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  • Pan&Scan
  • Dual Layer (RSDL )
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  • English: Dolby Digital Mono
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    English, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
  Extras
  • Deleted scenes
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Photo gallery
  • Booklet
  • Documentaries - Torn Curtain Rising

Torn Curtain

Universal/Universal . R4 . COLOR . 122 mins . PG . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Good eeeeeeeeeeeeeevening...

Prepare yourself for some jet-setting intrigue, as we travel all over Europe in this week's tale, set during the time of the 'Cold War'. Our first stop is Norway, where onboard a boatload of international scientists we meet Professor Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) - a nuclear physicist whose project, one that would abolish the threat of nuclear war via a missile that essentially nukes nukes, has been abandoned by the US government - and his assistant, Dr Sarah Sherman (Julie Andrews). Judging by their rather close proximity to each other it would be safe to say that she is more than simply an assistant, in fact the couple are engaged to be wed at a still undetermined future date. A radiogram arrives from a Copenhagen bookstore, and it is at this next port of call on our trip that we begin to wonder just what Professor Armstrong is up to.

Dr Sarah is curious too, and surreptitiously follows her beau on a flight not to Stockholm as he had claimed, but actually to East Berlin - behind the Iron Curtain! On Armstrong's receiving a virtual state reception on his arrival it finally dawns what is going on, has the American indeed turned traitor? Or does he have particular reasons for everybody to think as much?

Torn Curtain, Hitchcock's fiftieth cinematic outing, was based upon a true story involving two British diplomats that defected from England, and is a film of three distinct stages. The first deals with things from Dr Sherman's perspective as she struggles to comprehend what is going on with a man she thought she knew so well, we then go behind the Iron Curtain and the story becomes one from Professor Armstrong's point of view, and finally there's a whole escape segment that rounds out the film.

Things certainly aren’t helped by the two stars, with Newman woodier than a cricket bat, method acting away as if every scene were the finale of a Shakespeare epic, and Julie Andrews about as believable in a sexy role as my dear old Great Aunt Mavis would have been - frankly seeing Mary Poppins like this is kind of disturbing, and she certainly wasn't cut out for it. The remaining cast does a reasonable job, although once more we're faced with quite the assortment of cardboard characters battling with a fairly unpolished and sometimes tedious script.

However, at least there are some traditional Hitchcock touches here that fans will adore, most notably a drawn-out murder scene in which the director tried, and succeeded, to show how killing somebody isn’t always as quick and clean as a simple "bang!" and "next!". There was also no doubt a bit of his devilish sense of humour at play with a German meeting a grisly end with the help of a gas oven. Generally though it's all shot rather loosely, and doesn’t show off that meticulously crafted style that after so many classics we simply expect to see in the works of the great director.

After the comparable failure at the box office of Marnie, Hitchcock now had many difficulties making this follow-up film, not least of which was dealing with a rather cocksure Newman, and being faced with a heroine in Julie Andrews he simply didn’t want. With his confidence at rather a low ebb, things were also not helped by further studio interference, resulting in the firing of composer Bernard Herrmann from the project. Sadly it all shows, with a film that whilst still reasonably entertaining, just seems a bit too ploddy and inconsequential to sustain its two-hours plus running time.

  Video
Contract

One more time! Region 1 gets Torn Curtain on DVD in its correct theatrical ratio of 1.85:1, and even anamorphically enhanced. Region 4 gets a pan and scan botch job (as evidenced by comparisons with scenes featured in the accompanying documentary). So what does Universal have against us here? Answers on a postcard please, as I for one am rather curious. The video mark has suffered deservingly because of this shoddy treatment.

As with other recent Hitchcock releases, there's not exactly any visual wonderment going on here. Grain is once again an issue, and a seriously big one at times, aliasing pops up all too frequently, there are scratches and other marks throughout and on the whole the image is nothing more than serviceable. Colour is generally quite muted, although there are occasional exceptions that may be considered to be over-saturated, but probably just seem a tad too vivid due to the general drabness surrounding them.

In another of life's little perversities, it seems the more average the Hitch film, the better the layer change. You'd be hard-pressed to notice this one unless you were sitting in front of your telly impersonating a hawk. Sadly this is but a small victory in the big scheme of things.

  Audio
Contract

You guessed it - it's mono! As with most every other recent Hitchcock release a bit of a spit and polish on the soundtrack would most certainly not have gone astray, however at least dialogue is clear at all times, even with the many accents that abound throughout. If you understand German you get a bonus, as you will no doubt have a much better grasp of what the hell is going on through many sections of the film, unlike those of us who know about four words of the language, three of which are "Kraftwerk", "autobahn" and "Volkswagen".

The musical side of things comes from John Addison, whose work, as alluded to earlier in this review, replaced that of famed Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann late in the film's creation due to pressure from the studio, as they wanted a soundtrack that would be more marketable as a record. Unfortunately after many previous, and phenomenally successful, collaborations (can anybody imagine North By Northwest without THAT soundtrack?), the two never worked together again. Oh, Addison's score is OK.

  Extras
Contract

Documentary - Torn Curtain Rising: Another curious anomaly in a great series of documentaries, this features no interviews whatsoever, simply a voiceover by somebody named Trev Brody. It's subtitled, and video quality is pretty good, even if (yes, again it must be mentioned) it features clips from the film in their correct ratio, not the pathetic full-framed affair we get saddled with. At just over half an hour it does contain some interesting information, notably how Hitch REALLY didn’t want Julie Andrews in the picture, and also much to do with the disagreements between Hitchcock and Newman, the latter of whom was apparently quite keen to tell the master director how he thought he should do his job. I guess he was but an amateur after helming only fifty films…

Music by Bernard Herrmann: This is a fabulous inclusion, showing the opening credits and many scenes from the film (almost 15 minutes worth) accompanied by the rejected soundtrack work Herr Herrmann created for Torn Curtain. The theme in particular is an improvement over the release version, and some scenes that ended up without musical accompaniment, generally to better effect, have it included here. I'll ignore my personal biases for Bernard's work and simply say that if you get hold of this disc do the comparisons and see what you think. Oh, once again it has quite the nyahh-nyahh-nyahh-nyahh-nyahh vibe to this feature by being presented at a ratio of 1.85:1, however surely you've heard enough harping about that by now?

Art gallery: 133 pictures, essentially the usual melange of promotional stills, shots from the film and behind the scenes, and advertising work.

Trailer: A just on sub-three-minute affair, after so many wondrous trailers featuring Monsieur Hitchcock himself, this is quite the disappointment with its distinct lack of the director's presence, and quite the cheesy '60s vibe to it all. It's also full frame, and in less than stellar condition.

4-page booklet with production notes: If you buy it you may get one, if you receive a review copy it appears that you most definitely will not.

  Overall  
Contract

Torn Curtain is certainly not a must-have Hitch film, and things are not helped at all by the dreadful treatment the region 4 market has received with the release of a markedly inferior product to that which region 1 was treated to. Even the documentary that is included doesn’t offer much to up the value factor this time. It's an OK mix of intrigue, maths, boats, blades, ballet and blankets, but nothing to lose any sleep over if missed either.


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      And I quote...
    "Another slaughtered visual presentation, movie-wise this is an OK mix of intrigue, maths, boats, blades, ballet and blankets, but nothing to lose any sleep over if missed either..."
    - Amy Flower
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-535
    • TV:
          Sony 68cm
    • Receiver:
          Onkyo TX-DS494
    • Speakers:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse RBS662
    • Centre Speaker:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse ECC442
    • Surrounds:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse ECR042
    • Subwoofer:
          DTX Digital 4.8
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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