tavm Review of Torn Curtain

Torn Curtain (1966)

Paul Newman and Julie Andrews are adequate in Alfred Hitchcock's convoluted Torn Curtain

[7/10 · 22 July 2023]

Another curious thought satisfied! For years, I wondered what this latter-day Alfred Hitchcock film was like with the only time both Paul Newman and Julie Andrews did one for the Master of Suspense. Watching it just now, both Mom and me thought the plot was pretty convoluted especially concerning Paul's character and what he goes through with Julie's character not in the know much of the time. Still, there's plenty of entertaining set pieces like Newman's attempted killing of someone who's getting too close to his plans. Anyone expecting Ms. Andrews to sing must of thought of Hitch's previous time casting a singer in one of his movies-Doris Day in The Man Who Knew Too Much-and remember her singing what would become her theme song there. This was one of Julie's many straight roles she did during this time after succeeding in previous musicals Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. She's okay in this role. Hitch, himself, keeps things moving after a dialogue-laden beginning following that killing scene. Maybe this was a bit too long but Torn Curtain was all right for Mom and me. P. S. When Newman's character mentioned having lunch with Ms. Andrews' character at Tivoli and then they did a scene at that restaurant, Mom and I beamed as we went to that place (and the surrounding amusement park) when we took a trip to Denmark (and nearby countries Sweden and Norway) last fall.