Film Review: Three Days of the Condor
Born in the 60s — there are so many great films that came out in the 70s which I missed the first time around. Because I chasing the ice cream truck, or playing Mystery Date or mooning over David Cassidy, my thoughtful movie watching started, like most, in college. The Seventies represents a burst of creative energy and the loosening of censorship guidelines, so there are scores of brilliant films, perhaps just a little less known than the familiar cultural touch points that are worth seeing or re-watching. Hidden among the obvious, well-known stand-outs (The Deer Hunter (Cimino 1979), Coming Home (Ashby 1978), Five Easy Pieces (Rafelson 1970), Chinatown (Polanski 1975), Apocalypse Now (Coppola 1979), Taxi Driver (Scorsese 1976), The Godfather (Coppola 1972) to name just a few) are some truly wonderful films that not only entertain, but are eerily relevant today. My cover photo on Facebook is a still from All the President’s Men (Pakula 1976), and not for the fashion.
Robert Redford faces off with Cliff Robertson.
I recently watched one such film, Three Days of the Condor (Pollack 1975) which stars Robert Redford as a CIA operative in a sleepy book reading facility in Manhattan. He returns from picking up lunch to find his coworkers have all been summarily and professionally executed. Rife with conspiracy theories which are all too plausible now (and when it was made in the immediate wake of Watergate) this is a character-driven plot, which doesn’t rely on explosions and gore to create tension. Viewers aren’t spoon fed plot points. The story unfolds methodically and tautly, with the help of very capable cast, forefronted by Robert Redford, whose sunny good looks are perfect as the unsuspecting target. Like so many of films of this genre and vintage — it is well-constructed, with an economy of smart dialogue.
One bit of dialogue I didn’t find smart or witty, the twice-used ‘rape’. Spoken both times by Redford’s character (who by every measure is the good guy here) he dismisses the receptionist’s need for a gun because ‘she was afraid of being raped’ like to was the most reasonable thing in the world. I mean what can you expect in this world? Boys will be boys and all that. He said it so… matter of factly. And then again when he abducts Faye Dunaway as a shield, and boasts that he didn’t he has been good to her, he didn’t rape her. Wow. Quite a gentlemen. I’m encouraged that we’ve come a long way since then, and this attitude and treatment of such a weighty and loaded concept as rape, stands out glaring as just plain wrong.
The film critic for The New York Times, Vincent Canby wrote in 1975 that Three Days of the Condor "is no match for stories in your local newspaper" (Canby), We may think we live in turbulent times, and we do — but films, even 40 year old ones, are a stark reminder that we always have.
Canby, Vincent (September 25, 1975). "Three Days of the Condor (1975)". The New York Times.
