I moved inside from my first day sitting on the deck because the sun was in my eyes. Turned on the television, and stumbled across a movie that was just starting: The Prize, from 1964, starring Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, and Elke Sommer.

It caught and held my attention. It’s a combination of a mystery and a romantic comedy.

It’s set in Stockholm, Sweden. Newman, Robinson, and a few others have all come to town as this year’s Nobel laureates. Paul Clark (Newman), winning the prize for literature (though his career has turned from important books to detective novels) is a misanthropic alcoholic who is only there for the money. He meets Max Stratman (Robinson), physics, who was one of the scientists brought to the US in Operation Paperclip). The next day, however, Stratman doesn’t know Clark, and then at a press conference, Clark makes up a plot for a mystery novel in which a Nobel laureate is kidnapped. (Remember, this is 1964; not everyone has their photo available on the internet.) Inge Lisa Andersen (Sommer) is the official delegated to watch over Clark, make sure he gets to his appointments on time.

Interactions with the other laureates provide some of the comic relief, along with some drama, but the main thrust is Clark’s investigation of the mystery he thought he’d created on the spot. That, and the meet-cute romcom of Clark and Andersen’s relationship.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable and engaging movie from an era when car chases and battle scenes weren’t ubiquitous.