Skokie

• Director: Herbert Wise
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Courtroom Drama, Political Drama
• Themes: Culture Clash, Social Injustice, Crimes Against Humanity
• Main Cast: Danny Kaye, John Rubinstein
• Release Year: 1981
• Country: US
• Run Time: 121 minutes

Plot

Skokie is the true story of a critical test of Constitutional rights in Illinois. In 1977, a small band of American neo-fascists calling itself the National Socialist Party of America plans to stage a swastika-dominated demonstration and rally. Their intended site is the Chicago suburb of Skokie, a town populated predominantly by Jews--many of them survivors of the Nazi holocaust. Jewish ACLU lawyer John Rubinstein is compelled to lobby for the National Socialists' freedom to express their views, despite his own inner turmoil over defending the very people who'd destroy him. The most vocal opponent to the planned rally is Skokie senior citizen Max Liebman (Danny Kaye), who spent five years in Hitler's death camps. Ernest Kinoy's teleplay for Skokie is fair-minded to a fault, presenting all points of view with equanimity, proving that there are no simple solutions when the fundamental right of Free Speech is involved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Robin Bartlett - JDL Girl; Nancy Cartwright; Dan Conway - Anchorman; Dick Cusack - Board Member; Brian Dennehy - Chief Arthur Buchanan; George Dzundza - Frank Collin; Ed Flanders - Mayor Albert J. Smith; Beatrice Fredman - Survivor; Kim Hunter - Bertha Feldman; David Hurst - Sol Goldstein; Joseph Leon - Hershkowitz; Charles Levin - Rabbi Steinberg; Marie Mathay - Phyllis; Ruth Nelson - Grandma Jannsen; Stephen D. Newman - Aryeh Neier; Ward Ohrman - Judge; Jack Orend - Nazi; Chelcie Ross - Nazi; Ned Schmidtke - Reporter; Michele Shay - Sheila; Lee Strasberg - Morton Weisman; James Sutorius - David Hamlin; Eli Wallach - Bert Silverman; Danny Kaye - Max Feldman; Carl Reiner - Abbot Rosen; John Rubinstein - Herb Lewisohn; Harry Elders - Judge; Marin Kanter - Janet Feldman; Jack Callahan - Father Kelly; Patti Wilkus - Survivor; Taylor Williams - Reporter; Robin Moore - Penny

Credit

Richard Bianchi - Art Director, Thomas DeWolfe - Associate Producer, Alixe Gordin - Casting, Herbert Wise - Director, Robert Reitano - Editor, Stephen A. Rotter - Editor, Herbert Brodkin - Executive Producer, Alex Thomson - Cinematographer, Bruce S. Pustin - Production Manager, Robert Berger - Producer, Amy Marshall - Set Designer, Ernest Kinoy - Screenwriter

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