This is a very light-hearted mystery-suspense film. Paul Newman is in Stockholm to receive a Nobel Prize when he is pulled into a plot with international implications. Despite the seriousness of the plot, the writer and director did a good job of balancing chases and near-death experiences with occasional bouts of silliness that worked well for me. I particularly liked when Newman and Elke Sommer were running from the bad guys. They ran into a meeting hall to hide but found that it was a group of nudists, so they had to do what they needed to do to blend in and not be noticed. This was very reminiscent of another of Ms. Sommers' films, A SHOT IN THE DARK. One final praise and it was because the film also features Edward G. Robinson--for this it earns an extra point, as he was an excellent actor that did a lot more than just gangster flicks.

This light adaption of Irving Wallace's novel The Prize serves as yet another Hitchcock wannabe production. I'm sure Paul Newman's performance here got him cast later on with Alfred Hitchcock himself in Torn Curtain.

Irving Wallace's Cold War novel was a good deal more dramatic than what we see here, though the plot centers around the serious business of kidnapping. It takes place at Stockholm during the Nobel Prize Awards ceremony. Edward G. Robinson, a defector from behind the Iron Curtain, is to receive the Nobel Prize for physics. But the Russians have other ideas.

Robinson has twin brother who they plan to substitute after they kidnap Robinson. Robinson is to denounce the capitalist warmongers at the ceremony and then go back to Russia. Or both Robinsons will, willingly or unwillingly. Assisting them in their plans is Diane Baker, the daughter of the Commie Robinson and niece of the defector.

One of those small things that usually happen in Hitchcock type films trips up the plans. Before he's kidnapped Robinson has a casual encounter with Paul Newman who is receiving the Nobel Prize for literature. Later on Robinson doesn't seem to remember it at all, or Newman for that matter.

It's probably the writer's curiosity that gets him aroused, but Newman with the help of Swedish Foreign office attaché Elke Sommer starts to unravel the whole dirty scheme.

Newman does fine work here as a Norman Mailer type iconoclastic author, but I'm still wondering why he goes into that Reginald Van Gleason type voice on occasion in the film. I guess working with Jackie Gleason in The Hustler must have had a more profound impact than anyone thought.

There's a nice sidebar plot going with the dual recipients for the Prize for Medicine, Sergio Fantoni and Kevin McCarthy, each of whom thinks they should get sole credit for a discovery. And there's the modern day Curie husband and wife team from France, Gerald Oury and Michelline Presle, who are keeping up appearances, but leading quite separate lives except for work.

The real star of the film however is the Swedish capital city of Stockholm and we get to see many fine shots of it during the course of the story.

The Prize might be too light a treatment for devoted fans of Irving Wallace, but it's all right as a Hitchcock light type of film.

The Nobel prize in literature is being awarded to the brash drunken womanizing author Andrew Craig (Paul Newman). The Swedish Foreign Ministry assigns Inger Lisa Andersson (Elke Sommer) as his minder. Dr. Max Stratman (Edward G. Robinson) is another winner coming to Stockholm with his young niece Emily (Diane Baker). He's got a rendezvous with mysterious Hans Eckhart. Dr. John Garrett (Kevin McCarthy) is forced to share his prize with his competitor Dr. Carlo Farelli (Sergio Fantoni). Dr. Claude Marceau (Gérard Oury) and his disgruntled wife Dr. Denise Marceau (Micheline Presle) are awarded the prize for chemistry. He's brought along his mistress. Craig meets Stratman in a very knowing and friendly manner. Eckhart wants Stratman to defect. When he refuses, Stratman is kidnapped. In the second meeting, Craig reveals that he's been making his living writing mystery novels under a pseudonym and Stratman doesn't seem to be the same person. Craig gets a mysterious call and finds a dead body. However the body disappears and nobody believes him.

This starts like a sex comedy. Newman comes in after 15 minutes and the tone is extremely light. Then the mood becomes more serious with the kidnapping. I would prefer the mood stay serious from the beginning. The movie oscillates between a light comedy and a dark thriller. Newman delivers some fun comedy. The character should be more serious. The movie works much better as a paranoia filled Hitchcockian thriller. I would also rather have the mystery be kept a secret. There is no room for any twists. The movie reveals all the good stuff right away. This movie really struggles with dueling tones.