Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writer: Brian Moore

Music by: John Addison

Keywords: Thriller, Cold War, Espionage, Secret Formula

Atomic physicist Michael Armstrong pretends to defect to East Germany, in order to find the secret formula of a resin used by an anti-missile system. His fiancée Sarah follows him, unaware if his defection is genuine or not; she refuses to leave when asked and Armstrong must involve her in his scheming. Lesser Hitchcock effort, produced during a spate of Cold War espionage thrillers. Composer Bernard Hermann was dismissed, and a hasty and sometimes inappropriate score by John Addison used in its place.

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
Julie Andrews	Singer	1-Oct-1935		Mary Poppins
Lila Kedrova	Actor	9-Oct-1918	16-Feb-2000	Zorba the Greek
Paul Newman	Actor	26-Jan-1925	26-Sep-2008	Salad dressing magnate
David Opatoshu	Actor	30-Jan-1918	30-Apr-1996	Raid on Entebbe

CAST

Paul Newman	...   Prof. Michael Armstrong
Julie Andrews	...   Sarah Sherman
co-starring
Lila Kedrova	...   Countess Kuchinska
Hansjoerg Felmy	...   Heinrich Gerhard
Tamara Toumanova	...   Ballerina
Wolfgang Kieling	...   Hermann Gromek
Ludwig Donath	...   Prof. Gustav Lindt
Günter Strack	...   Prof. Karl Manfred
David Opatoshu	...   Mr. Jacobi
Gisela Fischer	...   Dr. Koska
with
Mort Mills	...   Farmer
Carolyn Conwell	...   Farmer's Wife
Arthur Gould-Porter	...   Bookseller
Gloria Gorvin	...   Fräulein Mann

REVIEWS

Review by anonymous (posted on 30-Jan-2007)

Definitely one of Alfred Hitchcock's more underrated films, probably because of the suspect casting of Paul Newman as a physics professor and Julie Andrews as his rather one-dimensional assistant-scientist fiancee. (In my view, both gave creditable performances.) But this film shines magnificent in two areas: Hitchcock's use of suspense (quiet, relentless murder in a farmhouse; bad guys creeping ever closer in a crowd; professor at a chalk board oblivious to ... well, I won't give it away), and stellar character acting by Wolfgang Kieling (KGB agent Gromek), Ludwig Donath (Professor Lindt), and Carolyn Conwell (farmer's wife). But among these outstanding performances, who stole the show? Lila Kedrova in a cameo as the eccentric Countess Kuchinska. Thirty years after I saw this film at a theater, I had to track it down on and buy it on VHS just to watch her performance again. During the cafe sequence, Newman has a reaction shot in which it is just as likely that HE is expressing awe at Kedrova's performance as his character is registering amazement at the Countess's eccentricities. After writing this, I just gotta go home and watch it again. -JHC

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