Torn Curtain (1966)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.6/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Guionista:

Brian Moore (written by)
(más)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

14 julio 1966 (USA)

Género:

Misterio | Suspenso

Frase comercial:

Suspense! Azione! Sorpresa! [Suspense! Action! Surprise!]

Plot:

An American scientist publicly defects to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the solution for a formula resin and then figuring out a plan to escape back to the West.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Germany | Leipzig | Europe | Director Cameo

Premios:

1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

In many ways, Hitchcock often wore the same pants.

Reparto

Paul Newman	...	Professor Michael Armstrong
Julie Andrews	...	Sarah Sherman
Lila Kedrova	...	Countess Kuchinska
Hansjörg Felmy	...	Heinrich Gerhard (as Hansjoerg Felmy)
Tamara Toumanova	...	Ballerina
Ludwig Donath	...	Professor Gustav Lindt
Wolfgang Kieling	...	Hermann Gromek
Günter Strack	...	Professor Karl Manfred
David Opatoshu	...	Mr. Jacobi
Gisela Fischer	...	Dr. Koska
Mort Mills	...	Farmer
Carolyn Conwell	...	Farmer's Wife
Arthur Gould-Porter	...	Freddy - the Bookseller
Gloria Gorvin	...	Fräulein Mann
listado alfabético del resto del reparto:
Robert Boon	...	Prof. Winkelmann (uncredited)
Peter Bourne	...	Prof. Olaf Hengström (uncredited)
Linda Carol	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Rico Cattani	...	Heinrich - Escape Bus Driver (uncredited)
Andrea Darvi	...	Gretl Koska (uncredited)
Maurice Doner	...	Hugo - Baggage Manager (uncredited)
Harold Dyrenforth	...	Otto Haupt (uncredited)
Horst Ebersberg	...	East German Interpreter (uncredited)
Ben Frommer	...	Sceptical-looking airline passenger (uncredited)
Sasha Harden	...	Border Guard (uncredited)
Joe Harris	...	Ballet Member (uncredited)
Mischa Hausserman	...	Idealistic Young Man (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man in hotel lobby with baby (uncredited)
Erik Holland	...	Hotel Travel Clerk (uncredited)
Nancy Kilgas	...	Ballet Member (uncredited)
Peter Lorre Jr.	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Jan Malmsjö	...	Swedish photographer (uncredited)
Hedley Mattingly	...	Airline Official (uncredited)
Norbert Meisel	...	Factory Manager (uncredited)
Frank Oberschall	...	Airport Security Man (uncredited)
Gerd Rein	...	East German Policeman, Arresting Officer At Bus Sequence (uncredited)
Gene Roth	...	Guard in post office (uncredited)
Norbert Schiller	...	Prof. Gutman (uncredited)
Lyle Sudrow	...	Swedish Captain (uncredited)
Wilhelm von Homburg	...	Blonde Twin in Bus (uncredited)

Dirigida por
Alfred Hitchcock

Créditos del guión
Brian Moore		(written by)
Willis Hall		uncredited
Keith Waterhouse		uncredited

Producida por
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Música original por
John Addison		(music by)

Fotografía por
John F. Warren		(director of photography)

Montaje por
Bud Hoffman

Diseño de producción por
Hein Heckroth

Dirección artística
Frank Arrigo

Decorados
George Milo

Departamento de maquillaje
Jack Barron	....	makeup supervisor
Lorraine Roberson	....	hair stylist
Hal Saunders	....	hair stylist: Miss Andrews
Peter R.J. Deyell	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Dirección de producción
Jack Corrick	....	unit production manager

Ayudante de dirección
Donald Baer	....	assistant director

Departamento de Arte
Joseph Musso	....	production illustrator (uncredited)

Departamento de sonido
William Russell	....	sound
Waldon O. Watson	....	sound

Especialistas
David Sharpe	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Cámara y Departamento Eléctrico
Leonard J. South	....	camera operator (as Leonard South)

Departamento de vestuario
Edith Head	....	costume designer: Miss Andrews
Grady Hunt	....	costume supervisor

Departamento de Música
John Addison	....	conductor
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Otros miembros del equipo
Peggy Robertson	....	assistant: Mr. Hitchcock
Lois Thurman	....	script supervisor
Albert Whitlock	....	pictorial designs

Compañías Productores

• Universal Pictures (presents) (as Universal)

Distribuidores

• Universal Pictures (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1966) (France) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1970) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MCA Videocassette (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (199?)
• Universal Home Video (Brazil) (DVD)

Otras Compañías

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes

También conocida como:

Cortina rasgada (Argentina) (Spain) [es]

Duración:

128 min | Germany:126 min | France:126 min | Netherlands:118 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés | Alemán | Sueco | Noruego

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Relación de Aspecto:

1.85 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Clasificación:

France:U | Spain:18 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Germany:12 (re-rated) (video) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Locaciones de Filmación:

Berlin, Germany

Compañía:

Universal Pictures

Trivialidades:

The Swedish actor Jan Malmsjö (who had a small uncredited role as photographer in the final scenes in Helsingborg harbour and customs) found that a lot of signs were not written in correct Swedish so he helped the film crew to correct them.

Errores:

Errores que Revelan: In the farmhouse scene when Professor Armstrong is fighting with Gromek, Gromek is choking Professor Armstrong but Armstrong shows no signs of it, i.e. bruising, in later scenes.

Citas:

[first lines]
Professor Karl Manfred: Are they ever going to get the heating fixed?
Norwegian crewman: They are working at it, Professor. Perhaps some of you scientists would like to give us a helping hand!

Conexiones de Película:

Referenced in Plotting 'Family Plot' (2001) (V)

Banda de Sonido:

Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32

In many ways, Hitchcock often wore the same pants.

Hitchcock made a few clunkers in his day, but this isn't one of them, despite its reputation. I don't know if I could get away with saying it's one of Hitchcock's ten best features, but I found it to be easily one of his top ten most entertaining. I enjoyed watching Torn Curtain a lot more than some of his established classics, like Notorious and the Birds, even if it's not quite as psychologically complex as those films.

The main thing about Torn Curtain is the photography. It's full of pretty pictures--one of the most beautifully filmed of all Hitchcock's films, with lots bold swaths of primary colors and attractive and constantly changing locations--some scenes look like they were shot on location, while others are wonderfully artificial studio creations, and they're blended together perfectly. Another cool thing about Torn Curtain is that it's constantly on the move. It never stagnates. The pacing is deliberate, but engaging. It's well-plotted and suspenseful.

It's full of fantastic little directorial touches, like the scene where Paul Newman ducks into a bathroom to read his secret spy message. Hitchcock never shows us the room. He keeps the camera tight on Paul Newman, so we can't tell who or what might be in that room with us, just out of frame. It's totally simple, but it creates a highly effective feeling of uneasiness and paranoia. This movie also features one of the strangest and best-filmed death scenes I've ever seen. Hitchcock was still on top of his game here.

Most of the bad reviews for Torn Curtain seem to focus on the acting. I don't know why.

A lot of people bash Julie Andrews just for being Julie Andrews, and that hardly seems fair. Typecasting sucks. And while I wouldn't say she turned in one of the most memorable and overpowering performances of all time, her role didn't call for that. Torn Curtain wasn't a complex character study, it was a plot-based thriller. And Julie Andrews was perfectly adequate for that, even pretty good when she was given a chance to be.

Paul Newman was perfect. He wasn't his usual charming self here. He was grim and tight-lipped and stiff--as would be appropriate for a scientist feeling out of his league, playing a spy in a hostile country, having to pretend to be a traitor--a role which he found objectionable--all with his girlfriend annoyingly tagging along and complicating everything.

I understand that Paul Newman found working for Hitchcock objectionable. It makes me wonder if Hitch deliberately made life unpleasant for Paul just to get this kind of tooth-gritting performance from him. Whatever, Hitch and Paul were both great.

And so was this film.