1
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:19,960
A little breakdown
in security there.

2
00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:23,440
Oh, what are you doing?

3
00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,160
What...

4
00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:43,160
What...

5
00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:49,639
Mixing Hitchcock and new Hollywood,

6
00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,039
and still searingly relevant,

7
00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:53,599
Three Days Of The Condor

8
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,359
is a journey into the dark heart
of America.

9
00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:57,999
Dizzyingly brilliant,

10
00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,319
Sydney Pollack's thriller starts with
one of the great opening sequences

11
00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:02,479
in cinema.

12
00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,839
Robert Redford's
bookish New York researcher

13
00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:09,559
returns from lunch to find his
entire office has been assassinated.

14
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And he is well aware
that the killers

15
00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,759
are going to want to tie up
any loose ends.

16
00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:16,999
How would you describe
the political climate

17
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,119
in America that Three Days
Of The Condor opens in?

18
00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,359
Well, it was very complex.

19
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,439
America had been through
something of a political upheaval.

20
00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,279
Through Vietnam,
and then into Watergate.

21
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There was a sense of trauma
in the air,

22
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that this great nation
could no longer trust

23
00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:35,079
its governing bodies.

24
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It's this idea that corruption

25
00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:39,439
could be found at the highest level.

26
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We can't trust our president, even.

27
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We can't trust where to go next.

28
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And this began to filter down
right through

29
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the whole of the way
the nation worked.

30
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From elections to the media,

31
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it was a kind of shockwave.

32
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And it was like a wake-up call.

33
00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,039
The American Literary
Historical Society

34
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,439
is cover for an arm of the CIA

35
00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,839
scanning publications
for secret codes.

36
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And they've cracked one code
too many.

37
00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,719
America, at the time,

38
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and I'm old enough to say this, was

39
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,079
erm, in a kind of Watergate frenzy.

40
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When Watergate happened,

41
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over the course of 71 to 73,
and just to say,

42
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,279
what Watergate was.

43
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Watergate was the President of the
United States, Richard Nixon,

44
00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,079
issuing from the Oval Office

45
00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,319
a burglary on the Democratic
National headquarters

46
00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,159
in the Watergate complex
in Washington.

47
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Now, you know, we see that, we go,
"OK. That's Watergate."

48
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What it was was,

49
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I think, in my whole lifetime,

50
00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:40,799
the biggest political dynamite
in the world,

51
00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:42,799
because then you realise

52
00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,039
the President of the United States,

53
00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:46,679
the person we elected,

54
00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,599
is head of the FBI,

55
00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:50,239
he commands the military,

56
00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,959
this guy can do what he wants.

57
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And so the atmosphere in the
United States at the time, was...

58
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,199
...the people began, the Constitution
begins, "We, the people..."

59
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,439
but it isn't about we, the people.

60
00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:08,599
So, it was all that.

61
00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:10,719
And then you combine
the Vietnam war,

62
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which was something
that nobody voted for.

63
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And the boys of my generation

64
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were drafted into.

65
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The civil rights era,

66
00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,999
with all of us in the street.

67
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All of this is around
in the atmosphere,

68
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all of this, and you top it off

69
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,959
with the fact that
the President of the United States

70
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is running a covert operation.

71
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Nobody knows about it.

72
00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,039
The FBI's involved.

73
00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,359
Where in the hell are we?

74
00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,160
It's very hard to capture the...

75
00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,559
...the sense that was
in the country then

76
00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:53,079
because we thought we were going
way out on a limb when we did this.

77
00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,199
I mean, there was all of this
suspicion about the CIA,

78
00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,279
but the degree...

79
00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:00,159
of...

80
00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,479
what we now call dirty tricks

81
00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:04,359
erm...

82
00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,599
the knowledge that we have now,
we didn't have them.

83
00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,119
All those things had not
been published, in fact.

84
00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,639
And, as a matter of fact,
some of them were published

85
00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:17,319
the week that we were shooting in
front of the New York Times itself.

86
00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:18,520
Erm, so...

87
00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,519
...working with the writers,
we were always a little bit worried

88
00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,439
that we were...

89
00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,999
that we were going a little too far
out on a limb,

90
00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,239
when we came up with this oil thing.

91
00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,399
And, of course, it was, it turned
out not to be very prescient

92
00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:40,799
because very, very shortly,
was the big oil embargo happened,

93
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and the oil crisis
happened as a matter of fact.

94
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And we began to realise

95
00:05:46,280 --> 00:05:49,759
that a lot of our strategic
decisions politically

96
00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,959
were, were based on energy and oil.

97
00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:54,119
Er...

98
00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,680
But at the time, there was
an enormous amount of...

99
00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:00,399
...of cynicism about it.

100
00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,279
Released in 1975,

101
00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:04,359
amidst the after-shocks of Watergate,

102
00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,799
this sublime exercise in paranoia

103
00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:08,919
takes us on the run with Redford.

104
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:10,959
Over three terrifying days,

105
00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:12,759
he must evade the killers,

106
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clear his own name,

107
00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,119
and root out a conspiracy
that goes to the very heart

108
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of the organisation he works for.

109
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So, in 1975,

110
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when Three Days Of The Condor
comes out,

111
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it's a deeply fractured
situation in America,

112
00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,079
at the time, politically.

113
00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,479
You have a younger generation
of filmmakers

114
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,719
who come in, sort of
the first generation

115
00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,359
who come from
a proper film school background,

116
00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,999
and who are looking at the works
of European filmmakers,

117
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but who may be, most importantly,

118
00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,519
are forged in the fires
of the beginnings

119
00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,239
of the counterculture period,

120
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and who care about politics.

121
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And if the generation before
was a bit more cautious

122
00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,999
and careful about what they said
in their movies,

123
00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,479
this generation was more loud
about it.

124
00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,519
The public had lost faith
in the government,

125
00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,319
and also the institutions
associated with government,

126
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,239
really from 1969 onwards,

127
00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:07,759
and so the first quarter
of the 70s,

128
00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,119
was a kind of sea-change

129
00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,999
in their opinions and their faith.

130
00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:18,199
Amongst those reasons were
the release of the Pentagon papers,

131
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which showed the extent

132
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of America's involvement
in the Vietnam War.

133
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:25,239
And, of course,
the Watergate scandal.

134
00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,959
The interesting thing
about this particular period

135
00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:29,799
from the point of Hollywood,

136
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was that as the cynicism grew
amongst the general population,

137
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it coincided with the growth

138
00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,759
of the new independent directors.

139
00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:43,479
They suddenly arose,

140
00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,239
largely as a result of
the success of Easy Rider,

141
00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,799
but it did break open
the stranglehold of the studios,

142
00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:52,799
which were sort of fading anyway.

143
00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:54,799
And so you had...

144
00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:56,759
directors like Robert Altman,

145
00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:58,639
erm, Sydney Pollack,

146
00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:00,679
er, Alan Pakula,

147
00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,919
all those guys who came up
and actually called their own shots,

148
00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,279
and they could deal with material
that previously

149
00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:12,039
would have been thought subversive
and would not have got green lit.

150
00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:13,799
This was a great moment for them,

151
00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:15,719
because it meant
they could start dealing

152
00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,399
with the really serious
tropical issues,

153
00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:20,639
and Three Days Of The Condor

154
00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,999
was really the first one

155
00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,599
to deal with the impact

156
00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,359
of CIA dirty tricks.

157
00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,039
In Pollack's hands, it is a thriller
built around character.

158
00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,639
Not only Redford's conflicted hero,

159
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,359
but Faye Dunaway as the innocent
woman caught up in his panic.

160
00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:42,279
Cliff Robertson was
the contemptuous face of the CIA.

161
00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,640
And Max Von Sydow,
as a wonderfully debonair assassin.

162
00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,759
So, Three Days Of The Condor
has to set up

163
00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:51,399
an enormous amount
very, very quickly.

164
00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,639
How do you describe
the opening sequence?

165
00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,919
Well, I think, if you want to teach
Young filmmakers

166
00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:00,079
about how to begin a film,

167
00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,119
how to start a thriller,
how to put all your pieces in place,

168
00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:04,759
visually,

169
00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:06,239
look at Three Days Of The Condor.

170
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,079
It's a brilliant opening.

171
00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:09,759
And it's almost casually done.

172
00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:13,399
Sydney Pollack is so adept
at making things feel at ease

173
00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:14,959
before he pulls the rug out.

174
00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,239
So, what you have is Robert Redford,

175
00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:18,959
who seems to be
some kind of bookworm,

176
00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:23,199
this American
Literary Historical Society,

177
00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,479
who clearly aren't any kind
of literary society at all.

178
00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:29,399
They have something
to do with the government.

179
00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,239
This is kind of unclear.
He arrives at work a little late.

180
00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:34,719
We get this idea of him being...

181
00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:36,079
you know, not a rebel,

182
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,879
but certainly one who pushes
the system a little bit.

183
00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,559
So, what this society does,

184
00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:44,519
and we kind of very quickly realise
it must be part of the government,

185
00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:46,679
and it becomes clear
it's part of the CIA,

186
00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:49,279
is they analyse text, publications,

187
00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,839
for traces of conspiracy,

188
00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,519
for ideas that might be propaganda,

189
00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:56,999
for anything that doesn't seem
to read well,

190
00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,079
and raise it for the CIA.

191
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,679
Now, this was a fictional idea
brought up in the novel.

192
00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:05,279
But it was so powerful,
the KGB then took it on board

193
00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,159
once they'd seen
Three Days Of The Condor.

194
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:08,799
They said,
"Well, we're gonna do that."

195
00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,159
So, clearly this is a way
things can be spread.

196
00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,279
This is the Major.
This is Joe Turner.

197
00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:41,759
Listen...
Identification?

198
00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:43,319
What?
"Identification?"

199
00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,719
I... My name is Joe Turner.
I work for you. Now, listen.

200
00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:46,999
Identify yourself.

201
00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,959
I don't...
"What is your designation?"

202
00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,079
Er, Condor.

203
00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,759
Section 9, Department 17.
The section's been hit.

204
00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:56,279
What level?
What level?

205
00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:57,479
Level of damage?

206
00:10:57,480 --> 00:10:58,559
Everybody!

207
00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:01,599
The context in which this film
was made is critical.

208
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:03,479
America had been torn apart

209
00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,759
by the scandals of Vietnam,
Watergate and Nixon's downfall.

210
00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,359
A sub-genre
of psychologically-taut thrillers

211
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,679
fed of this political climate.

212
00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:17,119
Films such as Klute, The Parallax
View and The Conversation.

213
00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,880
Three Days Of The Condor
couldn't be more timely.

214
00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,159
And so suddenly,
this whole idea of conspiracy,

215
00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:28,119
of trust, was the big talking point
everywhere you went.

216
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,279
So, how did Hollywood react to that?

217
00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:32,639
Well, I think there's never been
a film-making era

218
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:36,479
where the style of film
has been so attuned

219
00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,799
to the real political climate
in America.

220
00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,399
What we got in the 1970s,
what was called new Hollywood,

221
00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,599
was a complete reaction to Watergate
and Nixon, to Vietnam,

222
00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:49,599
to this idea of...

223
00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,279
"We aren't good or bad.
We aren't black and white."

224
00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,359
And the studios reacted
in a very unusual way.

225
00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:59,039
They made very artistic,
very intense, very clever films.

226
00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:00,919
We couldn't get to the C...

227
00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,919
I mean, what, the problem was
that there is no C...

228
00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,599
I mean, you know,
it's like trying to pick up water,

229
00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:08,279
in your hands.

230
00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,239
You make phone calls,
and you get shunted around.

231
00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,279
I tried to do a certain amount
of research before this started,

232
00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,159
and I hired a researcher.

233
00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:18,879
And, erm...

234
00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:23,199
all we could do is, sort of,
corroborate what Jane corroborated,

235
00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:25,640
which was that there was a...

236
00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:29,599
...a stench in the CIA

237
00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:31,079
that were bookworms.

238
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:35,919
Whose job it was to check leaks
and also get ideas,

239
00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:37,719
from reading these books.

240
00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,999
But beyond that, you know,
there was nothing much I could do.

241
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,319
Sydney Pollack
started out as an actor.

242
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,359
He's from the Midwest.

243
00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,719
Er, like me,
he decided to go to New York.

244
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,079
This, sort of, Mecca of madness.

245
00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,039
And he gets involved
with the Neighbourhood Playhouse,

246
00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:56,599
Sanford Meisner.

247
00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,239
A kind of parallel
to the actor's studio.

248
00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,799
In other words,
it was very prestigious.

249
00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:03,999
Not in a formal sense.

250
00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,559
But in the sense of the new theatre,

251
00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:08,359
the kind of... of...

252
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:10,839
a working class open theatre.

253
00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:13,799
And he's so good
at the Neighbour Playhouse,

254
00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,079
the Meisner makes him his assistant,

255
00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:18,399
which is quite stunning.

256
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,479
And then he goes to Hollywood.

257
00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:25,559
And John Frankenheimer,
who is his friend...

258
00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:29,119
says, "Come and do," he says,
"Come out to Hollywood,

259
00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,039
and work with the actors out there,

260
00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,079
because a lot of them
are Hollywood actors

261
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,519
and the need to sort of
get the diction together,

262
00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:39,479
how to speak and all that,

263
00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,239
so, come out and work with me
on that."

264
00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:43,639
So, he's out there
working with the actors.

265
00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,039
And Burt Lancaster says to him,

266
00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:47,999
"No, actually you're a director."

267
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,959
And I suppose Burt Lancaster was
watching him work with the actors,

268
00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,239
so he decides
to do some directing.

269
00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,959
And he gets to do
Alfred Hitchcock hour.

270
00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:58,559
He does The Twilight Zone.

271
00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:00,959
Where a lot of people,
sort of, you know,

272
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,319
get their first taste of things,
because it came out every week,

273
00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:05,839
anthology series,

274
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:07,839
you're working with New York actors
a lot,

275
00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,839
so the whole sort of training,
and he knows that.

276
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,439
On the trail,
he meets Robert Redford,

277
00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,999
who also done a Twilight Zone.

278
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,399
And they become friends.

279
00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,679
Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis

280
00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,919
optioned the novel Six Days
Of The Condor by James Grady,

281
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,239
hoping for a new take on James Bond.

282
00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,359
Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr
added relevance.

283
00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,719
He both streamlined and complicated
the story.

284
00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:34,359
He moved the Washington setting

285
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:36,039
to a grittier New York.

286
00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,359
He switched the hidden MacGuffin
from drug dealing to oil.

287
00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:42,439
And he added a sense of urgency.

288
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,159
Even speeding up
the pace of the title.

289
00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:47,479
"Three days is plenty," he declared.

290
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:49,479
So, the book Six Days Of The Condor

291
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,599
was a, sort of, airport bestseller,

292
00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,039
it was popular,
as genre books were at the time,

293
00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,239
especially espionage thrillers.

294
00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:59,599
So, it comes out in 1974.

295
00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:01,959
And by 1975,
it's been adapted for the screen.

296
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:03,359
It's a pretty quick turnaround.

297
00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,159
And a lot of that was down to
the producer, Dino De Laurentiis,

298
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,959
who saw an opportunity
for this kind of material,

299
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:13,079
and knew that
in the spirit of America,

300
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,839
at this time, and in general,
the idea of espionage

301
00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:17,799
and who can you trust,

302
00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:19,079
was a big theme.

303
00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:22,439
His key decision was the first
choice of screenwriter.

304
00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:25,279
He brought in a man
called Lorenzo Semple Jr.

305
00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:27,639
Who was a wily old
Hollywood screenwriter.

306
00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:29,199
He had written The Parallax View,

307
00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:30,919
which had been very successful.

308
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,359
Warren Beatty,
paranoid political thriller.

309
00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,399
It came out
a couple of years beforehand.

310
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,399
He knew the terrain.

311
00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,959
And he made some very sensible
decisions with this pulpy novel.

312
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,719
Because he was a really good writer
and, again,

313
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,999
a good reader of the media,

314
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:47,359
he changed the MacGuffin.

315
00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:49,159
In the book,
it's all about drug dealing.

316
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,039
So, the central conspiracy is

317
00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,279
a man at the CIA who's kind of
infiltrating drug dealing,

318
00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,279
for his own evil ends.

319
00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,199
What Semple Jr did
is he changed it to oil.

320
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,199
So, the CIA are trying to manipulate

321
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,799
countries who are making,
developing oil.

322
00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:05,039
Very topical.

323
00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,079
Very on,
what was going on currently

324
00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,439
in the world,
in terms of real politic.

325
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:10,919
So, this pulpy thriller

326
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:15,119
instantly became a film
and a story of the moment.

327
00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:19,479
Initially, Warren Beatty was set
to star, with Peter Yates directing.

328
00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,839
But Redford's interests
changed everything.

329
00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,839
He informed De Laurentiis
that his old friend Sydney Pollack

330
00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:27,239
had to direct.

331
00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,839
After The Way We Were,
and Jeremiah Johnson,

332
00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:31,799
this was the third of seven films

333
00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:33,319
Redford would make with Pollack.

334
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:35,719
One of the great actor-director
partnerships.

335
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,879
The original project
had Warren Beatty as Joe.

336
00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,959
And he was to be directed
by Peter Yates, who'd done Bullet.

337
00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:44,960
When Warren Beatty
left the project...

338
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,239
...Dino brought in Robert Redford.

339
00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:53,119
Robert Redford was, you know,
he'd made a film with Peter Yates,

340
00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:58,439
but Redford said, "I'll only do it
if Sydney Pollack can direct it."

341
00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,719
Dino then paid off
Peter Yates's full fee,

342
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:04,719
and Sydney Pollack came on board.

343
00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:06,839
So, Sydney Pollack's a director.

344
00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,759
Fantastic director, but how did he
get chosen to direct this?

345
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,119
Well, if you looked
at Pollack's previous films,

346
00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:17,119
you would have said he was an
unlikely espionage-style director.

347
00:17:17,120 --> 00:17:21,239
He tended to make, what would be
called widescreen American romances.

348
00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,879
He loved big stories.

349
00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,479
He made The Way We Were,

350
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:27,759
he made Jeremiah Johnson,

351
00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,439
and he shifted around
in milieu and genre.

352
00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,199
But he liked big stories.

353
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:34,679
And very romantic stories.

354
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,599
And he loved stars.
He loved performances.

355
00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,959
So, the idea
of a very tense clockwork thriller

356
00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:41,519
doesn't immediately fit.

357
00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:43,759
As far as Redford was concerned,

358
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:45,759
he was the best director of Redford.

359
00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,039
He was the guy who understood him
as an actor.

360
00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:49,759
So, he brought Pollack on.

361
00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,159
And when Pollack came in,
he said he was just, sort of,

362
00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,199
intrigued by the chance
to do this kind of material.

363
00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,599
By the time that the project
came along for Robert Redford,

364
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,439
he was already a huge star.

365
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,679
He had seen his success rise

366
00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,239
abruptly after Butch Cassidy
And The Sundance Kid.

367
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:06,919
He'd been a TV actor before that,

368
00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,679
and done a number of other roles,
but it was Butch Cassidy

369
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,799
And The Sundance Kid that
brought him to huge prominence.

370
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,079
And he went from strength
to strength in the 70s,

371
00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,119
largely with his director,
Sydney Pollack,

372
00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:22,519
who, the two of them would have
a long-lasting collaboration.

373
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,359
He was a huge star.

374
00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:26,719
He was a great romantic lead.

375
00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:28,399
And people loved him.

376
00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:29,879
I mean, you know,
apart from the fact

377
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,919
that he was excessively
good-looking, he was a good actor.

378
00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:34,439
And he could do the stuff.

379
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,999
So, he was a huge star

380
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,359
to take on this role,

381
00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:44,559
which was fairly,
a bit of a change for him, in fact.

382
00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:46,679
This was quite a challenge for him.

383
00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,799
Although it appealed to his,
his own sort of philosophy,

384
00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:51,759
in his own, you know,

385
00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,439
democratic sensibilities,
as it were.

386
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,279
He, it made him, he came across
as a bit of a nerd.

387
00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,079
He's a bit of a, sort of,

388
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,559
bookish-librarian type,

389
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:04,159
who happens to have a brain.

390
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,999
But he's not particularly
brave or action packed.

391
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,799
He has to learn as he's going along,

392
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,759
as he's escaping, to somehow,

393
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,559
use his unconventionality,

394
00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,839
to escape,
and that shows his resourcefulness.

395
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,959
Now, what happened was through
a series of friends

396
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,039
and political connections,

397
00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:26,680
mostly through Redford...

398
00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:30,840
...we got to Helms.

399
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,679
And Helms's attitude
was very cavalier.

400
00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,279
For some reason, he was
not sensorial at all.

401
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:40,359
He came into the trailer,

402
00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:42,599
he had a lot of bodyguards around.

403
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:43,799
Er,

404
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,639
I mean, there were a lot of guys

405
00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,199
with walkie-talkies
and the ear things.

406
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:53,479
And I felt a little weird when he
was in the trailer.

407
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:55,119
I didn't know what to ask him.

408
00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:57,239
You know?
I didn't want to insult him.

409
00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,599
But I, but I kind of implied...

410
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,559
I sort of set up the scene for him
that he was going to watch.

411
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:05,359
He hadn't read the script.

412
00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:10,239
And I set up this, sort of,
rogue operation idea for him.

413
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:11,799
He just kind of grinned.

414
00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,079
He said, he just,
he seemed very happy to be there.

415
00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:21,879
And loved listening to this whole
intrigue, and it all seemed fine.

416
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:25,039
Every moment, for me, in this movie

417
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,759
is something that we have,

418
00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,079
at that time, unconsciously,
in ourselves.

419
00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,439
It's almost like an affirmation

420
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,639
of everything at the time

421
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:37,919
that we, especially young people,

422
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:39,359
thought was happening.

423
00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:40,919
So that, in fact,

424
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,719
it is a movie, but it also
becomes a series of vignettes,

425
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,999
where you are literally sitting
in the cinema, going,

426
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,119
"Wow!" And you freeze it.
You freeze it a little bit.

427
00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:54,759
At the time, I'm not saying now.

428
00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,199
But at the time,
you froze the image.

429
00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:02,799
You froze the mailman coming into,
guy coming in as the mailman.

430
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,479
And then, actually,
he's an assassin.

431
00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,959
You freeze that, and you think
that that is the way it is.

432
00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,079
That's the way America is.

433
00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,119
When Redford said at the end,
he said,

434
00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:14,959
"I gave it to the New York Times,"

435
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,399
and the CIA operative,
Cliff Robertson, says,

436
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,279
"How do you know
they're gonna printed it?"

437
00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:21,519
"Yeah," you think to yourself.
That's what I feel.

438
00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:23,919
While very much a film of its age,

439
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:25,919
Three Days Of The Condor
varies markedly

440
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,239
from its 70s contemporaries.

441
00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:29,879
It's more classical.

442
00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,359
In the vein
of Hitchcock's Wrong Man thrillers,

443
00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:35,199
The 39 Steps and North By Northwest.

444
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,879
It still has hints
of the Bond-style caper

445
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,959
everyone involved had fooled
themselves they were making.

446
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,479
Pollack kept reiterating,

447
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:45,560
"He just set out to make a movie."

448
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,559
Listen, please don't hurt me!

449
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:50,719
Where do you live?

450
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,159
Where'd you live!
- Brooklyn Heights.
- Alone?

451
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:54,880
I live with a friend.

452
00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:57,720
You live alone. Come on, let's go.

453
00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:08,839
Tentrex Industries.

454
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,599
It's a cover. I work for the CIA.

455
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:12,760
Oh, Jesus!

456
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,399
Your assignment for today
was to go out and kidnap a girl.

457
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,600
Look it up. Tentrex... Industries!

458
00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:25,959
And look up the number for the CIA
in New York.

459
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,159
You mean,
they're listed like my aunt Gladys?

460
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,000
Under US government agencies. Go on.

461
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,319
Is this what you do?

462
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:38,760
This? Photography?

463
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:41,240
OK. I...

464
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:43,799
It's the same number.

465
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:45,719
Here is a powerful reminder

466
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,159
that Robert Redford was so much more
than a pretty face.

467
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,919
He was a cipher for a paranoid age.

468
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,639
The American ideal
battling corruption.

469
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,359
Joe Turner was a radical departure
for him.

470
00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:00,319
A cerebral character,
rather than a man of action.

471
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,439
Indeed, because Joe Turner
is no field agent,

472
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,119
his moves are unpredictable.

473
00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:08,679
A desperate character,
willing to test his own boundaries.

474
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:10,719
Well, if you boil it down and say,

475
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,759
"Right, this is an espionage
thriller," it's a very talky,

476
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,679
it's very performance-driven,

477
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,239
it's very stylish in the sense
of the way it shoots people.

478
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,759
There's action in it,
but it's relatively minimal.

479
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:26,799
It's very realistic, plus it brings
a slightly contradictory,

480
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:28,919
what I'd call a playful edge to it.

481
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,199
An absurdity.

482
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,959
He gives it this Dave Grusin
jazz score.

483
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:34,839
He plays around with the idea

484
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:36,839
that, is this real? You know?

485
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,439
What's going through Redford's head
is this sense of,

486
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,239
"Can I believe this? The world's
become Alice in Wonderland.

487
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,359
I was going to my job, and I
come back and everyone's dead.

488
00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:46,959
Can this be real?"

489
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,839
And I love the idea
that Pollack is testing our ability

490
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,519
to believe in the immaterial.

491
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,479
There's certain moments in the film,
such as when Joe Turner meets Kathy,

492
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,599
that echo
Hitchcock's Wrong Man's thrillers,

493
00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:59,639
like 39 Steps and North By Northwest.

494
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:01,359
Do you think these are influences?

495
00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:03,319
Why did Pollack have those in there?

496
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,599
So, you could look at the storyline.

497
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:09,279
A man on the run. An innocent man
who becomes accused of killing.

498
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,319
And he takes, well, he kidnaps,
basically, an innocent woman

499
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,719
to help, to give him a safe haven
and clear his name.

500
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,599
Basically he has to find
the source of the conspiracy,

501
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:20,519
to try and save himself.

502
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:22,719
That's the plot of The 39 Steps.

503
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,519
That's kind of partly
the plot of North By Northwest.

504
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,079
So, it's very Hitchcockian.

505
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,719
It has that idea of the ordinary
man thrust into the extraordinary.

506
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,359
It's not fully Hitchcockian,
because we do have the CIA,

507
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:37,079
Joe Turner is, on one level,
an agent.

508
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:38,559
But it still has that idea of

509
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,999
there's something of
an ordinary man about him,

510
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,279
confronting extraordinary forces.

511
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,079
The character of Kathy was as much
a departure for Faye Dunaway.

512
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,119
She's an innocent,
kidnapped by the desperate Joe,

513
00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:51,759
looking for a safe haven.

514
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,719
A terrified but decent figure,
not knowing who she can trust.

515
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,559
For Pollack, their relationship is
the central metaphor for the film.

516
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,119
A microcosm of America at large.

517
00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:05,919
If Dunaway brought any baggage
from Bonnie And Clyde or Chinatown,

518
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:07,679
well, so much the better.

519
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:09,399
He runs away, he gets away,

520
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,519
and then he kidnaps Faye Dunaway.

521
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,759
Now, freeze the frame there,
as well.

522
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:16,359
This is Faye Dunaway.

523
00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:19,759
This is another movie star,

524
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,679
whose parts are very complex.

525
00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:24,799
There's Faye Dunaway in this car.

526
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,479
And you think, "Well,
what's going to happen here next?"

527
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,119
She, you have to think to yourself,

528
00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:33,199
that she took the role
because she believed in it.

529
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:34,839
But also because she's an actor.

530
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:36,879
She wanted to try something.

531
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,759
So, it's a very strange part
for Faye Dunaway to take,

532
00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:42,639
because she's, sort of, like, a

533
00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,639
mousy, kind of subjugated,
that's what she's playing.

534
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,479
And so we're watching

535
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,079
the duel between these two,

536
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:54,079
and we're also, and maybe
this is Pollack's intention,

537
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:56,439
maybe this is Redford's intention,

538
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:58,399
is for us to ask,
"What's going to happen next?"

539
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:00,199
Because this is Faye Dunaway.

540
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,479
So, something is going to happen.

541
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:04,519
This isn't everything
that we think it is.

542
00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,719
And, of course, turned out to be
true. It isn't what we think it is.

543
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:12,159
Faye Dunaway is an interesting one
for this kind of part,

544
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,599
because she is essentially
an ordinary woman,

545
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:16,759
a photographer, living in the city,

546
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,519
who is going about
her daily business,

547
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,239
getting ready to go on a ski trip
with her boyfriend,

548
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,439
who remains unseen in the film,

549
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,159
and then Redford has a gun, and
snatches her up off the street,

550
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,319
as a kind of rouse, as a hostage,

551
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,199
in order to find some safety
with a stranger.

552
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,999
So, she's in a hostage situation,
and she's extremely vulnerable.

553
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,159
And Dunaway didn't usually play
vulnerable that often.

554
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,359
She played ice queens often.

555
00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:46,679
Or she played women with a really,
kind of, aloof exterior.

556
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,279
Even in Bonnie And Clyde,
her breakout role,

557
00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:51,879
she's maybe a little bit less
aloof, but she's...

558
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:53,919
she is a sort of opaque.
You're really understand

559
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:55,319
what all of her motivation is,

560
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:57,839
there is a kind of violence
and frenzy about her.

561
00:26:57,840 --> 00:26:59,359
She's often unlikeable.

562
00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:01,639
In this film,
she's very sympathetic,

563
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,719
because she's completely taken
by surprise by the situation.

564
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:07,399
And is spending most of it

565
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,839
in terror and fear for her safety,
and for her life.

566
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:12,919
What's also interesting
about the role,

567
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,399
and this romantic subplot,

568
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,119
is that it does divide opinion,
I think.

569
00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:21,439
I think some people do see it
as being so implausible

570
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,359
that you would almost
get Stockholm syndrome immediately

571
00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:26,559
and fall for somebody
who is pointing a gun at you.

572
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,959
He does probably stretch the realms
of realism.

573
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,959
But I don't really think realism
is what the film is going for here.

574
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,279
The film is going, "This is Faye
Dunaway, and this is Robert Redford,

575
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,199
and the star power
of their combined chemistry."

576
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,319
Bringing an aura of European class,

577
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,639
Max von Sydow was Bergman's muse.

578
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:48,079
The film's ostensible villain
is so refreshing,

579
00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,519
with his mix of aristocratic charm
and pragmatism.

580
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:53,519
"The why is not important
as you bear.

581
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,879
Only the when and how much."

582
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,079
Such delicious detail.

583
00:27:58,080 --> 00:27:59,839
The unwavering eloquence.

584
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:01,919
The impeccable houndstooth coat.

585
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,959
His dedication
to painting model soldiers.

586
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,199
Von Sydow offers
the tidy face of amorality.

587
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,519
A man unburdened by ideals.

588
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,600
It would happen this way.

589
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:15,840
You may be walking.

590
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:21,080
Maybe the first sunny day
of the spring.

591
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,080
And a car will slow beside you.

592
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:26,559
And a door will open.

593
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:28,199
And someone you know,

594
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:29,320
maybe even trust...

595
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:31,880
...will get out of the car.

596
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,360
And he will smile a becoming smile.

597
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,000
But he will leave open
the door of the car.

598
00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:45,600
And offer to give you a lift.

599
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:54,560
You seem to understand it all
so well.

600
00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:01,239
The casting of the Swedish actor
Max von Sydow is a stroke of genius.

601
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,159
He, of course, grew up,

602
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,279
we grew up with him
in Ingmar Bergman films.

603
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,839
But he quite swiftly
made the transition

604
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:13,239
to Hollywood, and, in fact,
other parts of the world.

605
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,319
It was a relief for him
to take this role.

606
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:20,159
In spite of the fact that he's a,
sort of, putative villain.

607
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,799
Because he had much greater depth

608
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:24,399
as Joubert,

609
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,159
the lead assassin.

610
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:28,319
Max von Sydow is a great actor.

611
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,079
He's a great international actor.

612
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:31,999
He is...

613
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,919
He played Christ, Jesus Christ,
even,

614
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,359
in a movie a couple
of years earlier.

615
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:43,599
He's, of course, in
the great Ingmar Bergman cinema,

616
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:45,319
the star of it.

617
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:47,839
A great actor in terms of,

618
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:49,759
if you know anything
about the cinema,

619
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,239
you know about Max von Sydow.

620
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:53,759
He's always the good guy, though.

621
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,879
He's always good. He's always got
radiance around him.

622
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,479
And so he enters the picture,

623
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,439
and there's so much paranoia
in this movie,

624
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,599
so much paranoia in America,

625
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,599
this guy comes in,

626
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:11,679
he's got a European accent,

627
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,359
he's very, and I'm thinking about
the general audience,

628
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,279
who would maybe not know Von Sydow.

629
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,919
Maybe just from the biblical
pictures that he made.

630
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,639
So, you think, "Uh-oh!

631
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,519
Uh-oh! What is this?"

632
00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:28,039
And he comes in. He's very cool.
He's very calm.

633
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:32,879
He tells Robert Redford's character,
exactly the way things are gonna be.

634
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:35,479
And... only...

635
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,119
a European could do that

636
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,079
at that point in the history
of American cinema.

637
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,159
Only somebody from the outside
can actually do that.

638
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,359
The conniving schemes of the CIA

639
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,079
are embodied in a set
of ageing men in suits,

640
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:51,039
sitting behind desks as if
playing a game of chess.

641
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:52,999
Cold-hearted representatives

642
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:54,719
of the hidden America.

643
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:59,839
Cliff Robertson is the by any means
necessary, real politic philosophy.

644
00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,799
The great John Houseman
is the old school realist.

645
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:06,639
And Addison Powell is the supervisor
who pursues American interests

646
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:07,799
whatever the cost.

647
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,199
Then there are some great
supporting performances

648
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:11,559
from major actors.

649
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:16,279
Cliff Robertson as this
apparently trustworthy CIA man.

650
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:18,439
Who is in fact on the take.

651
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,559
And is, you know,
completely able to rationalise

652
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,599
his, his attitude
towards the, you know,

653
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,079
he believes it's patriotism
for the greater good.

654
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,119
So, these are all really believable
characters.

655
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,239
And Pollack felt it
was really important to give

656
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,479
even, kind of,
the moustache-twirling villain,

657
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:36,759
a point of view.

658
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:42,959
How would you describe Joe's CIA
bosses and their approach to him?

659
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:44,520
The kind of people they are?

660
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:47,919
In the sense,
how the CIA are depicted

661
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,439
is crucial to understanding
Three Days Of The Condor.

662
00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:53,919
And the American it portrays.

663
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,119
So, what Joe comes to realise
very quickly

664
00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:58,159
is that he can't trust his bosses.

665
00:31:58,160 --> 00:31:59,599
So, the first thing he tries to do

666
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,599
is call, "Bring me in,
there's been an assassination."

667
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:05,319
Things get complicated and knotty
pretty quickly.

668
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:07,479
They say, "We'll bring someone
to get you."

669
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,159
The person who tries to get him
tries to kill him.

670
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:11,879
So, Joe thinks,

671
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:13,879
"This is closer to home
than I expected.

672
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:15,919
This isn't some kind
of foreign insurgence,

673
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:17,719
this is my own bosses."

674
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,199
So, that is the shockwave, that
is the Watergate-esque shockwave

675
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,399
that runs them through the film.

676
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,119
But the beauty of the film,

677
00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:28,799
and the beauty of the writing,
is how the CIA are then depicted.

678
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,919
And they're depicted
as a kind of set of elders,

679
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:33,879
these men behind desks.

680
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:35,719
They aren't, sort of,

681
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,959
Gothic villains,
in any old-fashioned sort of sense.

682
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:40,439
They are suits.

683
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:42,919
Cliff Robertson as Mr Higgins.

684
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,079
Who essentially actually
isn't a villain.

685
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:49,479
There's a corrupt part of the CIA
that he doesn't even know about.

686
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:51,039
But he certainly can't be trusted.

687
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:52,719
He's just trying to do his job.

688
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:54,199
There is this lovely sense of

689
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,839
what happened to the CIA
is an embarrassment.

690
00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,119
And they kind of want to clean up
the embarrassment.

691
00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,079
That's how they treat living people.

692
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,239
You've just got to cover up
what's happened.

693
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:04,959
It's not good for the CIA.

694
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:09,159
So, there's all these scenes between
Cliff Robertson and his boss,

695
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,159
Mr Wabash, who's played
by the great John Houseman.

696
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,199
He once worked with Orson Welles.
Mercury Theatre.

697
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:16,759
He has an American tradition.

698
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,079
Another lovely piece
of Pollack casting.

699
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:21,759
And what he brings

700
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,919
is this sense of old school CIA.

701
00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:26,639
He has a very lovely speech,

702
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:30,159
when he talks about, "I was
with the OSS during World War II.

703
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:31,759
I worked with William Donovan,"

704
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,159
who was a real figure
in the American Secret Service.

705
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:37,799
And he says this beautiful line,
he says,

706
00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:39,959
"I've missed the clarity."

707
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,959
And what he says is that the world
no longer has good or bad in it.

708
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:44,919
It's all about methods.

709
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:46,519
It's all about calculation.

710
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,559
It's all about
by any means necessary.

711
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:51,719
Through Pollack's tight editing,

712
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,479
lingering close-ups
and sullen shadows,

713
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:57,439
Joe is trapped in an almost
Kafka-esque nightmare,

714
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,799
where he can no longer trust anyone.

715
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,959
It is perhaps wrong to call this
a paranoid thriller.

716
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:04,999
They really are out to get him.

717
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,879
The film is fuelled by Joe's stress.

718
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,719
There is something of John Le Carre's
cynicism here, too.

719
00:34:11,720 --> 00:34:15,039
The idea that espionage
is ultimately just a game.

720
00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:17,319
I personally have never, ever felt,

721
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,999
when I was working on a film
that I was...

722
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,799
you know, it was going to become
a special film of any kind.

723
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,319
You just, you hope it's not
an embarrassment.

724
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:29,399
I mean, you're not, you're not,
you don't,

725
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:32,119
your, your,
your sights are always high.

726
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,079
I don't mean that you don't
hope in some way that,

727
00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:37,759
you hope everything is a great
everything. You know?

728
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,359
I mean, you daydream
always about making something

729
00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,239
that will last
and that will be wonderful.

730
00:34:43,240 --> 00:34:47,199
But the realities of film making...

731
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:50,359
er, level that feeling,

732
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,359
if you have any degree of sanity.

733
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,399
I mean, you can get carried away

734
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,919
and imagine that you're
some sort of genius or something.

735
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,439
But that just doesn't happen,
as a rule.

736
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:02,799
The problems to solve

737
00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,799
on a day-to-day
and moment by moment basis,

738
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:07,919
are what you're trying to do.

739
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,319
And you're always,
I'm always surprised when...

740
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,359
you know, when it works.

741
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,519
Er, you get it together, it works,

742
00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,159
and then every once in a while
it really becomes a film

743
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,679
that... that...
sticks around for a while.

744
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:23,079
I don't think there's any way
you can predict that.

745
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:25,359
And I think if you polled...

746
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:29,639
er, directors, they would,
I think they would agree with me.

747
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,039
While you're working on a film,
you don't...

748
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:33,719
I've never talked to a director
who said,

749
00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:35,559
"You know, I knew
the first day I went to work

750
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:37,639
this was gonna be a great film."

751
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,199
You're just too concerned
with the problem.

752
00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:43,719
Pollack expertly frames
his characters

753
00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:46,439
against the bustling, heedless
streets of New York

754
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:48,119
in the lead up to Christmas.

755
00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:49,759
Shooting on location,

756
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,519
Manhattan has never been
more claustrophobic,

757
00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,919
as if the alleyways and bridges
were closing in on Joe.

758
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,079
This made for a fraught shoot.

759
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,479
But Pollack knew that there were
textures and details

760
00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:02,519
you could get nowhere else.

761
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:24,439
Significant, this is a film
about technology.

762
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,119
The spy genre
was moving with the times.

763
00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:29,039
The intricacies of wiretapping,

764
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:31,959
text scanning, computers
the size of fridge freezers,

765
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:34,079
and great 70s phone acting,

766
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,879
reveal the film's prophetic power.

767
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:40,519
Pollack was flabbergasted to find
his film growing in relevance,

768
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:43,279
as post-Watergate reports leaked,

769
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,439
revealing the extent
of the CIA's dirty tricks.

770
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:49,999
There's no doubt about it that this
film is also about technology,

771
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,719
and how it is used in covert ways.

772
00:36:53,720 --> 00:36:56,559
Erm, especially in Spy Game.

773
00:36:56,560 --> 00:37:01,199
In fact, it's from
the very opening credit sequence,

774
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:03,719
as Joe is cycling
through the traffic,

775
00:37:03,720 --> 00:37:05,719
the actual words on the screen

776
00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:08,959
are a sort of computerised script.

777
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,399
So, you think, "OK. Fine."

778
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,439
So, you've got immediately
a sign that technology

779
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:16,119
is gonna play a big role in it.

780
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:19,639
You could say that the film
was about the rise of technology,

781
00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:21,639
and in espionage,

782
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,679
although, at the time,
that wouldn't have been apparent.

783
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:26,439
But, erm...

784
00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:28,399
if you look back on it now,

785
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:30,239
Redford's character

786
00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:33,919
is kind, he's a literary man,
but also grounded in machines.

787
00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:35,679
He understands them.

788
00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:39,119
And we are beginning
to understand them

789
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:41,319
at this point in the ark of history,

790
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,919
about how much they are
shaping our destiny,

791
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:48,559
how much they are in command,
in control of things.

792
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:52,839
And the movie shows, maybe, the...

793
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:56,119
the bifurcation between
this literary man

794
00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:58,999
and book, a book, and a machine.

795
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:02,719
And suddenly,
and this just comes to me,

796
00:38:02,720 --> 00:38:08,039
you begin to see the machine aspect
take over this movie.

797
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:10,479
Of course a police state
uses technology

798
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:12,279
to keep the firm eye on its citizens.

799
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:13,999
In this film,

800
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,839
do you think there is
a use of technology

801
00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:20,319
that involves? And also, how does
Joe Turner's ability

802
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:24,399
with technology allow him to turn
the tables at certain points?

803
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:26,959
Yeah, I think this is something...

804
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,439
very important about what
Three Days Of The Condor does.

805
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,799
Is it introduces
almost a new form of thriller.

806
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,399
The techno-thriller.
Which became more and more

807
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:37,839
important and prominent.

808
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:40,919
What was being analysed here,
if you want,

809
00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,919
was the point of inflection
in American espionage

810
00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:45,999
when the old techniques,

811
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:47,399
the old spying,

812
00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:49,279
was moving into a technological age.

813
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:51,999
Where data, and computers,

814
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:53,559
and text analysis,

815
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,999
were becoming the medium by which...

816
00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,039
people were sought.
There's a great deal of,

817
00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:01,799
kind of, business given over
to tracking Joe down

818
00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:04,239
using phone lines and maps.

819
00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:05,919
And you think,
you can imagine this film

820
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,439
being set in the 2020s,

821
00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:10,559
and digital technology being used.

822
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,600
This is the beginning
of the idea of...

823
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,759
...paranoia moving into
a different medium.

824
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:18,479
The brief bursts of violence

825
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:20,799
are shockingly quick and bloody.

826
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:22,879
Redford makes hair raising escapes,

827
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:25,559
and sets his own ingenious traps.

828
00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:27,639
It is all intensely realistic.

829
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:29,519
In an ironic touch,

830
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:31,319
Joe and his fellow researchers

831
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:32,839
examine spy novels

832
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:35,239
for signs of real conspiracy.

833
00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:36,879
It's funny to see Redford

834
00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:41,079
in a role as somebody
who is, kind of, bookish,

835
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,719
because although he was a very
intelligent person in life,

836
00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:47,719
he often physically favoured
the jock, or the cowboy,

837
00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:49,159
or the romantic lead.

838
00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:51,639
But he was,
increasingly throughout his career,

839
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,159
drawn to and interested in

840
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,679
more heady and liberal roles.

841
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:57,519
And we see that following it up,

842
00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:58,919
with All The President's Men,

843
00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:02,079
another wonderful thriller
that was contemporary to its time.

844
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,159
So, here he,

845
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:05,599
he does quite a good job

846
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:07,479
of, in as much as you can believe,

847
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:09,639
that he is a nerd,
looking like he does,

848
00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:11,319
er, you...

849
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:12,839
believe that this is somebody

850
00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,159
who has chosen a life at the mines,

851
00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:17,839
and that's his primary interest.

852
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:19,799
And he does it with a little bit
of cockiness.

853
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:22,719
Because, in that way that somebody
who is very, very clever

854
00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:24,879
has sometimes a bit of pomposity
about them,

855
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:26,799
we see that at the beginning,

856
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:29,159
and then we see it
just completely crumble

857
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,759
in the face of the violence
and shock and confusion

858
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:33,159
of what happens.

859
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:36,319
A lot of people
who are contemporary viewers

860
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:37,959
or who visited the film
for the first time

861
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:39,639
have also commented on

862
00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:42,919
what a fashion inspiration
Redford is in the movie.

863
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,359
He's got these great,
gold aviator specs

864
00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:47,639
and the turned up
black wool pea coat,

865
00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:50,719
to the point that people are saying
that the film is actually

866
00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:52,439
just about a man who dresses so fly

867
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:54,119
that the CIA want him dead.

868
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:58,239
Three Days Of The Condor
concludes on a chilling note.

869
00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:02,359
Robertson's Higgins delivers
his cold-hearted speech to Joe,

870
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:03,839
and to the audience,

871
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:06,799
"This is the way
this civilisation works.

872
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:08,559
Get used to it."

873
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:10,999
As the Salvation Army
sings in the background,

874
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:13,439
Joe slips away into the streets.

875
00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:15,719
He may never come in from the cold.

876
00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:18,959
This is deeply, deeply cynical,
of course.

877
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:22,359
Because it involves
the loss of life, human life.

878
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:23,759
It involves war.

879
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:26,839
It involves coos in certain places.

880
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:30,679
The CIA have obviously
been targeted from time to time,

881
00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:34,039
the spotlight is always put on them
as villains, something like this.

882
00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,319
But this is international.

883
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:38,559
You know?
This goes on all the time.

884
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:40,919
These covert operations.

885
00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:43,359
There are two levels,
or at least two levels

886
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,799
below the official organisation.

887
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:51,399
In Joe's words, he said, "Do you
mean there's a CIA inside the CIA?"

888
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:54,079
And it has to be admitted,

889
00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:55,479
you know, Higgins,

890
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:59,479
the wonderful Cliff Robertson,
with his amazingly weird toupee,

891
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:01,879
another cover-up, if you like,

892
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:05,039
erm, says, "Yeah."
Says, "It's a game."

893
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:08,279
One of the biggest box office draws
of 1975,

894
00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:10,159
it's still remarkable how prescient

895
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:12,759
Three Days Of The Condor
turned out to be.

896
00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:14,119
This is both fantasy

897
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:16,039
and historical document.

898
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:19,959
Or maybe reality was becoming
more like a Hollywood thriller.

899
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,559
The central secret
involves the CIA's attempt

900
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:25,479
to destabilise foreign regimes
for their oil.

901
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:28,759
Technology was being put
to dubious use.

902
00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:33,399
And eerily, the CIA office was
located in the World Trade Center.

903
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,879
We were already positioned,
as an audience,

904
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:39,279
to be ready for this film.

905
00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:42,479
This film said things
that we were saying to ourselves,

906
00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:43,919
and to our friends.

907
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:45,919
It was being said out loud.

908
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,679
This film, without the mask
and the cloak of a period piece,

909
00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:54,879
like The Godfather,
or a sci-fi thing like Star Wars,

910
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,359
this film put us in the present,

911
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,439
and asked the questions directly.

912
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:02,959
Not with metaphor.

913
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:07,239
Not with anything that the other
movies, great movies did.

914
00:43:07,240 --> 00:43:09,439
This asked the question directly.

915
00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:11,119
And it asked the question

916
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:14,359
through an all-American actor

917
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:17,159
who had the courage
to actually be on screen

918
00:43:17,160 --> 00:43:18,879
and ask the question.

919
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:21,519
So, you couldn't run away
from Robert Redford.

920
00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:24,839
You couldn't pigeonhole him
as an Italian, New York Italian,

921
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:27,479
like you could Robert De Niro or...

922
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:30,319
You had, he was as American
as apple pie.

923
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:32,039
And he asked the questions.

924
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:34,199
And that is the power

925
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:35,599
of the movie.

926
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,239
And that is a credit to him,

927
00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:39,879
as an actor,

928
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:41,279
and as a human being.

929
00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:42,719
So, in a sense,

930
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:45,039
I think the movie will grow

931
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:48,559
as the country matures
and understands itself.

932
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:50,759
I mean come you could also say
what an influential film

933
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:52,839
Three Days Of The Condor has become.

934
00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:55,079
Here are the seeds
of the Bourne films.

935
00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,039
Here is that idea of

936
00:43:57,040 --> 00:44:00,319
your central character
is a James Bond figure,

937
00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:01,999
but desperate and human.

938
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,359
It is this humanising
of the bond idea.

939
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,399
I think even late Bond films

940
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,479
probably draw back on
Three Days Of The Condor,

941
00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:10,959
to try and develop their character,

942
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:14,839
into a way that makes it
just much more interesting.

943
00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:18,119
If we relate, you know,
then we get scared.

944
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:19,919
And I think that's the key.

945
00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,359
And what Pollack does,
and Redford do,

946
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:25,639
is they make you relate
and understand this landscape.

947
00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:27,999
About a brilliant thing
for a movie to be doing.

948
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:31,159
Three Days Of The Condor
is hugely influential.

949
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,559
Redford became a figurehead
of the era.

950
00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:37,239
When not on set, he was busy
preparing for his next role,

951
00:44:37,240 --> 00:44:40,559
that of Bob Woodward
in All The President's Men.

952
00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:43,559
Dunaway would go on to Network.

953
00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:45,479
Pollack would revisit similar themes

954
00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:47,879
in The Firm and The Interpreter.

955
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:51,999
Filled with distrust, suspicion,
and institutional corruption,

956
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,599
this remarkable thriller
grows more relevant by the year.

957
00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:58,080
Hey, Turner.

958
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:02,040
How do you know they'll print it?

959
00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:06,000
You can take a walk.

960
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,879
But how far if they don't print it?

961
00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:11,360
They'll print it.

962
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:14,400
How do you know?

963
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:29,200
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