No one really gets excited about Hitchcock’s last four features, except maybe for the odd sequence. This was popular at the box office when it came out but it is not remembered well. On one level, it’s actually not bad film, plenty of twists and turns. The leads are miscast – Paul Newman is too American and Julie Andrews especially is wrong, wrong, wrong. Opening the film with Grace Kelly in a sex scene is exciting; Julie Andrews is just… yeah, well, Julie Andrews. Newman is a bit better but the role really required someone a bit more tormented eg Cary Grant. He’s not helped by the fact it takes 40 minutes to reveal that he’s actually a goodie – and Andrews doesn’t find out for an hour (she sulks until then). So the first bit if the movie is a bit dour and flat with Andrews feeling that Newman has let her down (like an impatient schoolmistress).
Occasionally the piece really perks to life – the murder sequence is justifiable famous (excellent work from the supporting actors), the scenes with the fellow agents are good. The final half hour is an extended chase sequence – on bikes, a bus, with a countess, at the ballet. This is a bit too long and lacking in humour and romance.
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