Topaz (1969)

Actors: Frederick Stafford, Dany Robin, Claude Jade, John Forsythe
Dir: Sir Alfred Hitchcock

One of Sir Alfred’s movies without an American star cast, this movie is full of international actors. With a Czech actor Frederick Stafford in the lead. This is one the many Hitchcock spy thrillers.

A French agent André Devereaux agrees to help his American CIA friends in unearthing a missile program the Cubans are developing with the assistance of the Soviet Union. André’s French superiors are not very happy with his helping the Americans and he gets recalled back to Paris, it makes matters worse when André finds about a counter intelligence spy ring headed by some of his own French counterparts in high places to help the Soviets.

The film follows André’s journey through New York, Cuba and Paris before he exposes the plot of his own intelligence people. This film features a uncredited appearance by the Cuban leader Fidel Castro (Sir Alfred has used some footage of the leader to lend some credibility to a Cuban rally scene).

A trademark Sir Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller. But was not a success in the box office. And was criticized by many in the US for not featuring any known American faces.

Trivia: Sir Alfred appears half an hour into the film in the airport. He is being pushed in a wheelchair to a flight. He gets up at one point, shakes hand with a man and walks off into a gate.