'Topaz': An Appreciation by Film Critic/Historian Leonard Maltin

This short appreciation of Hitchcock's late-career spy thriller was eye-opening. Yes, it is obvious than Maltin is a big Hitchcock fan. Yes, I raised my eyebrow when he said it might be "ungrateful" to ever criticize a Hitchcock movie just because he made so many classics (yeah, Hitch made VERTIGO and PSYCHO-- doesn't mean I'm morally forbidden from saying I think TORN CURTAIN is an absolute misfire); however, I found Maltin's defense of TOPAZ admirable. He brings up a lot of good points and even admits when he thinks something doesn't work. He also goes over the film's troubled histroy, which in some ways might be more fascinating than the finished film itself. Overall, his enthusiasm and knowledge of Hitchcock's career makes this featurette worth a watch.

This is the only featurette on the DVD of Topaz. It consists of Maltin talking about the work of Hitchcock(R.I.P.), especially the later ones and with a certain focus on aforementioned ill-received picture(note that all three endings for it are spoiled in this documentary), as well as covers, footage and stills from them. He analyzes them and the situations going on behind the scenes. Overall, he is very diplomatic and he does have solid arguments(...some of the time), but you can clearly tell that he is crazy about these films. It is tough to hold that against him, and the lovefest does have at least a lot of basis in Alfred's skill and effort. And it's both fun and interesting to hear him talk about "music-video-trained directors" who "think they have style", when compared to The Master of Suspense, who actually *did*. We see deleted scenes(that were restored in the version I watched) and he talks about difficulties with preview audiences. He puts words to the way the final product was different from other and more famous ones by the same man. There is disturbing content in this. I recommend it to any fan of the reviewer and/or his idol here. 7/10