History Film / Hopscotch

* ActorAllusion: The airplane pilot who says that Kendig reminds her of her father is played by Matthau's stepdaughter.

* GeniusBonus: The various bits of opera were chosen to highlight the scenes.[[Theatre/MadameButterfly Madame Butterfly's]] suicide playing during the attack on the vacation house is the most obvious. The song Kendig sings along with as he crosses borders is about the Barber of Seville, who is too quick for his pursuers. And the one at the end is Non Più Andrai, describing how a boy will not be treated as the favorite after he goes into the army, [[spoiler:much like Myerson will fall out of favor]].

--'''Yaskov:''' I quite like him, you know. One can't help it.\\

* BadBoss: Myerson. At the start, he summons Kendig to his office and then ''calls Mrs. Myerson'' to discuss a trivial matter when Kendig tries to explain why he didn't arrest Yaskov, before brushing off the explanation and then firing him. When Kendig starts sending chapters out, Myerson immediately decides to kill him rather than simply arresting him.

The 1980 [[TheFilmoftheBook adaptation]] of the Brian Garfield novel, co-written by the original author. This UsefulNotes/ColdWar-era espionage comedy stars Walter Matthau as Miles Kendig, a CIA field agent who is {{Kicked Upstairs}} after refusing to [[DeadlyEuphemism terminate]] his Soviet counterpart, an affable [[IncrediblyLamePun operator]] named Yaskov (Herbert Lom). [[MeanCharacterNiceActor Ned Beatty]] plays Myerson, the immature bureaucrat who does the kicking — and [[ClusterFBomb screaming]]. Rather than ride a desk for the next few years, Kendig decides to write and publish his memoirs, including thirty years' worth of state secrets. Aided by his lover Isobel (Glenda Jackson) and hunted by his protege Joe Cutter (Sam Waterston), Kendig skips around the globe as the CIA and KGB race to apprehend him.

* TheNondescript: A large part of why Kendig is such a good agent.
** Actually, according to Kendig, TheNondescript is more characteristic of ''double'' agents, which is work he would be unsuited for. His abilities mostly derive from RefugeInAudacity.
* [[spoiler:NotQuiteDead: Kendig fakes his death in a (remote controlled) airplane crash.]]

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Kendig's affected Southern accent while he's working out of Myerson's summer house. One man he deals with tells him he can stop bothering.

** Later, he holds up Joe Cutter [[spoiler:with a Cutter's ''own'' gun, which is unloaded. Joe knows he would never have used it anyway, and lets Kendig tie him up.]]

** Later, he holds up Joe Cutter [[spoiler:with a real gun... that Joe knows he would never use. He lets Kendig tie him up anyway.]]

The 1980 [[TheFilmoftheBook adaptation]] of the Brian Garfield novel, co-written by the original author. This {{Cold War}}-era espionage comedy stars Walter Matthau as Miles Kendig, a CIA field agent who is {{Kicked Upstairs}} after refusing to [[DeadlyEuphemism terminate]] his Soviet counterpart, an affable [[IncrediblyLamePun operator]] named Yaskov (Herbert Lom). [[MeanCharacterNiceActor Ned Beatty]] plays Myerson, the immature bureaucrat who does the kicking — and [[ClusterFBomb screaming]]. Rather than ride a desk for the next few years, Kendig decides to write and publish his memoirs, including thirty years' worth of state secrets. Aided by his lover Isobel (Glenda Jackson) and hunted by his protege Joe Cutter (Sam Waterston), Kendig skips around the globe as the CIA and KGB race to apprehend him.

* ActorAllusion: The charter pilot says that Kendig reminds her of her father. Walter Matthau was the actress's stepfather.

* AngryGuardDog: Isobel's dog, which she says is provoked by the smell of stupidity.

* BrandishmentBluff: Kendig sneaks up on Ross and pokes his finger into his back to take him hostage, taking Ross's ''actual'' gun to keep it up.

* InterserviceRivalry: The FBI man at Myerson's house makes a point to remind Myerson and his CIA people that the FBI is running the show. Later, Myerson says that FBI must stand for "fucking ball-busting imbiciles."

* MenInBlack: Kendig references it, referring to the CIA agents who will question the pilot as "guys with little plastic ID cards."

* ActorAllusion: The seaplane pilot says that Kendig reminds her of her father. She's played by Matthau's stepdaughter.

* AdaptationDistillation: The novel was a drama written as a counterpoint to the flashy JamesBond stereotypes of espionage. This film is a comedy, although still a counterpoint to flashy JamesBond stereotypes.

* ReassignedToAntartica: Kending is assigned to a desk job. Becomes a ReassignmentBackfire because it gives him the opportunity to collect information for his book.

* InterserviceRivalry: The FBI men are clearly not impressed with the CIA.

* AdaptationDistillation: The novel was a drama written as a counterpoint to the flashy JamesBond stereotypes of espionage. This film is a comedy.

->''"I can't believe he had the balls to hide out in '''my house'''!"''