Three Days of the Condor (1975)
88%RT Audience Score: 83%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
6 wins & 4 nominations total
This post-Watergate thriller captures the paranoid tenor of the times, thanks to Syndey Pollack’s taut direction and excellent performances from Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway
Three Days of the Condor is a classic thriller that has stood the test of time. While some critics may find fault with its pacing or political messaging, the film delivers on its promise of suspense and intrigue. Plus, who doesn’t love a good cat-and-mouse chase between two professionals? It’s like watching a game of chess, but with higher stakes and more bullets. So grab some popcorn, settle in, and enjoy the ride. Just don’t forget to look over your shoulder every once in a while… you never know who might be watching.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Paramount Pictures, Video Classics
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1975
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 57m
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Language(s):English, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 24, 1975 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 19, 2009
Genre(s)
Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow, John Houseman, Addison Powell, directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., David Rayfiel, Mystery & thriller, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Kevin Maher, Jay Cocks, Variety Staff, Dave Kehr, Chris Petit, Roger Ebert, Eddie Harrison, Norman Wilner, Mike Massie, Jacoba Atlas, David Parkinson, MPAA rating R, CIA, codebreaker, Watergate, paranoid, hit man, assassination, government conspiracy, suspense, action, thriller, neo-Hitchcock, 1970s, feminism, sexism, politics, technology, survival, betrayal, trust, betrayal, coworkers, murder, tragedy, agency, death, danger, investigation, mystery, tension, chase, cat-and-mouse, professional relationship, location shooting, production values, excellent performances, prophetic, eerie, resonant
Worldwide gross: $27,476,252
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $165,327,249
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 794
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 18,029,144
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $20,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $120,341,922
Production budget ranking: 308
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $64,804,125
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$19,818,798
ROI to date (est.): -11%
ROI ranking: 1,454
Faye Dunaway – Kathy Hale
Cliff Robertson – J. Higgins
Max von Sydow – G. Joubert
John Houseman – Mr. Wabash
Addison Powell – Leonard Atwood
Director(s)
Sydney Pollack
Writer(s)
Lorenzo Semple Jr., David Rayfiel
Producer(s)
Stanley Schneider
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
6 wins & 4 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (48) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (6)
This peerless Sydney Pollack thriller hasn’t just aged well, it’s become positively prophetic, or at least eerily resonant.
May 8, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A piece of dotty, slightly paranoid intrigue. Three Days of the Condor promises little and keeps its word. It is hard to get indignant about it, or enthusiastic either.
August 9, 2016
Jay Cocks
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Basically a B, it has been elevated in form — but not in substance — via four bigger names, location shooting and more production values. Sometimes the trick works, but not here.
March 1, 2007
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Basically, the film is a throwback to the 60s anti-Bond spy thriller (a la The Ipcress File), except here the genre’s annihilating irony has been replaced by Pollack’s liberal piousness.
March 1, 2007
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The action rarely falters, and at its best the film offers an intriguing slice of neo-Hitchcock.
February 9, 2006
Chris Petit
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Three Days of the Condor is a well-made thriller, tense and involving, and the scary thing, in these months after Watergate, is that it’s all too believable.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 3.5/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
…there’s plenty of underlying excitement about the way that the murky events unfold here…
November 6, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Eddie Harrison
film-authority.com
…it narrows its focus entirely to the cat-and-mouse chase at its core, boiling its post-Watergate theme of governmental indifference to human life down to the relationship between two professionals…
November 10, 2020
Norman Wilner
NOW Toronto
As all the pieces begin coming together, the resolution slows, flawing the pacing that had started so smartly.
August 31, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
What we are given is more than worth seeing.
November 22, 2019
Jacoba Atlas
Los Angeles Free Press
The excellent cast makes up for Pollack’s occasional lapses in pacing.
August 9, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
David Parkinson
Radio Times
While its thriller elements deliver, the film is undermined by a subplot that was surely over-egged even when it was made and which has only been further diminished by the passage of time.
August 7, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/5
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film…
Plot
A mild mannered CIA researcher, paid to read books, returns from lunch to find all of his co-workers assassinated. “Condor” must find out who did this and get in from the cold before the hitmen get him.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about Three Days of the Condor.
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