Hopscotch (film)
| Hopscotch | |
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| Directed by | Ronald Neame |
| Produced by |
Edie Landau Ely A. Landau |
| Written by |
Bryan Forbes Brian Garfield |
| Story by | Brian Garfield |
| Starring |
Walter Matthau Glenda Jackson Sam Waterston Ned Beatty Herbert Lom |
| Music by | Ian Fraser |
| Cinematography |
Arthur Ibbetson Brian W. Roy |
| Distributed by | AVCO Embassy Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Hopscotch is a 1980 American cold war comedy-drama film, produced by Edie Landau and Ely A. Landau, directed by Ronald Neame, that stars Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom. The screenplay was written by Bryan Forbes and Brian Garfield, based on Garfield's novel of the same name.
Former CIA field officer Miles Kendig is intent on publishing an explosive memoir that will also expose the 'dirty tricks' of Myerson, his obnoxious, incompetent, and profane former boss. Myerson and Kendig's protégé Joe Ross are repeatedly foiled in their attempts to capture the former agent and stop the publication of his memoir. He cleverly stays one step ahead of his pursuers as the chase hopscotch's around America and England.
Matthau and Jackson previously appeared together in the 1978 film House Calls. Matthau's son David plays Ross, a bumbling junior CIA agent. Matthau's step-Lucy Saroyan plays the pilot, Carla Fleming.
Matthau received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The Criterion Collection released the film on DVD in 2002.
At Munich's Oktoberfest, Miles Kendig (Matthau) and his CIA team foil a microfilm transfer to a East German spy. Kendig, however, purposely does not apprehend Yaskov, the head of the KGB in Europe. Upon Kendig's return to Washington, his supervisor, Myerson (Beatty), forces him into a desk job because Kendig didn't arrest the Russian. Instead of going in the following Monday as directed, Kendig shreds his personnel file and flies to Salzburg, Austria to visit Isobel Von Schoenenberg (Jackson). Inspired by Yaskov's idea to write his memoirs, Kendig begins a CIA memoir exposing Myerson's dirty tricks and general incompetence. Isobel is horrified, saying that Myerson will send agents to kill him. She nevertheless helps out and mails copies of Kendig's first chapter to spy chiefs in the U.S., Russia, China, France, Italy, and Great Britain. Very quickly, as predicted, Myerson is out to silence Kendig permanently. Yaskov also pursues Kendig for his insider knowledge on all CIA covert operations.
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Wikipedia