Claim: Three Days of the Condor is a film.

Three Days of the Condor -LRB- stylized on the poster art as 3 Days of the Condor -RRB- is a 1975 American political thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford , Faye Dunaway , Cliff Robertson , and Max von Sydow . The screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel was adapted from the 1974 novel Six Days of the Condor by James Grady . The main point of variance from novel to film lies in the presentation of the CIA . In Grady 's book , a rogue element within the Agency is motivated by drug-running greed . In the film , the same individuals act with equal ruthlessness to hide a project intended to protect long-term national interests .   Set mainly in New York City and Washington , D.C. , the film is about a bookish CIA researcher who comes back from lunch , discovers all his co-workers shot dead , and tries to outwit those responsible until he figures out whom he can really trust . The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing . Semple and Rayfiel received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay .