3 Days of the Condor holds up as a terrifically directed spy vs. spy thriller that has been emulated and reproduced dozens of times since its 1975 release. Banking on public paranoia and the ever-looming danger of the Cold War, 3 Days of the Condor didn’t have to do too much in its own time to keep audiences gripped and interested – but the fact that it’s still able to provide a compelling story outside of its historic context speaks volumes of Sydney Pollack’s masterful creation of suspense and intrigue. Having the stellar cast that the film does didn’t hurt either.
Joseph Turner (Robert Redford) has one of the more mundane jobs the CIA has to offer: he reads books, magazines, transcripts and everything else trying to decipher leaks or similarities with sensitive intelligence. Scanning books and countless pages all day long, Joseph Turner’s code name of Condor is more a spy formality than necessity until his entire branch is wiped out while he’s out to lunch. Checking in with his CIA handler, Condor attempts to meet with agency contacts only to find himself the target of countless assassination attempts. Condor has nowhere to turn and takes on Kathy Hale (Fay Dunaway) as an unwilling accomplice in his wild scramble to uncover the secret which started the plot against him. Secret rendezvous, back alley meetings and countless shoot outs – 3 Days of the Condor is one of the essential spy movies of its time.
It’s interesting to note that the novel off which the film is based, 6 Days of the Condor came out mere months before the Ludlum series The Bourne Identity which features many of the same plot points and character-types. While there was enough to separate the books in the time of Cold War mania, the 2002 film The Bourne Identity diverts from its original source material (almost entirely) and appears more as a spawn of 3 Days of the Condor – but with an amnesiac twist. Both the titular character and the story seem to have suffered a blow of amnesia and latched on to the closest spy story available, which seems to have been 3 Days of the Condor. And why shouldn’t it? The film has unrelenting pacing and a score that keeps the adrenaline pumping even during brief expository bouts added in so the audience doesn’t get lost amidst all the loops and tangles of the engaging story.
Robert Redford spent 1975 and 1976 trying to expose disastrous truths within the U.S. Government. First in 3 Days of the Condor and then in All the President’s Men, the man seemed to be on a very conspiratorial bender – but in both, his performances were dead on. The weakness in the Condor character doesn’t stem from Redford’s performance but from the very idea, as suggested by one of the cloaked villains of the agency, that by reading everything he’s learned the skills necessary to take down spies and assassins left and right. Clearly a stretch, but Redford’s performance remains solid. Fay Dunaway never loses sight of the fact that she’s a captive pressed into service to help a man she barely knows. A romance forms according to obvious plot expectations, but her Kathy Kale never loses that air of desperation necessary to make a damsel caught up in a convoluted conspiracy tale believable.
The true shining performances come from the puppeteers lurking in the background. Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow and John Houseman all play the old dogs of the agency with convincingly tired flair. The score for them isn’t personal or even vengeful; they view the entire plot as a necessary evil to keep themselves enthroned in one of the murkiest games the world has ever known. Sydow and Houseman are especially great as their detached but sometimes earnest air keep them jumping back and forth over the line of scumbag and company shill.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Sadly, the only “extra” on the disc is a theatrical trailer – which is absurd because you just know that with an eccentric director like Sydney Pollack, there must have been some interesting on-set stories to be told.
"3 Days of the Condor" is on sale December 31, 1969 and is rated R. Action, Drama, Thriller. Directed by Sydney Pollack. Written by James Grady (novel), Lorenzo Semple Jr. & David Rayfiel (screenplay). Starring Faye Dunaway, Max Von Sydow, Robert Redford, John Houseman, Cliff Robertson.
