Three Days of The Condor (15)

Sydney Pollack’s taut direction drives this post-Watergate thriller, capturing the paranoid tenor of the 1970s while featuring standout performances from Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway.

Redford plays Joe Turner, a bookish CIA analyst who returns from lunch to find his entire office massacred. On the run, he must unravel a conspiracy that reaches deep into the agency, relying on his wits to survive. Dunaway is a quietly complex ally whose intentions remain uncertain, while Max von Sydow’s menacing presence underscores the constant threat.

Nearly fifty years on, it remains a masterclass in suspense and a reminder of Redford’s singular presence on screen. The Oscar-winning icon and Sundance founder, who passed away in September aged 89, brought intelligence, charm, and moral clarity to a career defined by understated heroism and restless curiosity. He was more than a movie star. He was the thinking man’s leading man, equally at home in westerns, political thrillers and intimate dramas. From Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to All the President’s Men and The Sting, Redford embodied a rare blend of grace, conscience and curiosity. He was, and will remain, endlessly watchable.