Remembering Robert Redford
The paranoid thriller was one of the main cinematic themes of the 1970s, so it only makes sense that the most iconic movie star of that era, the late great Robert Redford, took a crack at it. And the results are good. With frequent collaborator Sydney Pollack behind the camera, Redford plays a bookish, low-in-the-hierarchy CIA analyst who goes out for lunch one day and comes back to find everyone in his office murdered. So he goes on the run, drawing bystander Faye Dunaway into the conflict, as well. Cliff Robertson and Max von Sydow join the fun. In addition to trimming three days off the source material—James Grady’s bestseller Six Days of the Condor—the film changes location from Washington D.C. to a bustling New York City, which is very much a character. This is the only move Redford made with Dunaway, and the two ’70s icons are in excellent form. They’re in their primes, too—the next year Dunaway would make Network, while Redford would star in All the President’s Men. While those pictures might be better known, Three Days of the Condor is an outstanding example of a very ’70s brand of filmmaking, anchored by yet another fine performance from Redford.