Directed by:
Mark RobsonScreenplay:
Ernest LehmanCinematography:
William H. DanielsComposer:
Jerry GoldsmithCast:
Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Micheline Presle, Gérard Oury, Sergio Fantoni, Kevin McCarthy, Leo G. Carroll, Sacha Pitoëff (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
A lengthy but entertaining picture based on a popular Irving Wallace novel and set against the backdrop of the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden. Newman is an alcoholic author who accepts the award only for financial reasons, resenting the publicity that it brings. During a speech he offhandedly makes up a plot for a detective novel which centers on the kidnaping of one of the prize recipients. As it so happens, the Russians have already set such a plot into motion. They have kidnaped physicist Robinson, who is traveling with his niece Baker, and replaced him with his twin brother, Baker's father, whom she has long believed to be dead. Newman becomes suspicious and begins asking questions. The communists make attempts on his life, while the Swedish police and Swedish Foreign Office host Sommer refuse to believe his seemingly farfetched tale. Tracked by two communists intent on murder, Newman takes refuge in a nudist camp where he must strip down (only partly) in order to go unnoticed. He manages to escape and, still determined to prove that an imposter (played by Robinson in a dual role) has taken Robinson's place, Newman sneaks aboard a ship where Robinson is being held prisoner. He smuggles him off and safely returns him to his hotel room. The excitement, however, is too much, and Robinson has a heart attack. With help from McCarthy and Sergio Fantoni--the two recipients of the prize for medicine--Robinson is revived. When the phony Robinson shows up at the awards ceremony, he realizes that the real Robinson is also in attendance. He tries to escape but is shot down by communist agents trying to cover up their foiled scheme. It is then revealed that the imposter was not really Robinson's brother but a highy skilled Russian actor and that the real twin brother did die long ago. Newman, whose negative attitude toward the ceremony has now changed, accepts his prize and professes his love for Sommer. Director Robson obviously displays a certain flair for Hitchcockian suspence and intrigue (in the same vein as the same year's CHARADE). Somewhat surprisingly, the Swedish government spoke out against the film, charging that it degraded the meaning of the Nobel Prize. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
William Meader
USA
Best movies:
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
The Sound of Music (1965)
John Holland
USA
Best movies:
My Fair Lady (1964)
Chinatown (1974)
1776 (1972)
George Calliga
Romania
Best movies:
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
The People Against O'Hara (1951)
Don Anderson
USA
Best movies:
North by Northwest (1959)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
Stuart Hall
UK
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Grazia Narciso
Italy
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Shield for Murder (1954)
East Side, West Side (1949)
Ned Wever
USA
Best movies:
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
The Joker Is Wild (1957)
The Shaggy Dog (1959)
Peter Bourne
Sweden
Best movies:
Torn Curtain (1966)
North to Alaska (1960)
The Prize (1963)
Annalena Lund
Best movies:
The Prize (1963)
Jerry Dunphy
USA
Best movies:
Short Cuts (1993)
Independence Day (1996)
The Jerky Boys (1995)