Hopscotch

Ruutuhypyt / Ruutuhyppelyä / Vakoilijan jäljillä / Agenten som pratade för mycket. US (c) 1980 Edie & Ely Landau, Inc. EX: Otto Plasches. P: Edie Landau, Ely Landau. D: Ronald Neame. SC: Brian Garfield, Bryan Forbes - based on the novel by Garfield (1975), Finnish translation Ihmismetsästys (1976) by Kaarina Jaatinen / Karisto. DP: Arthur Ibbetson - colour - Panavision 2,35:1. PD: William Creber. M: Ian Fraser. M selections: The andante movement from Eine kleine Nachtmusik by W.A. Mozart; the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, K331 (best known for the third movement, the Rondo alla turca); and Mozart's Rondo in D, K382. "Il barbiere di Siviglia" by Gioacchino Rossini. "Non pui andrai" from Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart sung by Hermann Prey. "Un bel di vedremo" from Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. "Largo al factotum" sung by Tito Gobbi from Il barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini. S: Larry Carow, Jerry Stanford. Cast: Walter Matthau (Kendig), Glenda Jackson (Isobel), Sam Waterston (Cutler), Ned Beatty (Myerson), Herbert Lom (Yaskov). 106 min. The Criterion Collection dvd release (2002) - with English subtitles - with a 22 min video introduction by Ronald Neame and Brian Garfield - viewed at home, Helsinki, 27 March 2010.

Ilona Anhava's personal favourite film I had never seen before. A special film in the 1970s conspiracy cycle, it belongs together with The Conversation, The Parallax View, and All the President's Men. It has been compared with the Three Days of the Condor, but in contrast to those dark conspiracy thrillers, this a comic conspiracy thriller. Yet beneath its humoristic tone it's deadly earnest. Brian Garfield wrote his novel at the time of the Church Committee revelations on the CIA and the FBI. Between the publication of Garfield's book and the production of the film ex-spies actually published their memoirs. The fiction of the book had become reality. - The blend of suspense and humour is unique and original. Walter Matthau is great in the leading role as Kendig, and the whole film is well cast. This is a spy film where nobody dies. Kendig is proud of not carrying a gun. - Hopscotch was not well received by critics, but it is an outstanding and original satire.