Three Days of the Condor (1975)

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

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

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

Stars:

Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Turner
Faye Dunaway	...	Kathy
Cliff Robertson	...	Higgins
Max von Sydow	...	Joubert (as Max Von Sydow)
John Houseman	...	Mr. Wabash
Addison Powell	...	Atwood
Walter McGinn	...	Barber
Tina Chen	...	Janice
Michael Kane	...	Wicks
Don McHenry	...	Dr. Lappe
Michael Miller	...	Fowler
Jess Osuna	...	The Major
Dino Narizzano	...	Harold
Helen Stenborg	...	Mrs. Russell (as Helen Stenbure)
Patrick Gorman	...	Martin

Storyline

A mild mannered CIA researcher, paid to read books, returns from lunch to find all of his co-workers assassinated. "Condor" must find out who did this and get in from the cold before the hitmen get him.

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Plot Keywords:

cia agent | cia | researcher | new york city | political conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

His code name is Condor. In the next twenty-four hours everyone he trusts will try to kill him.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

October 1975 (UK)

Also Known As:

3 Days of the Condor

Filming Locations:

55 East 77th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$41,509,797

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wildwood Enterprises,Dino De Laurentiis Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Condor confronts Higgins on the shore of Wards Island, the 103rd Street Footbridge is in the background. This bridge connects Manhattan with Wards Island.

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Goofs

When Turner goes through the basement records storage room to avoid the rain on his way to obtain sandwiches for his co-workers, he leaves both the door to the room and the door to the alley open. Not only should the storage room door have been locked with a controlled key, but anyone with a secret or higher security clearance would have known to close the 2 doors and lock them after passing through. He did, however, appear to close the exterior metal gate. In any event, he should have known, as well as the receptionist, that security protocol would require him to come and go via the monitored front door. In fact, Turner himself could have been implicated in the murders since he left those 2 doors open, with no evidence that the metal gate had locked behind him when he left.

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Quotes

Joe Turner: I'm not going into any alley with you or anybody. And fuck the Wall Street Journal!

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Connections

Referenced in NCIS: Tribes (2008)

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Soundtracks

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

Terrific tension

This film was very effective in maintaining the tension not only of the Condor's life and death mission to discover the reasons for the massacre of his colleagues but also the relationship between him and Kathy. The cast is uniformly good though Redford obviously carries the film. Von Sydow is again great as the strictly professional assassin. The entire film had an aura of authenticity that had me entirely engrossed. Recommended, 8/10.