The Prize (1963)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.7/10   

Director:

Mark Robson

Escritores:

Irving Wallace (novel)
Ernest Lehman (writer)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

25 diciembre 1963 (USA)

Género:

Crimen | Drama | Misterio | Suspenso

Frase comercial:

He ordered a martini...kissed a girl...and was plunged into a nightmare of danger (USA Theatrical)

Plot:

As the Nobel Prize winners come to Stockholm to receive their awards, their lives are overturned and perturbed in various ways.

Plot Keywords:

Nobel Prize | Man Wearing Towel | Spy | Nudism | Based On Novel

Premios:

Won Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Obviously inspired by Hitchcock, but as Hitchcock-imitations go this one is absolutely terrific.

Reparto

Paul Newman	...	Andrew Craig
Elke Sommer	...	Inger Lisa Andersson
Edward G. Robinson	...	Dr. Max Stratman / Prof. Walter Stratman
Diane Baker	...	Emily Stratman
Micheline Presle	...	Dr. Denise Marceau
Gérard Oury	...	Dr. Claude Marceau
Sergio Fantoni	...	Dr. Carlo Farelli
Kevin McCarthy	...	Dr. John Garrett
Leo G. Carroll	...	Count Bertil Jacobsson
Sacha Pitoëff	...	Daranyi, Dark Henchman (as Sacha Pitoeff)
Jacqueline Beer	...	Monique Souvir, Dr. Claude's 'Secretary'
John Wengraf	...	Hans Eckhart
Don Dubbins	...	Ivar Cramer, Light Henchman
Virginia Christine	...	Mrs. Bergh, Chaperon
Rudolph Anders	...	Mr. Bergh, Chaperon

También conocida como:

El premio (Spain) [es]

Duración:

134 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés | Francés | Alemán | Sueco

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Relación de Aspecto:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Clasificación:

Australia:M | Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:TV-PG | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:17 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Locaciones de Filmación:

Grand Hotel, Norrmalm, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Compañía:

Roxbury Productions Inc.

Errores:

Errores Reales: Count Jacobsson is too much of a lower-class name for a Swedish count.

Citas:

Inger Lisa Andersen: Mr. Craig, I hope you'll forgive me but in matters of sex, compared to the average Scandinavian you would be considered a mere amateur.
Andrew Craig: Miss Andersen will you marry me?
Inger Lisa Andersen: We have a saying in Sweden. Why settle for one dish when there's smorgasbord.

Conexiones de Película:

Spoofed in The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)

Banda de Sonido:

The Villa

Obviously inspired by Hitchcock, but as Hitchcock-imitations go this one is absolutely terrific.

Director Mark Robson tilts his hat to Hitchcock with this adaptation of an Irving Wallace novel. A slick, light-hearted thriller of international intrigue, with a dash of sex and humour thrown in, "The Prize" is actually BETTER than some of the stuff Hitchcock was making around that time (eg Torn Curtain and Topaz). No doubt, part of the reason for the Hitchcockian similarities is due to the fact that this film was scripted by Ernest Lehmann, who just a few years previously had written North By Northwest. Anyone who remembers North By Northwest will probably recollect the famous auction house scene, and here, in "The Prize", Lehmann has written-in an almost identical scene in which the hero narrowly evades capture by creating a stir at a nudists' conference!

American writer Andrew Craig (Paul Newman) is in Stockholm for the Nobel Prize Ceremony, for which he has won the Literature award. Known for his boozy antics, as well as his distinct lack of respect for those in authority, Craig is assigned a personal assistant, Inger Lisa Andersson (Elke Sommer), to keep him in check during his stay. Less well-known is the fact that Craig has been suffering from writer's block for several years, and has been writing cheap crime novels under a pseudonym in order to make ends meet. With his nose for a mystery he soon sniffs out some very curious goings-on at the ceremony. He becomes increasingly convinced that the Physics Prize Winner, Dr Max Stratman (Edward G. Robinson) has been kidnapped and replaced by a double. Since no-one will believe him, it is left to Craig and his pretty Swedish assistant to uncover the truth.

"The Prize" actually starts quite slowly, with an amount of time set aside for character introductions and plot exposition that impatient viewers might find excessive. However, the build-up pays off brilliantly once the action gets underway and all the jigsaw pieces of the plot drop into place. Modern film-makers seem to be of the opinion that the best approach is to hurl the audience straight into the action, but "The Prize" proves conclusively that audiences get far more excitement and enjoyment when the plot and characters have been constructed with care and detail. In particular, the relationship between the various Nobel prizewinners is an utter joy (especially the husband-and-wife chemistry winners who actually hate each other; and the co-winners of the medical award who accuse each other of stealing their best ideas). There are a great variety of suspenseful and humorous moments in "The Prize". Add to that the game performances, excellent location work, Jerry Goldsmith's good music score, and the general sense of solid, old-fashioned entertainment.... and you're looking at a Hitchcock pastiche par excellence.