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Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Micheline Presle ... see more see more... , Gérard Oury , Sergio Fantoni , Kevin McCarthy , Leo G Carroll , Sacha Pitoëff , Jacqueline Beer , John Wengraf , Don Dubbins , Virginia Christine , Rudolph Anders , Martine Bartlett , Karl Swenson , John Qualen , Ned Wever , John Banner , Sven Hugo Borg , Peter Bourne , Martin Brandt , Albert Carrier , Carl Carlsson , Peter Coe , Noel Drayton , Jerry Dunphy , Sam Edwards , Edith Evanson , Alice Frost , Gregory Gaye , Erik Holland , John Holland , Mauritz Hugo , Anna Lee , Queenie Leonard , Annalena Lund , Lester Matthews , Grazia Narciso , Gregg Palmer , Lars Passgård , Sid Raymond , Otto Reichow , Gene Roth , Teru Shimada , Ivan Triesault , Ben Wright , Robert Garrett , Paul Busch , Michel Panaieff , Harold Dyrenforth , Jill Carson , Ron Nyman , Fred Scheiwiller , Sigfrid Tor , Mark Robson

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 New... read more read more...man, 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, Rovi

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68% liked it

669 ratings

Unrated, 2 hr. 15 min.

Directed by: Mark Robson

Release Date: January 1, 1963

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DVD Release Date: June 24, 1992

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Stats: 51 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (51)

  • jjnxn
    March 27, 2007
    jjnxn
    Excellent thriller with a great sense of humor
  • DrStrangeblog
    February 27, 2010
    DrStrangeblog
    Few are better at the rascally hero role than Paul Newman, here playing a jaded Nobel Prize novelist who has turned to drink, women, and writing dimestore detective stories. He travels to Stockholm merely to collect the $50,000 prize and meets fellow laureate physicist Edward G.... read more Robinson, a German defector before WW II. The next day, his latent curiosity is piqued when he finds the scientist has strangely changed his behavior patterns and seems a couple inches shorter...

    Entertaining Hitchcockian story that never turns too serious delivers some funny lines and provides engaging subplots and side characters.
  • TonyPolito
    August 15, 2010
    TonyPolito
    If you liked "North By Northwest," which debuted four years earlier, you'll like this film - because you can hardly tell the difference!

    "The Prize" is an intentional replica/homage of NBN and similar Hitch content such as "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "To Catch a Thief" (and... read more foreshadows "Torn Curtain"), with Paul Newman reprising the dry-wit of Cary Grant.

    In fact the NBN 'art auction disruption' scene is shamelessly copy-catted, but here set inside a nudist convention meeting for additional chuckles. In it, Newman, who's allowed to hide himself inside a sauna-towel, even parrots the very same payoff line to the police: "But EYE called YOU!"

    Newman's the innocent victim caught up in a murder mystery (at the Nobel Prize ceremonies) that's really none of his business. The nudist scene allows Newman to end up naked in the hotel room of semi-icy blonde love interest Elke Sommer - just as Grant did in Eva Marie Saint's room in NBN.

    The screenplay comes from Ernest Lehman, who - guess what - whipped up the NBN screenplay. Another NBN parallel is the appearance of the ever-grousing Leo G. Carroll. Another Hitch vet, Diane Baker (Sean Connery's sister in "Marnie") holds a key, though more sinister, role. Even the soundtrack contains certain phrasing almost exactly duplicating that of NBN. Camerawork/costuming also extremely reminiscent.

    Sorry, but this film, nearly forgotten by both Hitch and Newman fans, never DVD-released. I soaked it up courtesy of TCM; you may have to fetch the VHS issue.

    TRIVIA: the basic plotline of this film was used as the framework for the 1991 Leslie Nielsen comedy/satire "Naked Gun 2 1/2."

    RECOMMENDATION: OK, it's not as good as NBN, but still quite excellent knock-off entertainment. Catch it if you can.
  • cavemanlawyer91
    December 8, 2009
    cavemanlawyer91
    A pretty decent spy comedy that had Paul Newman taking full advantage of the wonderfully witty script. Robinson was great too, of course, playing two roles the way only Robinson could. Perhaps I enjoyed it so much because it was so much better than that other 60s spy picture of N... read moreewman's, "Harper". Which sucks. But not, "The Prize."

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Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy
November 22, 2008
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Set in Stockholm during the Nobel Prize ceremonies, the film is an unsuccessful blend of politics, international intrigues and romance, but the sight of a semi-naked Paul Newman in a nudist colony mig... Full Review

June 18, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Suffers from an unevenness of tone which cannot balance the political turmoil with the sexual playfulness. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
January 26, 2007
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The only prize this film takes is the booby prize for crudeness. Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

Newman heads the cast of this flawed but enjoyable comedy thriller based on Irving Wallace's spy yarn. Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

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The Prize Trivia

  • Which movie does this quote come from "The best kind of prize is a surprise?"  Answer »
  • What Queen song was on whilst the "Kurgen" was driving around in 'Highlander'?  Answer »
  • What prize did the main character's dad win in The Weather Man?  Answer »
  • This black-and-white film classic picked up a Jury Special Prize at Cannes. Its final images include the main characters of the movie skipping joyously, hand-in-hand, across a hill, led by the hooded figure of Death. What is the name of the film?  Answer »
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