Topaz

Topaz
directed by Alfred Hitchcock

This Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller is adapted from a novel of the same name by Leon Uris. Topaz is set during the height of the cold war. Kennedy and Khrushchev stand toe to toe. A Russian intelligence officer defects to the West. He tells CIA agent Nordstrom that Russia is sending missiles to Cuba. Nordstrom asks his friend and French intelligence agent, André Devereaux to go to Cuba to find proof. Devereaux asks his mistress, Juanita de Cordoba, a leader of the Cuban underground resistance, to photograph the missiles as they are unloaded from Russian ships. Devereaux smuggles the photos out of Cuba and take them to Nordstrom in Washington D.C. In return for the information Nordstrom warns Devereaux about a Russian spy ring with code name Topaz that is operating inside the French Intelligence Service. Devereaux goes back to Paris check out the spy nest. Uris based his book on a true story. His friend, Philippe Thyraud de Vosjoli, the former chief of French intelligence in the U.S. told Uris a remarkable tale of Russian espionage penetration and French apathy. A Russian spy ring operated freely inside the SDECE, the French Intelligence Agency in the early 60s. This ring went by the code name, Sapphire. For his book, Uris changed the code name to Topaz. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Torn Curtain, Our Man in Havana, and Havana.] -- recommended by Donna G. - Virtual Services Department

[Also available in original novel format.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ]

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