History Film / Topaz

* RevisedEnding: As originally released, [[spoiler:Granville commits suicide after Devereaux exposes him, and Devereaux reflects on the various deaths that had to happen to help resolve the Missile Crisis]]. The original ending [[spoiler:,Granville challenges Devereaux to a duel at a stadium, but a Russian agent kills Granville before he can fire,]] was rejected by test-screening audiences. The first revised ending [[spoiler:, Devereaux sees Granville at the airport as Granville defects to the USSR, and announces [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall "That's the end of Topaz,"]]]] was Hitchcock's preferred ending, but there were concerns over [[spoiler:the BigBad being a KarmaHoudini]]. That ending was mistakenly included in the original UK prints of the film, but they were quickly replaced. However, it's the ending used for the 143-minute DirectorsCut DVD release.

* IdiotBall: Much of the second act is driven by Rico Parra being a bit dense. Doesn't it seem unusual to him that a reporter for an African-American magazine has a French accent? Or that the reporter insists on taking his own pictures, with a small snapshot camera? Shouldn't it occur to him that firing a gun out onto a busy New York street is a good way to get unwanted attention from American intelligence? And shortly after Cuba starts putting Russian missiles into place, a French agent just happens to show up out of nowhere, but he seems to just take it in stride. Justified a bit, since he's shown to be driven by ego and a MyCountryRightOrWrong attitude.

* RevisedEnding: As released, [[spoiler:Granville commits suicide after Devereaux exposes him, and Devereaux reflects on the various deaths that had to happen to help resolve the Missile Crisis]]. The original ending [[spoiler:,Granville challenges Devereaux to a duel at a stadium, but a Russian agent kills Granville before he can fire,]] was rejected by test-screening audiences. The first revised ending [[spoiler:, Devereaux sees Granville at the airport as Granville defects to the USSR, and announces [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall "That's the end of Topaz,"]]]] was Hitchcock's preferred ending, but there were concerns over [[spoiler:the BigBad being a KarmaHoudini]]. That ending was mistakenly included in the original UK prints of the film, but they were quickly replaced. However, it's the ending used for the 143-minute DirectorsCut DVD release.

* RevisedEnding: As released, [[spoiler:Granville commits suicide after Devereaux exposes him, and Devereaux reflects on the various deaths that had to happen to help resolve the Missile Crisis]]. The original ending [[spoiler:,Granville challenges Devereaux to a duel at a stadium, but a Russian agent kills Granville before he can fire,]] was rejected by test-screening audiences. The first revised ending [[spoiler:, Devereaux sees Granville at the airport as Granville defects to the USSR, and announces [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall "That's the end of Topaz,"]]]] was Hitchcock's preferred ending, but there were concerns over [[spoiler:the BigBad being a KarmaHoudini]]. That ending was mistakenly included in the original UK prints of the film, but they were quickly replaced.

* IdiotBall: Much of the second act is driven by Rico Parra being a bit dense. Doesn't it seem unusual to him that a reporter for an African-American magazine has a French accent? Or that the reporter insists on taking his own pictures, with a small snapshot camera? Shouldn't it occur to him that firing a gun out onto a busy New York street is a good way to get unwanted attention from American intelligence? And shortly after Cuba starts putting Russian missiles into place, a French agent just happens to show out of nowhere, but he seems to just take it in stride. Justified a bit, since he's shown to be driven by ego and a MyCountryRightOrWrong attitude.

The year is 1962. In Copenhagen, high-ranking [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]] officer Boris Kusenov (Per-Axel Arosenius) defects to the United States with his wife and daughter, assisted by American intelligence bigwig Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe). Kusenov informs the {{CIA}} that the Soviets are positioning missiles in Cuba. (In real life, they were intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles with the ability to strike most of the continental United States). André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), a French agent, is assigned to further investigate the matter. He first has to get to New York City and inflitrate the local Cuban embassy.

Fortunately, his daughter Michelle Devereaux (Claude Jade) has just married journalist Francois Picard (Michel Subor). They are going to New York for their honeymoon and André joins them without drawing suspicion to himself. The embassy is in Harlem and André is unable to pass as a local. He is apparently too white for that. Philippe Dubois (Roscoe Lee Browne), a black agent, is the one to infiltrate the embassy and take photos of significant documents. With the documents at hand, Deveraux next flies to Cuba, getting in touch with his local mistress Juanita de Cordoba (Karin Dor).

* PlotBasedVoiceCancellation: Used when Dubois invites Devereaux into the walk-in cooler at the flower shop and closes the door, since Devereaux's explaining to him what we already know about the missiles in Cuba and Uribe needing to be bribed by a non-American for access to the microfilm.

The year is 1962. In Copenhagen, high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer Boris Kusenov (Per-Axel Arosenius) defects to the West with his wife and daughter, assisted by US intelligence bigwig Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe). Kusenov informs the {{CIA}} that the Soviets are positioning missiles in Cuba. (In real life, they were intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles with the ability to strike most of the continental United States). André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), a French agent, is assigned to further investigate the matter. He first has to get to New York City and inflitrate the local Cuban embassy.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The story is built around a RomanAClef account of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martel_affair "the Martel affair"]], which became a major scandal that hurt US/French relations and briefly imperiled NATO. In real life, the spy network was called "Sapphire". Leon Uris was a friend of Philippe Thyraud de Vosjoli, the Devereaux figure in the actual events, but for the novel he played up the Cuban Missile Crisis angle, which was only a minor subplot in real life.

The year is 1962. In Copenhagen, a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer defects to the West with his wife and daughter, assisted by high-ranking US intelligence officer Michael Nordstrom (John Forsythe). He informs the {{CIA}} that the Soviets are positioning missiles in Cuba. (In real life, they were intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles with the ability to strike most of the continental United States). André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), a French agent, is assigned to further investigate the matter. He first has to get to New York City and inflitrate the local Cuban embassy.

The year is 1962. In Copenhagen, a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer defects to the West with his wife and daughter. He informs the {{CIA}} that the Soviets are positioning missiles in Cuba. (In real life, they were intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles with the ability to strike most of the continental United States). André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), a French agent, is assigned to further investigate the matter. He first has to get to New York City and inflitrate the local Cuban embassy.

The film was released with two alternate endings. The one involving a suicide was released in the United States and France, the other involving an airport was released in England. The film was a modest box office hit, but is generally considered to be one of Hitch's weaker, dare we say, more boring films. One of its most memorable features is the lack of Hollywood actors. Hitchcock mostly cast then-famous European actors. Frederick Stafford had rose to fame for portraying agent OSS 117 in two films. Dany Robin had rose to fame in the 1950s and co-starred in ''The Waltz of the Toreadors''. Her career was fading by the time she played in ''Topaz'', and it was to be her last film. Karin Dor had rose to fame by starring in film adaptations of the works of Creator/EdgarWallace and Creator/KarlMay. She had also played DarkChick Helga Brandt in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''. Claude Jade was the protagonist of the hit ''FIlm/StolenKisses'' (1968) by Creator/FrancoisTruffaut and was at the beginning of a lengthy career. Finally, Michel Subor had gained his fame for playing in films such as ''Please, Not Now!'' (1961), ''The Little Soldier'' (1963) and ''Film/WhatsNewPussycat'' (1965).

* AndStarring: John Forsythe, the only real "name" in the cast, gets this credit.

* EqualOpportunityEvil: The Cuban Communists are depicted to be firmly anti-racist and Roscoe Lee Browne who plays an African-American journalist in Harlem gets an interview with them by invoking a PR opportunity for them to show their revolutionary cred.

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/topaz_1969_film_poster.jpg]]

The film was released with two alternate endings. The one involving a suicide was released in the United States and France, the other involving an airport was released in England. The film was a modest box office hit, but is generally considered to be one of Hitch's weaker, dare we say, more boring films. One of its most memorable features is the lack of Hollywood actors. Hitchcock mostly cast then-famous European actors. Frederick Stafford had rose to fame for portraying agent OSS 117 in two films. Dany Robin had rose to fame in the 1950s and co-starred in ''The Waltz of the Toreadors''. Her career was fading by the time she played in ''Topaz'', and it was to be her last film. Karin Dor had rose to fame by starring in film adaptations of the works of Creator/EdgarWallace and Creator/KarlMay. She had also played DarkChick Helga Brandt in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''. Claude Jade was the protagonist of the hit ''Stolen Kisses'' (1968) by Creator/FrancoisTruffaut and was at the beginning of a lengthy career. Finally, Michel Subor had gained his fame for playing in films such as ''Please, Not Now!'' (1961), ''The Little Soldier'' (1963) and ''Film/WhatsNewPussycat'' (1965).

''Topaz'' is a 1969 [[SpyFiction spy film]], directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock, based on the 1967 book of Leon Uris. Loosely based on the events leading to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962.

'''''Topaz''''' is a 1969 [[SpyFiction spy film]], directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock, based on the 1967 book of Leon Uris. Loosely based on the events leading to the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962.

Fortunately, his daughter Michelle Devereaux (ClaudeJade) has just married journalist Francois Picard (Michel Subor). They are going to New York for their honeymoon and André joins them without drawing suspicion to himself. The embassy is in Harlem and André is unable to pass as a local. He is apparently too white for that. Philippe Dubois (Roscoe Lee Browne), a black agent, is the one to infiltrate the embassy and take photos of significant documents. With the documents at hand, Deveraux next flies to Cuba, getting in touch with his local mistress Juanita de Cordoba (KarinDor).

Juanita happens to be the leader of the local underground resistance network. She attempts to have her network photograph the missiles. It results in her people getting arrested and tortured, with Juanita herself executed. Deveraux escapes with his life. He returns to find two important events. First, the information about his movements was leaked by "Topaz", a Soviet spy ring called within the French intelligence service. He has to help expose the spy ring. Second, his wife Nicole (DanyRobin) has found out about his relationship with Juanita and left him. Michelle is determined to get them back together.

The film was released with two alternate endings. The one involving a suicide was released in the United States and France, the other involving an airport was released in England. The film was a modest box office hit, but is generally considered to be one of Hitch's weaker, dare we say, more boring films. One of its most memorable features is the lack of Hollywood actors. Hitchcock mostly cast then-famous European actors. Frederick Stafford had rose to fame for portraying agent OSS 117 in two films. Danny Robin had rose to fame in the 1950s and co-starred in "The Waltz of the Toreadors". Her career was fading by the time she played in Topaz, and it was to be her last film. Karin Dor had rose to fame by starring in film adaptations of the works of EdgarWallace and KarlMay. She had also played DarkChick Helga Brandt in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''. Claude Jade was the protagonist of the hit ''Stolen Kisses'' (1968) by Francois Truffaut and was at the beginning of a lengthy career. Finally, Michel Subor had gained his fame for playing in films such as ''Please, Not Now!'' (1961), ''The Little Soldier'' (1963) and ''What's New Pussycat?''(1965).

* DracoInLeatherPants: The hero's daughter admits that "the Cubans are wild" in their guerilla briefs at the UN Meeting.

'''''Topaz''''' is a 1969 [[SpyFiction spy film]], directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock, based on the 1967 book of Leon Uris. Loosely based on the events leading to the [[HistoryOfTheColdWar Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962.

* ColdWar: Right in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The film was released with two alternate endings. The one involving a suicide was released in the United States and France, the other involving an airport was released in England. The film was a modest box office hit. One of its most memorable features is the lack of Hollywood actors. Hitchcock mostly cast then-famous European actors. Frederick Stafford had rose to fame for portraying agent OSS 117 in two films. Danny Robin had rose to fame in the 1950s and co-starred in "The Waltz of the Toreadors". Her career was fading by the time she played in Topaz, and it was to be her last film. Karin Dor had rose to fame by starring in film adaptations of the works of EdgarWallace and KarlMay. She had also played DarkChick Helga Brandt in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''. Claude Jade was the protagonist of the hit ''Stolen Kisses'' (1968) by Francois Truffaut and was at the beginning of a lengthy career. Finally, Michel Subor had gained his fame for playing in films such as ''Please, Not Now!'' (1961), ''The Little Soldier'' (1963) and ''What's New Pussycat?''(1965).