4 out of 5

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

A lukewarm reception at its time and not listed as one of Hitchcocks must-sees, Torn Curtain is nonetheless an excellent thriller with some great leads (who maybe dont click together but look great on screen), great moments, and learned and assured direction and visuals from Hitchy. What holds the film back, overall… is its plotting. Whoops! Torn Curtain is a cold war film, which first and foremost doesnt make it very timely. The conceit upon which it rests – retrieving nuclear knowledge from behind the Iron Curtain – is never given very much weight and Hitch doesnt try to hard to make it anything but the MacGuffin it is. Which was probably a somewhat logical choice based on what he was working with: We start the film with couple Paul Newman – scientist – and Julie Andrews – his assistant / fiance – who are lovey dovey for about three minutes before Newman tells her has a surprise business trip and then Andrews discovers hes actually nipping off to be a defector in Copenhagen. But is Newman actually defecting? OMG is he a wicked traitor? Does he love Andrews? The story withholds details on the truth until about a third of the way through the film, but the relationship requires such distance between the leads (whether that was real or perceived…) that its hard to care about their decisions. Instead were left with scene after scene of intense and subtle interrogations and then, in the final third of the film, so great thrills in an extended chase sequence. Hitch kept the film old-school for the time (painted backdrops and the like), but by using his school of knowledge, he turned what would have been a lame romantic-drama in anothers hands into… while ultimately empty… a thrilling film.