Themes: Kidnapping, Twins and Lookalikes, Assumed Identities
Main Cast: Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Micheline Presle
Release Year: 1963
Country: US
Run Time: 136 minutes
Plot
Based on the novel by Irving Wallace, The Prize takes place in Stockholm, where several laureates gather to accept their Nobel Prizes. At first, the film concentrates on iconoclastic novelist Paul Newman, but he is temporarily shunted to the background when physics expert Edward G. Robinson is kidnaped and replaced by his wicked twin brother. The real Robinson is to be spirited behind the Iron Curtain, while the "fake" Robinson is to disrupt the awards ceremony with an anti-American tirade. Newman gets wind of the plot, and with the help of Swedish foreign office functionary Elke Sommer, he endeavors to rescue the real Robinson and expose the phony-who has yet another trick up his sleeve before the film is over. We'll go along with the fantastic plot convolutions of The Prize, provided we don't have to swallow the premise of another man's voice emanating from that familiar Eddie Robinson mug. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
With the tone of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers having become darker in the 1960s (Psycho, The Birds), there was room for someone to try a lighter, funnier thriller in 1963. The Prize is not totally successful -- and sometimes it's a little too imitative of Hitchcock for comfort -- but on the whole, it's an enjoyable, if disposable, way to pass the time. True, it could easily be 20 minutes shorter; the nudist camp and bridge chase scenes echo the screenwriter's North by Northwest auction scenes and cornfield chase to an extent that is annoying; and some of the plotting and dialogue are simply silly. But The Prize also has a suave and appealing Paul Newman, giving everything a light, sophisticated touch that's a joy to watch, as well as a pair of delectable leading ladies in Elke Sommer and Diane Baker. There's also Edward G. Robinson, always a treat, playing the old good-and-evil twin roles, and everything is tied up in a nice, neat, very glossy package. Mark Robson's direction could have been more imaginative, and he really should have worked on tightening the pace, but on the whole, The Prize is slick fun. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Sergio Fantoni - Dr. Carlo Farelli; Gérard Oury - Dr. Claude Marceau; Kevin McCarthy - Dr. John Garrett; Leo G. Carroll - Count Bertil Jacobssen; Sacha Pitoeff - Daranyi; Jacqueline Beer - Monique Souvir; John Wengraf - Hans Eckart; Don Dubbins - Ivar Cramer; Virginia Christine - Mrs. Bergh; Rudolph Anders - Mr. Bergh; Martine Bartlett - Saralee Garrett; Karl Swenson - Hilding; John Qualen - Oscar; Ned Wever - Clark Wilson; John Banner - German correspondent; Sven Hugo Borg - Oscar Lindbloom; Peter Bourne; Martin Brandt - Steen Eckberg; Albert Carrier - French Reporter; Carl Carlsson - Swedish Visitor; Peter Coe - Officer; Noel Drayton - Police Constable Strohm; Jerry Dunphy - American TV News correspondent; Sam Edwards - Reporter; Edith Evanson - Mrs. Ahlquist; Alice Frost - Swedish woman; Gregory Gaye - Russian Reporter; Erik Holland - Photographer; John Holland; Mauritz Hugo - Speaker; Anna Lee - American Reporter; Queenie Leonard - Miss Fawley; Annalena Lund - Blonde; Lester Matthews - BBC News correspondent; Grazia Narciso - Mrs. Farelli; Gregg Palmer - Swedish Commentator; Lars Passgård; Sid Raymond - Actor; Otto Reichow - Seaman; Gene Roth; Teru Shimada - Tokyo Correspondent; Ivan Triesault - Hotel porter; Ben Wright - British Reporter; Robert Garrett; Paul Busch; Michel Panaieff - French Correspondent; Harold Dyrenforth; Jill Carson; Ron Nyman - Burly Swede; Fred Scheiwiller - Deck Hand; Sigfrid Tor - Swedish Waiter
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Andrew Craig (Paul Newman), who seems to be more interested in women and drinking than writing. When he arrives in Stockholm for the award ceremony, he is delighted to find that the Swedish Foreign Department has sent the beautiful Inger Lisa Andersson (Elke Sommer) as his personal chaperone. When Craig arrives at his hotel, he is introduced to another laureate, Dr. Max Stratman (Edward G. Robinson), a famous German-Americanphysicist, who is accompanied by his niece Emily (Diane Baker).
When Craig meets Stratman for the second time, at a press conference, Stratman acts as if they had never met before and also displays a change in personality, despising photographs and being less talkative. Craig then, with no time to further talk to Dr. Stratman, has to give his interview, and in short succession admits to suffering from writer's block for years, having not even started his highly anticipated next novel, Return to Carthage, and having written pulp detective stories to pay the rent. He even suggests that he may have lost his talent. Asked for an example of developing a detective story, he suggests the possibility that Stratman may be an imposter.
The Nobel laureates for chemistry, Dr. Denise Marceau (Micheline Presle) and Dr. Claude Marceau (Gérard Oury), as well as his "private" secretary, Monique Souvir (Jacqueline Beer) are also staying at the hotel. So are Dr. Carlo Farelli (Sergio Fantoni) and Dr. John Garrett (Kevin McCarthy), the laureates for medicine.
As events progress toward the prize ceremony, Craig realizes that his offhand suggestion that Stratman is an imposter is actually the truth, and pursues the case. Unfortunately, his adversaries are able to stay one move ahead of him and cover their tracks, and due to Craig's reputation of heavy drinking and fiction writing, nobody believes him.
Influences and similarities
The film has an overall Hitchcock-esque mood, bearing some similarities to North by Northwest (1959).[citation needed] The scene on the bridge and in the nudist club are most often mentioned, but this should not come as a surprise to anyone as Ernest Lehman wrote the screenplays for both films.
