- Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain is an espionage story that pits American weapons researcher Professor Armstrong (Paul Newman) against the forces of the Eastern Bloc. While it is challenging enough for Armstrong to outwit East Germany's scientific minds, including the stereotypically conformist Professor Manfred (Gunter Strack) and the wonderfully arrogant missile mastermind Professor Lindt (Ludwig Donath), he has considerably more trouble fooling his scientifically-minded fiance, Dr. Sherman (Julie Andrews). You see, Armstrong hasn't told anyone, including his fiance, that he is only pretending to defect in order to steal the secret of the German missile defense system. With the head of the security forces (Hansjorg Felmy) watching him like a hawk, Armstrong must find a way to smuggle the secrets, Dr. Sherman, and himself safely out of East Germany.
- Unfortunately, this is an odd case of a Hitchcock film equaling far less than the sum of its parts. Paul Newman is an outstanding actor, but he is unconvincing as an academic. Julie Andrews, on the other hand, seems far too smart for Sherman not to have figured out Armstrong's plan. In fact, the only completely convincing performance comes from Donath as Professor Lindt, who resembles several eccentric physicists I've actually met. Lindt's final chance to show off at the chalkboard is one of the better scenes in the film, surpassed only by the creative bus chase sequence. The other really memorable scene is a bizarrely protracted fight sequence in which the nefarious security agent Gromek (Wolfgang Kieling) is eventually killed, although it is notable more for its brutality than its quality. The rest of the film is generally unspectacular, which is surprising for Hitchcock's first official foray into the Cold War.
- I spotted Hitchcock babysitting in the hotel lobby.
- This was the first Hitchcock film in a long time that didn't feature a score by Bernard Herrmann.
