Topaz

Topaz (1969)

Timing: 2:7 (127 min)

6.016/10
406

6.219/10
1714

6.2/10
21000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 29

Actors and characters

Release date

1969-12-17

Country

United States

Production

Universal Pictures, Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions

Genre

Drama, Thriller

Budget

$4 000 000

Revenue

$6 000 000

Website

Director

Alfred Hitchcock

Actors

Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, John Vernon, Karin Dor, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret, Claude Jade, Michel Subor, John Forsythe, Per-Axel Arosenius
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Operator

Jack Hildyard

Composer

Maurice Jarre

Artist

Audition

Editing

William H. Ziegler
All team (27)

• The film was based on the real adventures of French spy Philippe de Vojoili and the 'Sapphire' scandals of 1962, during which high-ranking French officials were exposed as Soviet spies.
• Hitchcock considered this work a disaster, as it went into production without a finished script, which was completely contrary to his usual method of working with complete preparation, and even the actors were not fully cast, not to mention the fact that the ending had not yet been devised. As a result, Hitchcock filmed two versions of this film with completely different endings (the short version of the film is 127 minutes, the long version is 143 minutes).
• Philippe Noiret broke his leg in the spring of 1968 after falling off a horse. Therefore, his agent told Hitchcock that the actor could not film without crutches.
• Hitchcock considered this work a disaster, as it went into production without a finished script, which was in complete contradiction to his usual methods of working with complete readiness, and even the actors were not fully cast, let alone the fact that the ending had not yet been invented. As a result, Hitchcock shot two versions of the film with completely different endings (the short version of the film is 127 minutes long, the long version is 143 minutes).
• Philippe Noiret broke his leg in the spring of 1968 after falling off a horse. Therefore, his agent told Hitchcock that the actor could not film without crutches.
• Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) brought on Leon Uris (1924-2003), author of the 1967 novel, as a co-writer of the screenplay, which they then adapted for the screen together. While working on the script, Uris disliked the famous director’s eccentric sense of humor, and Hitchcock, in turn, was disappointed by what he perceived as Uris's disregard for his requests to make the villains more human. He felt they had become stereotypical monsters. Uris left the project before finishing the adaptation.
• According to Alfred Hitchcock, this was another of his experimental films. The plot development is shown through dialogue and, primarily, through the use of color (red, yellow, and white). The director later admitted the experiment was unsuccessful.