Michael Armstrong vs. James Bond
That Arresting Rhythm:
"You Still Have That Expression... Hot Dog?"
In Torn Curtain there is no explicit villain, except for the fact that the East Germans are communists and in the 1960s communist was fairly synonymous with evil. Hitchcock, however, decided to create Herrmann Gromek "as a human being" as opposed to the tradition of making "the communists rather granite-faced individuals and humorless" 56. Both in the establishment of the “villain” and in the execution of him, Hitchcock again works against the Bond elements but this time does not let Addison’s music interfere. Hitchcock said that “a spy is a hero in his own country but a villain in enemy country” and it is just this ambiguity that he toys with in the creation of Gromek.
"Pete's Pizza Parlor."
Big Brother
With his Americanisms like “hot dog” and his memories of “Pete’s Pizza Parlor” in New York, Gromek is almost likable, especially when compared to the very un-funny, stony Michael 57.
Furthermore, in a scene deleted from the film because it made Michael into too much of a villain, Michael meets Gromek’s brother (also played by Wolfgang Kieling) and the brother asks Michael to take Gromek his favorite sausage and shows him a picture of Gromek’s wife and children 58. This makes Gromek more sympathetic than Michael because the audience knows that Michael is not yet married and (presumably) has no children.
Gromek is Michael’s bodyguard appointed by the East German govenment but he never acts unlawfully and neither does the government. It is only Michael who violates any type of law or code since he does not have any government validation for his actions 59. When Gromek tries to call the police at the farm in order to report Michael as a spy, he simply acts as a loyal patriot to his country. By reporting Michael to the police, Gromek does his patriotic duty. If Michael were reporting Gromek there would be no question that he was in the right. Which man is the evil one? The communist defending his nation against spies or the American sneaking in to steal another country's secrets? Hitchcock uses Gromek to raise questions about moral ambiguity and to Michael’s right to murder.