LAST EMBRACE (1979)

Harry Hannan (Roy Scheider, The French Connection) is a United States government agent newly released from a long stay at an asylum following the murder of his wife during a botched mission in Mexico. Upon returning to government work, Hannan becomes increasingly paranoid, constantly questioning his sanity and who he can trust in the wake of receiving mysterious threats written in Hebrew. Hannan, along with Princeton doctoral student Ellie Fabian (Janet Margolin, David and Lisa), must unravel an arcane mystery that follows them from the streets of New York City to the rushing waters of Niagara Falls, before time runs out.

Based on the novel The 13th Man by Murray Teigh and adapted for the screen by David Shaber (The Warriors), LAST EMBRACE is an often overlooked entry in the career of Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), deftly weaving conventions of classic espionage with elements of the budding erotic thriller genre that would become pervasive in the following decade. Featuring striking cinematography by consistent Demme collaborator Tak Fujimoto (Something Wild, Philadelphia), a rousing score by film noir veteran Miklós Rózsa (Double Indemnity, The Asphalt Jungle) and a supporting cast that includes Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter), John Glover (Melvin and Howard), Charles Napier (Miami Blues) and a brief, but memorable, Joe Spinell (Rocky).