Pas de lauriers pour les tueurs

I absolutely enjoyed this 2+ hour-long movie, and the fact that, as others have mentioned, it's inspired by Hitchcock doesn't change anything.

I liked Newman's character. A man who is more interested in women and drink rather than the Nobel Prize, who has a devil-may-care attitude towards everything, decides to endanger his own life when he realizes his colleague is in trouble. Maybe he does it partially because he is bored and partially because he has been writing detective stories for the past few years, but it is interesting to watch his behavior anyway.

Although the plot is pretty simple, there is something that gets you hooked from the very beginning and doesn't let you go until the very last phrase. The film is very interesting, and the supporting characters play a significant role here.

To say that this is an Alfred Hitchcock movie made by Mark Robson is not a put down, it's just a fact of life. Look at the framing and you'll know immediately that we're not in Hitchcockian territory. But the the Hitchcockian ingredients are there even if not mixed or cooked at the wrong temperature, or something. Paul Newman, absolutely gorgeous and funnily enough he'll make a spy film with Hitchcock set in Sweden during the Nobels. Elke Sommer is like an imitation Hitchkcock ice blonde made in Germany. Diane Baker was the brunette in Hitchcock's Marnie and she's a real delight. Edward G Robinson, of course, always a pleasure but then Mr Robson casts Micheline Presle, Micheline Presle from "Devil And The Flesh" and ignores her. She is framed as if Robson didn't know who she was. Another unforgivable bit of business, Sergio Fantoni's Italian mamma. What was he thinking. All that aside. It's entertaining and Paul Newman can take me anywhere, anytime.

Absolutely lovely movie. A lovely 60's Stockholm and its Grand Hotel, an adorable and extremely beautiful Elke Sommer, a very young and charismatic Paul Newman, the glamour of the Nobel prize and lots of what we now a days consider that romantic innocence from the older times.

The movie itself is not exactly a good one. First of all you can notice that every scene outside is shot with a film behind so that very probably, Mr.Newman never got to go to Stockholm at all, but was filmed in some studio in Hollywood. Then all these stereotypes that are making angry to Italians, Swedes and even Danes. Well, take a look at any Hollywood movie happening in Spain and you will find see that those old stereotypes are there for every nationality and are certainly annoying. We are bullfighters here theoretically.

The plot is very simplistic, the bad guys are really clumsy, some scenes are taken from other movies and as mentioned before by someone else, it is a photocopy of Hitchcock's Torn Curtain as well.

Still, as imperfect as it is, it is just lovely, and the little romance of Newman and Sommers, those innocent but very hot kisses dressing up so smart are worth the movie for those who feel romantic.

If you have read the book, what the film has to offer is unfortunately a replay of what Hitchcock created in 1959.

Ernest Lehman was the script writer for Hitchcock's "North by northwest." I was surprised that two scenes from the classic were modified by Lehman for "The Prize". The famous scene of Cary Grant being almost killed by a plane in the open field is replayed here with Paul Newman being terrorized by a car on an empty bridge at night. A few minutes later into the film Lehman replaces the auction sequence in the Cary Grant film with Newman in a nudist conference. If you have seen the Hitchcock film you know what follows. Was it a homage to Hitchcock or was Lehman suffering a bout of creativity loss? Or was Director Mark Robson a die hard Hitchcock fan?

The book, pulp fiction at its best, made good casual reading. The film is good to pass the time, watching Paul Newman and Edward G. Robinson re-enacting roles similar to what they have enjoyed playing so often. The wisecracks (thanks to Irving Wallace) make the otherwise dumb and predictable film worth your time.

As the Nobel Prize winners come to Stockholm to receive their valuable awards . For some reason , this year's Nobel prize in literature has been awarded to the young author named Andrew Craig (Paul Newman) , who pretending to be a great seducer has fun by Stockholm nights . Another laureate results to be Dr. Max Stratman (Edward G Robinson) , the notorious German-American physicist who comes to Stockholm for the award ceremony with his young and beautiful niece Emily (Diane Baker) . The Foreign Department also assigns him a helper during his stay , the wonderful Miss Andersson (Elke Sommer) . Craig soon notices that Dr. Stratman is acting rarely , and he subsequently does not even recognize him , after that , he starts investigating . Once again our protagonist get an information that comes across something what place them in jeopardy and winds up being chased all over the town ; in addition , he shows up at a nudist meeting .

Tense/suspense/mystery abounds in this Hithcockian style thriller , in fact it bears a certain resemblance to ¨Torn curtain¨(1966) by Alfred Hitchcock , it combines the elements of spy-genre with romance , drama , comedy and pursuits . Concerning Stockholm's stay of some Nobel candidates , whose lives are disturbing , overturned and perturbed when a terrible event happens . This good thriller with all-star-cast made by a fine craftsman preys on the senses and keeps the suspense at feverish pitch . Newman is pretty good as the awarded writer who seems to be more interested in women and drinking than writing , he gives one of his most likeable interpretations , while falls for both , Emily nicely played by Diane Baker and Miss Andersson: gorgeous Elke Sommer . As the German Elke Somer plays the fiancée whose tidy life is disrupted when she becomes involved in the twisted caper . And top-drawer support cast , such as : Micheline Presle , Gérard Oury ,Sergio Fantoni , Kevin McCarthy , Sacha Pitoëf, Leo G. Carroll , Don Dubbins, Virginia Christine , Karl Swenson and many others .

By time the film and acting received negative reviews ; however , today is better considered. Colorful cinematography by William H. Daniel , habitual cameraman from Greta Garbo films and her main photographer . Special mention for the stirring and suspenseful musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith .The motion picture was professionally directed by Mark Robson , though it has some flaws and gaps . In the early 40s Mark Robson was much involved with the low-budget terror unit in charge of producer Val Lewton , for whom made ¨Seventh victim¨, ¨The ghost ship¨, and ¨Island of the dead¨. In the late 1940s Robson joined Stanley Kramer's independent company and directed his biggest commercial hit to date with ¨The champion¨. Years later Robson made another good film about corruption in boxing world titled ¨The harder they fall¨ with Humphrey Bogart. In the late 1960s, his work did decline . And of course , ¨Von Ryan Express¨ was one of his best films ; this one is certainly one of the best movies ever made about the WWII escapes . And his last one was ¨Avalanche Express¨ turned out to be an unfortunate film in which Robson and his main star , Robert Shaw, died suddenly from heart attacks . Thanks to a top-notch cast , spectacular frames , tense images and action , all of them make this one a good effort of its kind . Rating : 6 . Acceptable and passable but no extraordinary .