History Film / Topaz

Notable for having three vastly different endings filmed. The one involving a suicide was the compromise ending between Creator/{{Universal}} and Hitchcock after the first two endings were rejected. Another one, involving an airport, was released in England by accident in the original run. 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 its lack of big name Hollywood stars. Instead, Hitchcock assembled an EnsembleCast of mostly 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).

* LoveTriangle: Juanita/André/Rico, and, as revealed late in the story, [[spoiler:Nicole/André/Granville]].

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Devereaux is the nominal protagonist, but as you can see in the synopsis above, many people of many nationalities and persuasions get some time in the spotlight.

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

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 UsefulNotes/{{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). Nordstrom asks André Devereaux (Frederick Stafford), a French agent, to go to New York City and inflitrate Cuba's United Nations delegation.

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 (Dany Robin) has found out about his relationship with Juanita and left him. Michelle is determined to get them back together.

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

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 UsefulNotes/{{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 Cuba's United Nations delegation.

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 Cubans are staying at a hotel 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, manages to slip under the nose of Cuban revolutionary Rico Parra (Creator/JohnVernon) and get photos of significant documents. With the documents at hand, Deveraux next flies to Cuba, getting in touch with his local mistress Juanita de Cordoba (Creator/KarinDor).

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 Cuba's United Nations delegation.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/topaz_1969_film_poster.jpg]]

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 Cubans are staying at a hotel 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, manages to slip under the nose of Cuban revolutionary Rico Parra (John Vernon) and get 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).

* RevisedEnding: As originally released, [[spoiler:Granville is DrivenToSuicide 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 DuelToTheDeath 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.

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: A 1969 film set in 1962.

!!This film provides examples of:

* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: Right in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

* 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 DuelToTheDeath 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.

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 Cubans are staying at a hotel 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, manages to slip under the nose of Cuban delegate Rico Parra (John Vernon) and get 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).

* CallBack: Having one of the US intelligence leaders named [[=McKittrick=]] might seem like a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'', which had a prominent scene set at the [[=McKittrick=]] Hotel, but it's the character's name in the novel as well.

* LoveTriangle: Juanita/André/Rico, then later on [[spoiler:Nicole/André/Granville]].

* LaResistance: Juanita's network.

Notable for having three vastly different endings filmed. The one involving a suicide was the compromise ending between Creator/{{Universal}} and Hitchcock after the first two endings were rejected. Another one, involving an airport, was released in England by accident in the original run. 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 its lack of big name Hollywood stars. Instead, Hitchcock assembled an EnsembleCast of mostly 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).

* LoveTriangle: Juanita/André/Rico.
* MercyKill: In the film's most emotional scene, [[spoiler:Rico murders Juanita to spare her the torture that his government will put her through after her spying is discovered]].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The book is supposedly based on real events, but both Fidel Castro and Charles De Gaulle were replaced by lookalikes.

* ReCut: In 1999, Universal released an new cut that replaced the "suicide" ending with the "airport" ending, and extended the film from 127 to 143 minutes (making it surpass ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'' as Hitchcock's longest film). That's generally the version in circulation now, though some countries (and the US television version) stick with the original cut.

* ReCut: In 1999, Universal released an extended cut that replaced the "suicide" ending with the "airport" ending, and extended the film from 127 to 143 minutes (making it surpass ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'' as Hitchcock's longest film). That's generally the version in circulation now, though some countries (and the US television version) stick with the original cut.

* ReCut: In 1999, Universal released an extended cut that replaced the "suicide" ending with the "airport" ending, and extended the film from 127 to 143 minutes (making it surpass ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'' as Hitchcock's longest film). That's generally the version in circulation now, though some countries (and US television version) stick with the original cut.

* 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 ring 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 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 its lack of big name Hollywood stars. Instead, Hitchcock assembled an EnsembleCast of mostly 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).

* 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 DuelToTheDeath 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.