Was watching the awesome 1969 Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller Topaz the other night, and was simply blown away by how unbelievably gorgeous actress Karin Dor was in it! She was SO achingly beautiful in every scene she was in, I could hardly stand it!
This is kind of funny in that I’m a HUGE James Bond fan, and yet for all the times I’ve watched “You Only Live Twice”, Karin (as agent Helga Brandt) never seemed to me to be more than another one of those agent-babe-who’s-going-to-get-killed-early-on-in-the-film throwaway characters. Little did I know how she’d set my senses on fire later!
TOPAZ was an espionage movie centered around the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 60’s, and Karin plays Juanita de Cordoba, a beloved widow of a famous hero of the people who is secretly working with the French to keep tabs on the Russian going-ons in Cuba. Karin (a German actress who easily slips into other ethnicities like Indian and Latino) breathes lush life into the very “Evita-Peron”-ish Juanita character, making her both feminine, refined and strong hearted. When Juanita is first introduced, you are IMMEDIATELY captivated by those EYES of hers- sensual AND commanding at the same time!
My attraction for her only grew as the scenes went by- MAN! I'm ALL about 60's fashion, and she displayed it very well. Looking so classy, I didn’t think things could get any better, then suddenly there she was in front of me with her luscious hair down, looking ALL KINDS OF SEDUCTIVE in this smoking, sexy, lacey nightgown!!!!
YE GODS, I couldn’t TAKE IT! I had severe Babe-Overload!!!
Ah, yet ANOTHER actress falling into my category of “Distractingly Beautiful”, Karin Dor really DOES IT for ME, at least in THIS movie!
* * * * Addendum, *Spoiler Alert* * * * *
Thought I’d said all I had to say on the subject, but just HAD to mention this one INCREDIBLE scene in Topaz that I just can’t stop thinking about.
Working as an undercover spy in Cuba is, as one would suspect, a deadly occupation with a high mortality rate, and in the end Juanita is one of the many who end up sacrificing her life for the cause, and here Hitchcock directs probably one of the most beautifully shot deaths ever put to celluloid- Juanita is held in an embrace and is shot at close range. As she slowly slumps down to the ground, her velvety purple gown pools out across the floor like blood pouring out of her, this is such a haunting and MESMERIZING scene to behold!!
