Featured Audience Ratings

• Chris W

  
  Coming out after the essential flop that was Marnie, Hitch delivered once again a troubled movie that also basically flopped, and that film is this: his 50th feature. And this film really did have a troubled production. Half of the budget was spent securing Paul Newman and Julie… More
  Coming out after the essential flop that was Marnie, Hitch delivered once again a troubled movie that also basically flopped, and that film is this: his 50th feature. And this film really did have a troubled production. Half of the budget was spent securing Paul Newman and Julie Andrews in the lead roles, and they weren't Hitch's choices, but ones appointed by the studio. It didn't help that Hitch and Newman didn't get along all that well either. Bernard Herrmann was supposed to do the score, and fragments of it can be experienced as a dvd extra, but the studio opted for someone else, someone who could give a somewhat more upbeat score, and this essentially led to Herrmann never working with Hitch again. On top of that, the film was originally supposed to be a psychological drama told from the perspective of Andrews's character, but instead was turned into just another Cold War espionage thriller. Even Hitch called this his least enjoyable work of his own. With all that out of the way, I now give my review. While the film really isn't that good, it's not really terrible, just nothing new and generic. Despite being overlong drawn out, and uninspired, It is well shot, and the music is okay, as are the fine, albeit unspectacular performances. The Hitch cameo is quite amusing, but the real highlight of the movie is a scene that depicts just how difficult it can sometimes be to murder someone. Despite being generic, this film still manages to be quite suspense and intense at times, and that's really impressive. All in all, this film might be a low point, but it's not a truly colossal mess, though I don't recommend it unless you're a completist.

• paul o

  
  It has the feel of any Hitchcock film but seems empty. With Paul Newman starring as the new Cary Grant, you still have a strong protagonist but the story seems to fall flat at some point. It might be during the second half when desperation is at its best and the audience has to be put… More
  It has the feel of any Hitchcock film but seems empty. With Paul Newman starring as the new Cary Grant, you still have a strong protagonist but the story seems to fall flat at some point. It might be during the second half when desperation is at its best and the audience has to be put in a very uncomfortable situation. For any fan of the director, its still a passable entry but wont meet the high tier of films like Saboteur or North by Northwest.

• Graham J

  
  Though it is a minor work for Hitchcock, this one still features many great moments and in my opinion is a huge step up from the two films before it.

• Alexander D

  
  This is actually the first real Hitchcock "flop"--bad acting, bad special effects, poorly conceived--but nevertheless suspenseful.

• Anthony L

  
  I hate to say it but Torn Curtain is fairly terrible. It's plot is thin, the script is awful and the lead acting and the story are a real let down. It's fairly well known that the production didn't exactly go to plan and many said during the filming that it was doomed… More
  I hate to say it but Torn Curtain is fairly terrible. It's plot is thin, the script is awful and the lead acting and the story are a real let down. It's fairly well known that the production didn't exactly go to plan and many said during the filming that it was doomed from the start but to be fair, it does have some good points. The scene in the farm house is brilliant, pure Hitchcock and utterly unforgettable. The colours and many of the scenes are as beautiful as you'd expect from a Hitchcock film and the supporting cast generally do a good job. It is just the ridiculous plot that is the problem, Paul Newman and Julie Andrews's characters are pretty stupid considering they are rocket scientists! Newman's heart isn't in it and Julie Andrews is woefully miscast. A real shame.

• AJ V

  
  This is my least favourite Hitchcock movie of all time so far. Andrews and Newman don't make a good team, and both aren't right for Hitchcock's movies either. The story is boring and confusing as well, which doesn't help. I don't recommend seeing this… More
  This is my least favourite Hitchcock movie of all time so far. Andrews and Newman don't make a good team, and both aren't right for Hitchcock's movies either. The story is boring and confusing as well, which doesn't help. I don't recommend seeing this movie.

• Conner R

  
  I absolutely love Torn Curtain, it’s a perfect Cold War thriller from the master of suspense. It has everything you could ask for: beautiful sets, a perfect script and a plot that captures the era in a way you don’t usually see. I think the pairing of Paul Newman and Julie Andrews… More
  I absolutely love Torn Curtain, it’s a perfect Cold War thriller from the master of suspense. It has everything you could ask for: beautiful sets, a perfect script and a plot that captures the era in a way you don’t usually see. I think the pairing of Paul Newman and Julie Andrews was an unlikely, but extremely rewarding match. It’s one of Hitchcock’s most underrated films and one of my absolute favorites. It still holds up today as being one of the most intelligently written and constructed period pieces, the paranoia of war is ever present.

• Tsubaki S

  
  I like some Hitchcock films, but this was boring. It's dated, tedious and could only be considered a "suspense" film if you're on medications. Andrews and Newman have zero chemistry together.

• danny d

  
  an underrated hitchcock classic. newman was solid as always and the story was interesting. because of the length of the film it loses a bit of steam at one point, but then it picks back up and ends well. overall a great film.

• Saskia D

  
  Although this movie was entertaining enough, Andrews and Newman just didn't really seem to match. There were moments when I almost expected Andrews to start singing! Which she didn't of course, but it was still funny (well, I thought it was funny anyway :p). Newman always… More
  Although this movie was entertaining enough, Andrews and Newman just didn't really seem to match. There were moments when I almost expected Andrews to start singing! Which she didn't of course, but it was still funny (well, I thought it was funny anyway :p). Newman always does it for me, so it wasn't really hard to sit this one out (aw shit, I went there again..) Although I haven't watched a lot of Hitchcock's movies, I don't consider Torn Curtain one of his best.

• Cassandra M

  
  The first time I watched "Torn Curtain," I grew bored and turned it off before it was over. I've watched it in its entirety more than once since then. It's difficult not to conclude that the master director's age was beginning to take its toll by 1966. It… More
  The first time I watched "Torn Curtain," I grew bored and turned it off before it was over. I've watched it in its entirety more than once since then. It's difficult not to conclude that the master director's age was beginning to take its toll by 1966. It could have been a great film except for some major flaws. First, the main characters. Newman and Andrews look distinctly ill-at-ease and their acting is wooden. There is very nearly no chemistry between them, and viewers are not really drawn into their somewhat implausible situation. Both actors are compelling in other films, but for some reason not in this one. Second, Hitchcock would have done better to keep his villains' identity less specific. In "The Lady Vanishes", "The Thirty-nine Steps," and "North by Northwest," the identity of the foreign agents is left deliberately vague and thus little plausibility need be attached to their actions. Here they are East German communists, of which we know rather a lot. Third, there are inconsistencies in the plot. At one point Newman and Andrews are forced to go out into an open space to avoid being overheard. But in another scene a pro-western spy communicates confidential information to Newman in a hospital room, seemingly oblivious to the possibility of wiretaps. Finally, there's John Addison's score, which seems to have been written quite independently of the film's action. A suspenseful scene is inappropriately matched with cheerful, melodic music. Everyone knows, of course, that Hitch's longtime musical collaborator, Bernard Herrmann, wrote a mostly complete score for the film, but the two had a falling out on the set and Herrmann was dismissed. Another example of poor judgement on Hitchcock's part. Herrmann's score would have immeasurably improved a mediocre film. (Look at "Obsession" nearly a decade later.) With all the recent film restorations, I would love to see someone redo "Torn Curtain" and put in as much of Herrmann's score as the composer was able to finish. (But perhaps there would be copyright problems.) Had Herrmann's score been used, the murder sequence in the farmhouse might have become as famous as the shower scene in "Psycho." As I was watching the protagonists flee through the East German landscape in their efforts to reach the west, I found myself thinking that, if they had only waited another twenty-three years, the wall would have come down anyway and they could simply have walked out! That's how much their plight gripped me.

• Mason W

  
  Torn Curtain starring Paul Newman & Julie Andrews is a classic Alfed Hitchcock film. Lies and deception plague this young couple. They are spies behind the iron curtain in 1960's Germany. I would not usually think of these two actors togeher or Andrews in a Hitchcock film… More
  Torn Curtain starring Paul Newman & Julie Andrews is a classic Alfed Hitchcock film. Lies and deception plague this young couple. They are spies behind the iron curtain in 1960's Germany. I would not usually think of these two actors togeher or Andrews in a Hitchcock film but it turned out to be a very good pairing.

• jay n

  
  Not top flight Hitch but still a good film.

• Pierluigi P

  
  although the story is somewhat weak, Hitch's visual skills and pace never let down, delivering an entertaining spy flick with one of the best murders ever filmed.

• Drew S

  
  Torn Curtain is a reasonably strong effort, but very uneven as Hitchcock goes. Julie Andrews tries her damndest, but her character is ostensibly the weakest heroine Hitchcock has concocted, with no defining traits except blind devotion to her husband. Paul Newman is similarly… More
  Torn Curtain is a reasonably strong effort, but very uneven as Hitchcock goes. Julie Andrews tries her damndest, but her character is ostensibly the weakest heroine Hitchcock has concocted, with no defining traits except blind devotion to her husband. Paul Newman is similarly cardboard. The plot is uninvolving and the suspense only works sometimes. Still, there are a lot of great moments. Hitchcock was a master cinematographer - his sense of the aesthetic is unparalleled. The movie works quite well about half the time, but when it doesn't, you have an obfuscated and uninteresting movie on the whole.

• The Movie W

  
  Engaged couple Newman and Andrews are attending a scientific conference in Copenhagen when, out of the blue, he informs her he must fly to Sweden, forbidding her from accompanying him. When she discovers her fiancé is actually headed behind the Iron Curtain to East Germany, Andrews… More
  Engaged couple Newman and Andrews are attending a scientific conference in Copenhagen when, out of the blue, he informs her he must fly to Sweden, forbidding her from accompanying him. When she discovers her fiancé is actually headed behind the Iron Curtain to East Germany, Andrews follows him only to discover he has defected. Secretly, however, Newman is a spy who plans to steal a formula relating to anti-missile rockets. Andrews agrees to also defect to be with Newman, who hasn't divulged his secret to her. The initial premise for 'Torn Curtain' came from Hitch himself, inspired by the defection of the British diplomats, Burgess and MacLean, to Soviet Russia. "What did Mrs MacLean think of the whole thing?" was the question he wished to examine. It may have begun as a clever premise but by the time production began, Hitch realized he had a turkey on his hands. Saddled with a dull, talky script and a lead actor whose "method" style was anathema to Hitch, the director found himself struggling to inject any life into the story. The film gets off to an interesting start as we see things from Andrews' point of view, unaware what her fiancé is really up to. Once the plot moves to East Germany it develops into a film that resembles a James Bond movie with the action set-pieces and gags removed, in other words, a tough slog. 'Torn Curtain' is, however, worth seeing for one standout scene alone. Newman is assigned a bodyguard, played menacingly by Kieling, who he manages to slip away from in order to rendezvous with a contact at a farm. After receiving instructions from the farmer, Newman finds himself in a farmhouse with the man's wife as Kieling unexpectedly shows up. With Kieling's suspicions aroused, Newman and the woman attempt to kill him, quietly so as not to alert the taxi driver waiting outside. The scene is one of the most gruesome in cinema history as a variety of farmhouse implements (a bowl of soup, a bread knife, and a shovel) are employed to take out Kieling who proves extremely difficult to kill. Eventually a gas oven nastily proves his undoing. The scene is masterfully shot and edited and is unaccompanied by music which lends it an extra level of realism. By having two characters who don't speak each other's language, Hitch is able to play the scene in a purely visual manner. After the poor performance of 'Marnie', the Universal heads were beginning to put pressure on Hitch to play by their terms. They wanted to appeal to a younger market and insisted the movie should have a jazzy, modern score. When composer Bernard Herrmann delivered a more traditional score, Hitch fired him, ending arguably the greatest relationship between a film-maker and a composer the cinema has ever known. His replacement was John Addison, who delivered a score more satisfying to the studio but unremarkable when compared to the Herrmann score which can be found as an extra on DVD/Blu-ray releases of the film, (Herrmann's opening theme is particularly impressive). 'Torn Curtain' was the first in a line of troublesome Hollywood productions for Hitch, marred by studio interference and a desire to keep up with trends. Were it not for a brief return to his native London for 'Frenzy', it would have been the beginning of a sad demise.

• Matthew Y

  
  If you were to read the plot summary "A double agent has to contend with enemies on both sides of the political fence as well as the woman he loves in this thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock" and then find out that double agent is Paul Newman and the woman he loves is… More
  If you were to read the plot summary "A double agent has to contend with enemies on both sides of the political fence as well as the woman he loves in this thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock" and then find out that double agent is Paul Newman and the woman he loves is Julie Andrews, you'd probably think Torn Curtain was a four star classic. Unfortunately, that is not the case, Torn Curtain is dull and remarkably boring and uneventful. There are two good scenes 1) When Newman and Andrews struggle to kill an enemy agent 2) The ending sequence where Hitchcock manages to get suspense out of a bus potentially being followed by...another bus. Everything else is complete poop!

• Burger S

  
  With Hitchcock's reputation and great talent like Newman and Andrews, I have to say I was dissapointed. In some of the outside scenes, the sets were obviously fake backdrops. It reminded me of a movie 25 years older - Gone With the Wind. The plot really dragged out and was barely… More
  With Hitchcock's reputation and great talent like Newman and Andrews, I have to say I was dissapointed. In some of the outside scenes, the sets were obviously fake backdrops. It reminded me of a movie 25 years older - Gone With the Wind. The plot really dragged out and was barely interesting. At the end when they make their escape back to the West it was a little suspensful, but still very dry.

• Mike T

  
  Even the films that we label as Hitchcock's misfires are hardly deserving of that term. This is a frequently panned effort that I actually enjoyed, full of fascinating visual concepts and brilliantly staged suspense. Paul Newman is a well-cast lead, and some of the camera work… More
  Even the films that we label as Hitchcock's misfires are hardly deserving of that term. This is a frequently panned effort that I actually enjoyed, full of fascinating visual concepts and brilliantly staged suspense. Paul Newman is a well-cast lead, and some of the camera work displayed is downright stunning. Worth a look for the "hard man to kill" scene in the farm alone.

• Francisco G

  
  It's unfortunate that a movie from Hitchcock that holds such promise fails so miserably to be even remotely interesting on any aspect. This overly long mess, features completly pointless scenes, poor acting from the leads, unsuspensful moments and a pretty uninspired story and… More
  It's unfortunate that a movie from Hitchcock that holds such promise fails so miserably to be even remotely interesting on any aspect. This overly long mess, features completly pointless scenes, poor acting from the leads, unsuspensful moments and a pretty uninspired story and script. Save from a couple of well pulled scenes and shots, it's a shame that this one doesn't feel like an Hitchcock at all.

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