Review: The Prize

The setting is a Nobel Prize ceremony in which various luminaries are gathered in Sweden. Paul Newman plays a heavy-drinking, publicity shy author (who needs the prize money) who stumbles upon a plot involving Russian communists, and German-American physicist Edward G. Robinson, who doesn’t seem to be quite himself at the moment. Firstly, he seems to have forgotten that he has already met Newman before the big press conference. Also, one moment he’s patriotically refusing to defect to join the Commies, next minute he appears to be towing the party line. What gives? Elke Sommer plays the blond assigned to make sure Newman doesn’t get too sloshed, with Diane Baker as Robinson’s pretty niece, who hasn’t spent any time with the man until this recent trip. Sergio Fantoni and Kevin J. McCarthy play a couple of the other Nobel recipients, who are always arguing with one another over who stole what idea from whom. Veteran character actors John Qualen and Karl Swenson are Swedish hotel staff, whilst Leo G. Carroll plays a Nobel dignitary.

 

So Hitchcockian you’ll be shocked that The Master had nothing to do with it, this 1963 spy flick from director Mark Robson (“Bedlam”, “The Harder They Fall”, “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness”, “Valley of the Dolls”) and screenwriter Ernest Lehman (“Sweet Smell of Success”, “North By Northwest”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, “Family Plot”) comes from an Irving Wallace (“The Chapman Report”) novel. It’s actually a great deal better than “Torn Curtain” the Hitchcock dud that starred an unpersuasive Newman. Newman’s in much better spirits here, in a lively, funny, and seemingly slightly inebriated performance. He’s in drunk and flirty mode, and good fun to have around. Mind you, his character hates the press, accolades, he drinks and is a smart arse- is he even acting here? It’s a good thing that he’s approaching this with humour, because he has one absolutely barmy scene where he tries to evade dangerous-types by seeking refuge in a nudists’ meeting. A strangely indoors meeting I might add. Aren’t they meant to be one with nature and all that? At any rate, that’s probably the most Hitchcockian scene in the whole film, actually. Silly, but fun, Newman probably would’ve been all wrong to have taken things too seriously here. You could also see someone like James Coburn in this kind of amusing spy movie role, but Newman is really good.

 

While it’s fun to see Newman being light-hearted, and it’s always great to see the stunningly beautiful and underrated Diane Baker (who is genuinely sexy in this), old pro Edward G. Robinson walks off with this one, a sentence I’ve probably typed several times in reviews of his films. One of the greatest character actors who ever lived, he seems to take this one away from everyone else effortlessly, and there’s no slouches here, really. Baker and Elke Sommer are actually interestingly cast in this, conventional thought would’ve likely seen them switch parts, but they do just fine as is. Is it too obvious what’s going on with Robinson’s character? Yes but it still works overall, largely because there’s so many characters here (possibly two too many) that could all be involved in whatever intrigue is going on here.

 

A slow pace and a surprising dud music score by my favourite film composer Jerry Goldsmith (“The Omen”, “Planet of the Apes”, “A Patch of Blue”) are the only major drawbacks here. Goldsmith’s work here is horribly insistent, his worst-ever music score. It’s almost as if an Elmer Bernstein (“The Magnificent Seven”, “Hud”, “Big Jake”) western movie score has been overlapped by a Lalo Schifrin (“Bullitt”, “Dirty Harry”, “Magnum Force”) cop movie score. Very, very loud.

 

Newman’s character and performance are interesting, the plot is irresistible (if quite outlandish), the supporting cast is excellent, and it’s better than most of Hitchcock’s 60s output. How is this not a Hitchcock film? It’s got Hitch all over it! Worth seeking out, no matter who made it.

 

Rating: B-