Topaz (1969)

Watch Leonard Maltin's interview on this film's DVD featurette and you'd think this is Hitchcock's worst film. (Couldn't the producers of the DVD find a critic who actually liked the film?)  Yet it's actually an impressive work from a storyteller expanding his scope and trying something a little different.  In many ways this adaption of Leon Uris's book is a fine example of Hitchock at his best.  I love the fact that he cast the film without any big names and the overall European-feel of the film.  It's still very much a Hitchock film with many memorable scenes (such as a entire exchange of dialogue muted because the characters are in a sound proof flower fridge).   Its ending is a bit weak but regardless I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys '60s cinema.  Don't listen to the Maltin's of the world, this is a solid film.  Grade: A-