Hopscotch (film)
Encyclopedia
Hopscotch is a 1980 American film directed by Ronald Neame
and produced by Otto Plaschkes
. It was written by Bryan Forbes
and Brian Garfield
, based on his novel of the same name.
The film is a comedy starring Walter Matthau
as Miles Kendig, a renegade CIA
agent intent on publishing a memoir exposing the inner workings of the CIA and the KGB
. Sam Waterston
and Ned Beatty
play Cutter and Myerson, Kendig's protege and his bumbling former boss, respectively, and are repeatedly foiled in their attempts to capture him and stop the publication of the damaging memoir. Herbert Lom
is Yaskov, the sympathetic KGB agent with an equal interest in his capture. Glenda Jackson
plays Isobel von Schonenberg, his Austria
n love interest who helps him stay one step ahead of his captors. Matthau and Jackson previously appeared together in the 1978 film House Calls
. Matthau's son David plays Ross, a bumbling junior CIA agent.
The movie was received in a lukewarm manner by critics and was a moderate financial success during its release.
. Kendig and his team foil a microfilm transfer to an East German spy. However, they purposely do not apprehend Yaskov. Kendig is summoned to Washington, where his supervisor, Myerson (Beatty), is forcing Kendig into semi-retirement and a desk job because Kendig didn't arrest the Russian. Kendig resists, claiming to be "a field man", and, on his own initiative, takes leave, shredding his file en route. It is days before that is discovered. He goes to Salzburg, Austria to "hear some Mozart" and visit an old friend, Isobel Von Schonenberg (Jackson). It is here that he seizes on the idea of writing a book exposing all the 'dirty tricks' of the CIA, KGB and other 'spy agencies'. Isobel is horrified to read the first chapter and tells Kendig that they'll all come after him to kill him. Nevertheless, he mails copies of the chapters to the various spy chiefs in the US, Russia, China and Great Britain. Soon enough, Myerson and Yaskov are after him, just as he wanted.
Kendig baits his pursuers by periodically informing them of his location while nevertheless staying one step ahead. Leaving Vienna, he rents Myerson's own Georgia
country house, and writes a few more chapters. The CIA trace him there, but the FBI shows up as well, and hearing the firecrackers Kendig sets up to go off, start blasting away at the house with rifles in front of the frantic Myerson, who goes in to a fit of apoplexy as his house is destroyed by the FBI shooters.
Kendig flies to Bermuda
by seaplane (piloted by a woman portrayed by Matthau's stepdaughter Lucy Saroyan), then to London
, to meet with his publisher to give him the last chapter of the book. Yaskov tells Cutter (Waterston), a former protege of Kendig's and friend who has been tasked to pursue him, finding out that he is in London. Both the Soviets
and the Americans go to London and find Kendig's hotel room, where he has left a tape recording telling them he has finished the book and that he will be escaping Britain
by a small plane the next morning. He leaves a copy of the last chapter and the location of the airfield from which he plans to make his escape.
In the meantime, Kendig has contacted Isobel, who is under surveillance in Austria by the CIA. She cleverly escapes her watchers and goes to England
by hovercraft
. Kendig has also contracted with an engineer for a specialized electronic device for the airplane of unknown purpose.
Cutter and Myerson threaten Kendig's publisher but he rebuffs their attempts at intimidation. Kendig, on the way to the airfield, suffers a flat tire. He is assisted by the local police, who cordially invite him to wait in the station until the morning. When one policeman recognizes him from a bulletin, Kendig escapes by short-circuiting an electrical socket and stealing a police car.
He reaches the airfield in the morning, but the Americans and Russians are hovering overhead in a helicopter. He apparently takes off in his vintage biplane and is pursued by Myerson in the helicopter. He performs intricate loops in the plane evading the pistol shots from Myerson.
It is then revealed that the electronic device that Kendig had built is a specialized remote control device. Kendig is actually still on the ground, controlling the plane from inside a small building nearby. Once the plane has cleared the cliffs and is over the English Channel
, he presses a button, exploding it. The Americans and Russians rush to the cliff, see the wreckage floating in the sea, and conclude that Kendig is dead – except Cutter, who sees through the plan and realizes that Kendig did not die in the plane ("He better stay dead") but decides to keep this insight to himself.
Kendig meanwhile returns to meet Von Schonenberg and they set off for the south of France
. Months later, the book has become a bestseller. Kendig is in a bookstore in disguise as a Sikh
to purchase a copy. He learns from the clerk that the book is very good and that there is a rumor that Kendig is still alive in Australia
. Von Schonenberg pulls him aside and scolds him for taking too many risks.
starring Robert Redford
, using the same premise of one CIA agent pursued by others intent on covering up dark secrets of the agency—or a comedic version of Philip Agee
's rebellion. The movie has also been classified in the genre of post-Vietnam
American comedies such as Stripes
(1982) that played on the perceived incompetence of the federal government. The book's author explained in a documentary on the DVD that rather than basing the book on anything specific, he was unhappy with the spy movie genre, sensing that it had become more about gadgets, violence and sex than either realism or trickery, and wrote Hopscotch to be a spy novel without the sex, guns and gadgets.
. Notable examples include the aria "Non Più Andrai" from the opera The Marriage of Figaro
, the andante movement from Eine kleine Nachtmusik
, the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No.11, K331 (best known for the third movement, the Rondo alla turca), the Posthorn Serenade, K320 and a Rondo in D, K382.
Herrman Prey's lusty singing of "Non Più Andrai" magnificently highlights the absurd antics of the old biplane as Myerson is shooting at it. The song tells how Cherubino ("little baby"), going into the army, will no longer be a dainty favorite, just as 5-foot-7 Myerson is going to lose his power at the CIA. Also, the song describes bullets flying and even bombs exploding.
There is also the aria "Largo al Factotum
" from the opera The Barber of Seville
by Gioachino Rossini. Matthau sings this as he passes a border checkpoint. The words to the aria explain how everyone is looking for the barber, and he moves fast like lightning.
Kendig has the aria "Un Bel Di Vedremo" ("One Beautiful Day") from Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
playing loudly on the stereo as the FBI and CIA shoot up Myerson's wife's house. The weird wailings add a surreal air of ironic justice to the events as Madame Butterfly sings how she will hide from her husband.
Matthau, who had a great personal fondness for opera, is said to have selected the soundtrack himself. The director said however that conductor Ian Frasier found many of the Mozart pieces that fit the movie.
The credits also list "Once a Night" written by Jackie English and Beverly Bremers.
with Jon Stewart on 31 July 2007, to accompany their take on the news that day about the FBI raid on the home of Ted Stevens
, the long-time member of United States Senate
representing Alaska
. The clips used were from the scene showing the FBI raid on Myerson's country house, which was heavily damaged by gunfire. It was called outdated and listed as "some old movie we saw on cable".
The last names of three characters also happen to be the last names of well know novelists: Westlake (Donald E. Westlake
), Ludlum (Robert Ludlum
) and Follett (Ken Follett
).
Ronald Neame
Ronald Elwin Neame CBE, BSC was an English film cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director.-Early career:...
and produced by Otto Plaschkes
Otto Plaschkes
Otto Plaschkes was a British-Jewish film producer.-Early life:Plaschkes was born in Vienna. His father, a butcher, was from Bratislava and his mother from Budapest...
. It was written by Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes, CBE is an English film director, actor and writer.-Career:Bryan Forbes was born John Theobald Clarke on 22 July 1926 in Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford, West Ham, Essex , and grew up at 43 Cranmer Road, Forest Gate, West Ham, Essex .Forbes trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of...
and Brian Garfield
Brian Garfield
Brian Francis Wynne Garfield is an American novelist and screenwriter. He wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen and wrote several novels under such pen names as "Frank Wynne" and "'Brian Wynne" before gaining prominence when his book Hopscotch won the 1976 Edgar Award for Best Novel...
, based on his novel of the same name.
The film is a comedy starring Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
as Miles Kendig, a renegade CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent intent on publishing a memoir exposing the inner workings of the CIA and the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
and Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
play Cutter and Myerson, Kendig's protege and his bumbling former boss, respectively, and are repeatedly foiled in their attempts to capture him and stop the publication of the damaging memoir. Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
is Yaskov, the sympathetic KGB agent with an equal interest in his capture. Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
plays Isobel von Schonenberg, his Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n love interest who helps him stay one step ahead of his captors. Matthau and Jackson previously appeared together in the 1978 film House Calls
House Calls (film)
House Calls is a 1978 film comedy starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson, directed by Howard Zieff.-Plot summary:Charles Nichols is a respected doctor. He is also a new widower, and as soon as he returns from a tropical vacation and period of mourning, he finds himself propositioned by a number...
. Matthau's son David plays Ross, a bumbling junior CIA agent.
The movie was received in a lukewarm manner by critics and was a moderate financial success during its release.
Synopsis
The movie opens at Munich's OktoberfestOktoberfest
Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The...
. Kendig and his team foil a microfilm transfer to an East German spy. However, they purposely do not apprehend Yaskov. Kendig is summoned to Washington, where his supervisor, Myerson (Beatty), is forcing Kendig into semi-retirement and a desk job because Kendig didn't arrest the Russian. Kendig resists, claiming to be "a field man", and, on his own initiative, takes leave, shredding his file en route. It is days before that is discovered. He goes to Salzburg, Austria to "hear some Mozart" and visit an old friend, Isobel Von Schonenberg (Jackson). It is here that he seizes on the idea of writing a book exposing all the 'dirty tricks' of the CIA, KGB and other 'spy agencies'. Isobel is horrified to read the first chapter and tells Kendig that they'll all come after him to kill him. Nevertheless, he mails copies of the chapters to the various spy chiefs in the US, Russia, China and Great Britain. Soon enough, Myerson and Yaskov are after him, just as he wanted.
Kendig baits his pursuers by periodically informing them of his location while nevertheless staying one step ahead. Leaving Vienna, he rents Myerson's own Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
country house, and writes a few more chapters. The CIA trace him there, but the FBI shows up as well, and hearing the firecrackers Kendig sets up to go off, start blasting away at the house with rifles in front of the frantic Myerson, who goes in to a fit of apoplexy as his house is destroyed by the FBI shooters.
Kendig flies to Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
by seaplane (piloted by a woman portrayed by Matthau's stepdaughter Lucy Saroyan), then to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, to meet with his publisher to give him the last chapter of the book. Yaskov tells Cutter (Waterston), a former protege of Kendig's and friend who has been tasked to pursue him, finding out that he is in London. Both the Soviets
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the Americans go to London and find Kendig's hotel room, where he has left a tape recording telling them he has finished the book and that he will be escaping Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by a small plane the next morning. He leaves a copy of the last chapter and the location of the airfield from which he plans to make his escape.
In the meantime, Kendig has contacted Isobel, who is under surveillance in Austria by the CIA. She cleverly escapes her watchers and goes to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by hovercraft
Hovercraft
A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...
. Kendig has also contracted with an engineer for a specialized electronic device for the airplane of unknown purpose.
Cutter and Myerson threaten Kendig's publisher but he rebuffs their attempts at intimidation. Kendig, on the way to the airfield, suffers a flat tire. He is assisted by the local police, who cordially invite him to wait in the station until the morning. When one policeman recognizes him from a bulletin, Kendig escapes by short-circuiting an electrical socket and stealing a police car.
He reaches the airfield in the morning, but the Americans and Russians are hovering overhead in a helicopter. He apparently takes off in his vintage biplane and is pursued by Myerson in the helicopter. He performs intricate loops in the plane evading the pistol shots from Myerson.
It is then revealed that the electronic device that Kendig had built is a specialized remote control device. Kendig is actually still on the ground, controlling the plane from inside a small building nearby. Once the plane has cleared the cliffs and is over the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, he presses a button, exploding it. The Americans and Russians rush to the cliff, see the wreckage floating in the sea, and conclude that Kendig is dead – except Cutter, who sees through the plan and realizes that Kendig did not die in the plane ("He better stay dead") but decides to keep this insight to himself.
Kendig meanwhile returns to meet Von Schonenberg and they set off for the south of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Months later, the book has become a bestseller. Kendig is in a bookstore in disguise as a Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
to purchase a copy. He learns from the clerk that the book is very good and that there is a rumor that Kendig is still alive in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Von Schonenberg pulls him aside and scolds him for taking too many risks.
Sources
The film has been described as a comedic variation on the 1975 dark thriller Three Days of the CondorThree Days of the Condor
Three Days of the Condor is a 1975 American action thriller film produced by Stanley Schneider and directed by Sydney Pollack. The screenplay, by Lorenzo Semple Jr...
starring Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, using the same premise of one CIA agent pursued by others intent on covering up dark secrets of the agency—or a comedic version of Philip Agee
Philip Agee
Philip Burnett Franklin Agee was a Central Intelligence Agency case officer and writer, best known as author of the 1975 book, Inside the Company: CIA Diary, detailing his experiences in the CIA. Agee joined the CIA in 1957, and over the following decade had postings in Washington, D.C., Ecuador,...
's rebellion. The movie has also been classified in the genre of post-Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
American comedies such as Stripes
Stripes (film)
Stripes is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P. J. Soles, and John Candy. It also featured several actors in their first significant film roles, including John Larroquette, Sean Young, John Diehl, and Judge Reinhold. It was one...
(1982) that played on the perceived incompetence of the federal government. The book's author explained in a documentary on the DVD that rather than basing the book on anything specific, he was unhappy with the spy movie genre, sensing that it had become more about gadgets, violence and sex than either realism or trickery, and wrote Hopscotch to be a spy novel without the sex, guns and gadgets.
Music
The music includes many pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
. Notable examples include the aria "Non Più Andrai" from the opera The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, the andante movement from Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music"...
, the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No.11, K331 (best known for the third movement, the Rondo alla turca), the Posthorn Serenade, K320 and a Rondo in D, K382.
Herrman Prey's lusty singing of "Non Più Andrai" magnificently highlights the absurd antics of the old biplane as Myerson is shooting at it. The song tells how Cherubino ("little baby"), going into the army, will no longer be a dainty favorite, just as 5-foot-7 Myerson is going to lose his power at the CIA. Also, the song describes bullets flying and even bombs exploding.
There is also the aria "Largo al Factotum
Largo al factotum
Largo al factotum is an aria from The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, sung at the first entrance of the title character; the repeated "Figaro"s before the final patter section are an icon in popular culture of operatic singing...
" from the opera The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
by Gioachino Rossini. Matthau sings this as he passes a border checkpoint. The words to the aria explain how everyone is looking for the barber, and he moves fast like lightning.
Kendig has the aria "Un Bel Di Vedremo" ("One Beautiful Day") from Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
playing loudly on the stereo as the FBI and CIA shoot up Myerson's wife's house. The weird wailings add a surreal air of ironic justice to the events as Madame Butterfly sings how she will hide from her husband.
Matthau, who had a great personal fondness for opera, is said to have selected the soundtrack himself. The director said however that conductor Ian Frasier found many of the Mozart pieces that fit the movie.
The credits also list "Once a Night" written by Jackie English and Beverly Bremers.
Production
- Otto Plaschkes - producer
- Ronald Neame - director
- Bryan Forbes - screenplay
- Brian Garfield - screenplay and novel
Cast
- Walter MatthauWalter MatthauWalter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
- Miles Kendig - Glenda JacksonGlenda JacksonGlenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
- Isobel von Schonenberg - Sam WaterstonSam WaterstonSamuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
- Joe Cutter - Ned BeattyNed BeattyNed Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
- Myerson - Herbert LomHerbert LomHerbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
- Yaskov - David Matthau - Leonard Ross
- George BakerGeorge Baker (actor)George Baker, MBE was an English actor and writer. He was best-known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.-Personal life:...
- Parker Westlake - Ivor RobertsIvor Roberts (actor)Ivor Roberts was an English television continuity announcer and television actor who often appeared in comedic roles....
- Ludlum - Lucy SaroyanLucy SaroyanLucy Saroyan was an American actress and photographer.Saroyan was born in San Francisco, California, the daughter of the writer William Saroyan and the actress Carol Grace. Her brother is writer Aram Saroyan...
- Carla Fleming - Severn DardenSevern DardenSevern Teakle Darden, Jr. was a comedian and actor, and an original member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players...
- Leroy Maddox - George PravdaGeorge PravdaGeorge Pravda was a Czechoslovakian film and television actor.He began his career in Czechoslovakia, where he was credited as Jirí Pravda, and then emigrated to the United Kingdom....
- Saint Breheret - Jacquelyn Hyde - Realtor
- Mike GwilymMike Gwilym-Early life:Born in Neath, Gwilym is the brother of actor Robert Gwilym, son of Arthur Aubrey Remington Gwilym and Renée Mathilde Eugénie Léonce Dupont. His parents were the proprietors of a women's clothing chain in Wales. Mike's Belgian maternal grandfather was the oil industrialist Edmond Jules...
- Alfie Booker - Terry Beaver - Tobin
- Ray Charleson - Clausen
- Christopher Driscoll - Policeman #1
- Michael Cronin - Policeman #2
- Roy Sampson - Police Sergeant
- Douglas Dirkson - Follett
- Anne HaneyAnne HaneyAnne Haney was an American actress, perhaps best known for her roles as social worker Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire, Greta the secretary in Liar Liar, and for her unique, low-octave voice.-Career:...
- Mrs. Myerson - Shan Wilson - Spy in Oktoberfest
- Randy Patrick - Mechanic
- Joe DorseyJoe DorseyJoe Dorsey is an American character actor. This familiar supporting player is probably best known for his portrayals of tough roles in films, even though most of his work in films and in television has been brief....
- Security Guard - Candice Howard - Maddox's Receptionist
- Susan McShayne - Cocktail Waitress
- Yolanda KingYolanda KingYolanda Denise King was the first-born child of Coretta Scott King and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
- Coffee Shop Manager - Antony Carric - Salesman in Electric Shop
- Osman Ragheb - CIA Telephone Technician
- Roland Frölich - Border Guard
- Jeremy YoungJeremy YoungJeremy Young is a British actor, born in 1934.He has numerous television credits, including Doctor Who , No Hiding Place, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Avengers, The Saint, Department S, Randall and Hopkirk , Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, Softly,...
- Immigration Officer - Sally Nesbitt - Telephone Operator
- Susan EngelSusan EngelSusan Engel is a British actress.-Theatre:Engel's work in theatre includes: Angels in America , Richard III, King Lear , The Good Person of Sezuan, Watch on the Rhine , Spring Awakening, The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other and Her Naked Skin at the National Theatre, London; Women...
- Westlake's Receptionist - Joanna McCallumJoanna McCallumJoanna McCallum is a British theatre, film and television actress. She is the daughter of British actress Googie Withers and Australian actor John McCallum...
- Bookshop Cashier - Laura Whyte - Myerson's Secretary
- Larry Larson - FBI Technician
- Seab Worthy - FBI Man
- Danny Covington - Bellman
Trivia
Clips from Hopscotch were used by The Daily ShowThe Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
with Jon Stewart on 31 July 2007, to accompany their take on the news that day about the FBI raid on the home of Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens
Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...
, the long-time member of United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
representing Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. The clips used were from the scene showing the FBI raid on Myerson's country house, which was heavily damaged by gunfire. It was called outdated and listed as "some old movie we saw on cable".
The last names of three characters also happen to be the last names of well know novelists: Westlake (Donald E. Westlake
Donald E. Westlake
Donald Edwin Westlake was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction or other genres...
), Ludlum (Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum was an American author of 23 thriller novels. The number of his books in print is estimated between 290–500 million copies. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.-Life and...
) and Follett (Ken Follett
Ken Follett
Ken Follett is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels. He has sold more than 100 million copies of his works. Four of his books have reached the number 1 ranking on the New York Times best-seller list: The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple, and World Without End.-Early...
).