Rent Torn Curtain (1966)

Of its time - Torn Curtain review by JD

This 1966 Hitchcock stars Julie Andrews and Paul Newman as proper film actresses/actors, not Mary Poppins and the Sundance kid. The plot is difficult to follow ad sometimes a little unbelievable but intriguing and pleasant. Production a little basic by todays standard but very watchable.

A disappointment - Torn Curtain review by DH

This minor Hitchcock was a disappointment. The plot was not remotely credible and the film has dated badly.

Cold War. - Torn Curtain review by Steve

Uninvolving cold war thriller with Paul Newman and Julie Andrews as a pair of nuclear scientists/lovers feigning to defect in order to gather some scientific MacGuffin. At their back Alfred Hitchcock assembles a supporting team of West Germans and expat Russians, but is unable squeeze much trademark humour from these unfamiliar character actors.

The classic production crew Hitch assembled in the late '50s had drifted away, and the problems with dated effects are harder to overlook. He went on to make some excellent films, but this feels out of touch. It isn't just a misfire in comparison with peak Hitchcock. There were many better spy thrillers being made in the mid '60s by others.

The scene usually used to promote Torn Curtain is the death of a Stasi assassin in a gas oven. Was that supposed to make us think of the holocaust and the possibility that some of these German heavies are former Nazis? It's one of the few times the worn out narrative- by Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse- actually stimulates. 

 There is an uncomfortable element of blunt US propaganda, and the plot diversion towards the end with Lila Kedrova is unfathomable. There are maybe three good scenes, but far too many bad ones. The most startling moment is seeing two Hitchcock stars in bed together, and not even married! Hollywood censorship sure was changing fast.