Hopscotch (1980) – Delightful
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Genre – Spy Movie + comedy
Time: 1 Hour , 45 minutes
Platform: You Tube – Free
Director: Ronald Neame
Cast: Walter Mathau. Glenda Jackson. Ned Beatty. Sam Waterston. Herbert Lom.
Delightful is not a word that one would normally use when the subject is a spy movie. But Ronald Neame’s film version of writer Brian Garfield’s book, fits that adjective perfectly. It is one of those few films that have aged well, provide a snapshot of the times, tells a story and is – well – delightful and charming. This is made possible purely by the witty, crackling script and the magnificent comic charms of Walter Mathau , ably complemented by Glenda Jackson.
Miles Kendig (Mathau) is a veteran CIA field agent who lets his KGB opposite Yaskov (Lom) go free, after a successful sting against Yaskov, at the Oktoberfest at Munich.
He is recalled back to Washington and his immediate superior Myerson (Beatty) relegates him to a mundane filing job, as punishment for letting Yaskov go free. Thats a decision which Myerson soon regrets as Kendig goes on an international spree , causing acute embarrassment to all intelligence agencies.
Kendig goes to Salzburg to meet with his love ISabel (Jackson), widow of an Austrian .
He asks for her help in writing his memoirs, an idea jokingly given by Yaskov. Reluctant at first , she relents.
Kendig then leads Myerson and his team, led by Kendig’s protégé Joe Cutter (Waterston), on an international chase . He has shared extracts of his memoirs which detail the dirty tricks of the CIA. As head of the dirty tricks department Myerson is the person to lose the most. Check out the rest of the film’s story in pictures as below
DO take out some time to watch this wonderful spy comedy . They truly don’t make them like that any more.
Hardly any chase or explosions save one comic chase and one comic explosion.The screenplay by Brian Garfield and Bryan Forbes is a true delight. The soundtrack consists of opera but mostly Mozart’s happy go lucky music , contributing to the overall “bouncy” “delightful” feeling. See it before they pull it off You Tube.
Script – 5 out of 5
Story – 4 out of 5
Direction – 5 out of 5
Photography – 5 out of 5
Total – 4.8 out of 5