changed to PG; however, a number of home-video issues of Topaz officially list it as Not Rated. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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