Hitchcock's 50th movie, Torn Curtain, is considered by many experts to be a major disappointment, but I didn't see it that way. It is not one of Hitch's top 10, but it is still a very good movie. Both Paul Newman and Julie Andrews give fine performances and I loved Ludwig Donath, who was excellent. The scene in which Professor Armstrong murders Gromek is classic Hitchcock, and the blackboard scene between Newman and Donath is great, too. I think that this movie suffers from the fact that the 2 main stars were really mismatched for Hitch. There is a story that Hitchcock along with his wife insisted that Newman drink wine with them. Newman refused, wanting a beer instead and he wanted to drink it from the can! This request mortified Hitch and his wife. Needless to say those 2 had their differences. As for Andrews, she was suffering from "Keanu Reeves" syndrome. "Keanu Reeves" syndrome is when an actor or actress is hugely successful in a role and then is never taken seriously in any other role, especially something radically different, e.g. Reeves as Ted in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure was never taken seriously in movies like Speed, Point Break, etc. The same for Andrews who was coming off Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. This is unfair, but it is true. I feel that if this movie was remade with 2 people who were more suited to the roles, then this become a masterpiece.
Review of Torn Curtain
