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 6 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Turner
Faye Dunaway	...	Kathy Hale
Cliff Robertson	...	Higgins
Max von Sydow	...	Joubert (as Max Von Sydow)
John Houseman	...	Mr. Wabash
Addison Powell	...	Atwood
Walter McGinn	...	Sam 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 | political conspiracy | hitman | researcher | new york city | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to show-business trade paper 'Variety', the picture was a "contemporary example of an old studio formula approach to filmmaking".

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Goofs

When Harold Martin is shot and killed, he is shown wearing a button-down dress shirt and a tie. Joe Turner later opens the bathroom door when he finds everyone dead at ALHS and there is a brief POV shot of Martin where it's clear he is now wearing a white undershirt and no tie.

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Quotes

Joe Turner: Just look around. They've got it. That's where they ship from. They've got all of it.
Higgins: What? What did you do?
Joe Turner: I told them a story. You play games, I told them a story.

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Connections

Referenced in The Bourne Identity (2002)

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Soundtracks

I've Got You Where I Want You
(uncredited)
Music by Dave Grusin
Lyrics by Tom Bähler
Performed by James Gilstrap

User Reviews

2 hours of the condor

Towards the end of this film - two of the main protagonists engage in a conversation that is so telling - it could have been written yesterday and not thirty years ago.

The West has long looked to the east and its oil fields as potential targets and this film just reinforces the fact that what we think of as a new war has in fact been a raging cold war for decades. It is not and never has been about freedom –it is now and always has been a war of economic necessity. Although this film is not as renowned as many of the other paranoid spy thrillers of the 70's such as the Conversation or the Parallax View it is still a very watchable and intriguing film.

Redford is well cast as a fish out of water having to adapt his talents from the page to real life. The central relationship between Dunaway and Redford doesn't work as well as it should. She is too keen to fall for his charms and were it not Redford but a more charmless man like Hackman for example I doubt it would have worked at all.

The film is not as complex as has suggested. It is neat and easy enough to follow. It has a beguiling character that is better for my money than harder hitting films like Parallax. Redfords fight in the middle of the film is copied in a many ways by the new Bourne movie fight scenes. Indeed the double talk spy will appeal to fans of this genre. Bourne today is the nearest thing to Condor in the movies.

And Von Sydow is as always untouchable. Worth a remake but I still have a very dear place in my big movie heart for well made 70s films like this.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

25 September 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

3 Days of the Condor

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$27,476,252

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$27,476,252

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wildwood Enterprises, Dino De Laurentiis Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1