# "Three Days of the Condor" question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994 "2014-01-28T23:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/41 "2014-03-30T20:52:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > … Still seems to me that Dunaway yields to Redford’s ardor 'way too easily. … Thankfully, someone has re-opened this thread (as did an SDSAB person beforehand). Thanks to you both. As everyone who’s seen the film knows, the photographs she takes of winter scenes with no one in them are intended to provide information about Dunaway’s character’s inner life. In fact, I believe at least some of the photos are of scenes that one would normally associate with people (park benches, etc). The two characters even have a conversation about them. Been quite a while since I’ve seen it. One could say (this one certainly does) that the photos are filled with yearning. Perhaps Redford’s character says this as well. Yearning for (warning - speculation to run rampant) connection, companionship, human touch. Yes, that’s a lot to get out of a few photos. However, they were in the movie for a reason, as are all items. The photos are there in spite of her boyfriend. That says to me that she is not getting something vital from him - clearly related to her yearning. Also, her captor is played by Robert Redford - at or near the height of his bodaciousness. For these reasons (and one other about which I will not speculate), Kathy’s reactions to her captor seem spot-on. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/42 "2014-03-30T21:59:55Z")
[The writer (and uncle of Doper **saje** ) just died.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719497) ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/43 "2014-03-31T02:45:31Z")
Great movie. Now I have to watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/44 "2014-03-31T03:13:44Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > Also, her captor is played by Robert Redford - at or near the height of his bodaciousness. And, as I recall, one or two of the missing days led up to that moment. It wasn’t so sudden in the book. But yeah, Robert Redford. And 1975. Sex wasn’t killing anybody yet. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/45 "2014-03-31T13:37:43Z")
My take on the psychology of Kathy is that she intrinsically wanted to be alone. But societal conventions and all that meant she had to have a boyfriend, etc. She clearly didn’t really want to do the skiing trip with him. Too much couple-time together. And then what? Turner/Condor OTOH was more her type. Spend a couple days with him, sleep with him, and then he’ll be gone. Forever. No messy emotional crap. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/46 "2014-03-31T14:25:53Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > … No messy emotional crap. Yeah, but messy sheets, and bullet holes and blood splatter on the walls. There’s just no winning in relationships. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/47 "2014-04-01T10:10:19Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Yeah, but messy sheets, and bullet holes and blood splatter on the walls. There’s just no winning in relationships. Uhh…where’s the downside? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/48 "2014-04-02T03:25:29Z")
Explaining it all to the landlord and the boyfriend? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/49 "2014-04-03T02:10:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Explaining it all to the landlord and the boyfriend? The Company has it’s own cleaning service as shown after the office hit. No muss, no fuss. (Assuming Condor tells them about it. I’m assuming The Company would want to clean up stuff like that even if it was Atwood’s mess.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/50 "2014-04-12T04:38:31Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The Company has it’s own cleaning service as shown after the office hit. No muss, no fuss. (Assuming Condor tells them about it. I’m assuming The Company would want to clean up stuff like that even if it was Atwood’s mess.) That’s true. I mentioned it in post 36. I suppose they might make another housecall, under the circumstances. _After_ you’ve seen _Captain America: The Winter Soldier_, in which Redford is also prominently featured, read this on other movies to then see: [http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/10-movies-watch-after-winter-soldier.php](http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/10-movies-watch-after-winter-soldier.php) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/51 "2014-04-12T06:05:28Z")
I suppose their cleaning service could make a tidy profit with the right customer base … say, the Mafia. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/52 "2014-04-12T18:41:46Z")
Wouldn’t be the first time they’d worked together: [http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/26/us-cia-secrets-idUSN2636255220070626](http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/26/us-cia-secrets-idUSN2636255220070626) ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/53 "2014-05-28T00:38:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Why would the Major instruct Redford not to hang up the payphone? So they could complete a trace? Update: Just re-watched the movie. About 10 seconds, give or take, before the major instructed Condor to not hang up the phone, a light reading “Trace Completed” came up on the Major’s panel; so, I’m assuming it was something other than the trace factor. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/54 "2014-06-12T01:53:18Z")
Just got the Dave Grusin jazz soundtrack to the movie. It’s a 1996 Italian CD reissue (_I Tre Giorni Del Condor_), and includes a very upbeat and out-of-place R&B vocal piece, “I’ve Got You Where I Want You,” sung by Jim Gilstrap. I don’t remember hearing it in the movie - was it in a bar, a street scene or something else? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MVEtgrZCOUI/maxresdefault.jpg "Jim Gilstrap - "I've Got You Where I Want You"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVEtgrZCOUI) > **[Jim Gilstrap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_gilstrap)** > > James Earl Gilstrap (born November 10, 1946) is an American singer, considered one of the most prolific session musicians in the industry. He is best known for his 1975 solo hit single "Swing Your Daddy", as well as singing co-lead to the theme from the TV series Good Times. > Gilstrap was born November 10, 1946, in Daingerfield, Texas to Jodie and Pearlie Mae (Tolbert) Gilstrap. He joined the U.S. Navy Reserve. He began his career in the music industry when he returned from serving in the Vietnam... The photo on the back of the CD shows Redford holding a gun on that CIA official in his home office at the end of the movie, and Faye Dunaway in her bathrobe - the photos are arranged so that it looks like Dunaway is sitting right there in the office with them! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/55 "2014-06-12T02:52:21Z")
“You can always count on the old spyfucker.” ---
**Author:** ![ajtp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5daacb/32.png) [@ajtp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajtp)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/56 "2014-12-01T18:59:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > No plans for a sequel that I ever heard of. I think it ended ambiguously on purpose. > > Just watched it again on Friday. It holds up pretty well. > > I noticed Wicks has the official portrait of President Ford on his Langley office wall: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Gerald\_Ford.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Gerald_Ford.jpg) > > And Higgins has a print of the famous Trumbull painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence hanging on his: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Declaration\_independence.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Declaration_independence.jpg) > > Nice allusion to the backstory of Mr. Wabash’s (John Houseman) previous OSS and CIA service. > > The Getty gas station where Redford and Dunaway go has a “Gas: No Lead” sign. > > Why would the Major instruct Redford not to hang up the payphone? So they could complete a trace? > > The CIA cleanup crew is in a truck marked “Augean Cleaning Service Inc.” - a nice shoutout to Greek myth: [Augeas - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augean_stables) > > Redford overhears Dunaway’s character’s name when the ski supply store clerk calls in her credit card to see if it’s good for her purchase, loudly reading off her name and the card numbers - _those_ were the days! > > Still seems to me that Dunaway yields to Redford’s ardor 'way too easily. > > McCoy’s restaurant, where Dunaway sits down and surprises Higgins, is still open for business: [http://mccoynyc.com/](http://mccoynyc.com/) > > Bittersweet to see so much of the World Trade Center. I thought they were in Washington, DC at the time of the scene at McCoy’s restaurant?! I would like to know if that link you provided is in fact to the actual restaurant depicted in that scene. The sandwich Higgins had looked delicious! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/57 "2014-12-01T22:44:21Z")
> [@ajtp](#): > > I thought they were in Washington, DC at the time of the scene at McCoy’s restaurant?! Higgins was the local NYC director of CIA operations. So he oversaw (maybe up two levels?) Condor’s group which was based there. Hence he generally was in NYC thru the movie. Condor, I think, didn’t go to the DC area until near the end. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994/58 "2014-12-02T06:12:53Z")
That’s right. As noted above, Higgins worked at the World Trade Center, and McCoy’s is, by my count, 26 blocks away from it. Higgins would probably IRL be more likely to take a cab or a government car, but in the movie we see him walking to lunch. Not the first time Hollywood has messed with real-world geography. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-of-the-condor-question/679994.md?page=2)