Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

James Grady (novel)
Lorenzo Semple Jr. (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 November 1975 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

His CIA code name is Condor. In the next seventy-two hours almost everyone he trusts will try to kill him.

Plot:

A bookish CIA researcher finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.

Plot Keywords:

CIA | Book | Kill | Key | Bird In Title

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Robert Redford	...	Joseph Turner / The Condor
Faye Dunaway	...	Kathy Hale
Cliff Robertson	...	J. Higgins
Max von Sydow	...	G. Joubert (as Max Von Sydow)
John Houseman	...	Mr. Wabash
Addison Powell	...	Leonard Atwood
Walter McGinn	...	Sam Barber
Tina Chen	...	Janice Chon
Michael Kane	...	S.W. Wicks
Don McHenry	...	Dr. Ferdinand Lappe
Michael B. Miller	...	Fowler (as Michael Miller)
Jess Osuna	...	The Major
Dino Narizzano	...	Harold
Helen Stenborg	...	Mrs. Edwina Russell (as Helen Stenbure)
Patrick Gorman	...	Martin

Also Known As:

3 Days of the Condor (Australia)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:AA (1975) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1976) | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

1 World Trade Center, World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Dino De Laurentiis Company

Trivia:

Former CIA director Richard Helms acted as a personal consultant to Robert Redford for his role as The Condor.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Early in the film some packages are delivered to the office in which Redford works. The security guard counts 5 of them, and says "Roger, fiver." The international phonetic alphabet uses "niner" for 9 in order to differentiate the sound from "fi-yiv" for 5. No retired military man, as the guard is supposed to be, should say "fiver."

Quotes:

Higgins: It's simple economics. Today it's oil, right? In ten or fifteen years, food. Plutonium. Maybe even sooner. Now, what do you think the people are gonna want us to do then?
Joe Turner: Ask them?
Higgins: Not now - then! Ask 'em when they're running out. Ask 'em when there's no heat in their homes and they're cold. Ask 'em when their engines stop. Ask 'em when people who have never known hunger start going hungry. You wanna know something? They won't want us to ask 'em. They'll just want us to get it for 'em!

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009) (TV)

Pollack Does Hitchcock

Three Days of the Condor is a classic spy thriller with a bit of a twist, it takes place inside the U.S.A. There are no flashy locales, no super-hero types, and no ultra-menacing bad guys who spew cheesy dialogue; instead, we have a common man (Robert Redford) battling for his life in an uncommon situation. This is similar to Alfred Hitchcock's North By Northwest in its theme and intensity and Sydney Pollack pulls it off to perfection.

Robert Redford stars as Joseph Turner a "reader" for the CIA who finds himself on the run after everyone in his office is assassinated. Pollack wisely allows us to share in Turner's horror and confusion upon finding his dead co-workers. We witness his scramble for protection and his shaky call to the CIA Headquarters, as he demands to be brought in. The wheels start turning and it seems that all will be resolved, safely and quickly, but things don't go as planned. After a shoot out in an alley, Turner is seen as a possible rogue agent sending him into greater peril. Now everyone is out to get him. Only through quick, imaginative thinking and survival instincts can Turner stay ahead of those who are out to kill him.

In a moment of desperate improvisation, Turner kidnaps Faye Dunaway to elude his pursuers. This turn allows us to have someone else view Redford's character for us and provide a different intensity, a sexual intensity, to the film. Again, this is somewhat reminiscent of Cary Grant meeting Eva Marie Saint on the train in North by Northwest. But this story has more of an edge to it and Dunaway's character has greater depth and purpose than we imagine possible. She acquiesces to her captor's demands as she tries to understand him and learns quickly to appreciate him and the situation he's in.

Through Dunaway's help, Redford is allowed to meet up with the man (Cliff Robertson) who he believes is pulling the strings inside the CIA. The story turns more cerebral as we learn why Turner's office was hit and who was behind it. Furthermore, we understand how truly alone Redford's character really is. The audience is kept guessing through to the very end as to whether or not Redford's character will survive.

This is one movie that provides action and excitement coupled with a strong plot and solid characters. Max Von Sydow is excellent as a Joubert, a sophisticated, calculating, even-keeled assassin who is only doing what he is paid to do. Redford shines as a man whose entire world is thrown into violent disarray forcing him to fight for his survival. His ability to project his thoughts and concerns through his actions and facial expressions holds the audience to him.

While this movie does not have the overwhelming paranoid feel to it that a movie like The Parallax View had, it is stylish, convincing, and an intriguing movie. Sydney Pollack doesn't fill the scenes with deep shadows and hard camera angles, as some would do. Instead, most of this story takes place in broad daylight, which actually increases the tension. There's no easy place to hide, no dark doorways to duck into, no characters stepping out of the fog when we least expect it. Like Hitchcock, Pollack knows that exposing his hero to the light of day is to abandon him to his pursuers. The audience is pulled in right along with the Redford's character and we can't let go until we know we're safe.