Themes: Assumed Identities, Haunted By the Past, Crimes Against Humanity
Main Cast: Maximilian Schell, Lois Nettleton, Luther Adler, Lawrence Pressman, Henry Brown
Release Year: 1975
Country: US
Run Time: 117 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Actor/writer Robert Shaw's powerhouse stage play The Man in the Glass Booth was transferred to the screen as part of the American Film Theatre series. Maximilian Schell plays Arthur Goldman, a Jewish businessmen living in Manhattan in 1965. A group of Israeli underground agents barge into Goldman's office and kidnap him. He is brought to Israel, placed in a bulletproof glass booth, and put on trial. His accusers charge that Goldman is not a Jew, but in fact a notorious Nazi war criminal, guilty of unspeakable crimes against humanity. Robert Shaw's name does not appear in the credits of The Man in the Glass Booth; he was so displeased with Edward Anhalt's screen adaptation that he had his name removed from the project. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although people tend to be in two camps about the ultimate quality of The Man in the Glass Booth, it's hard to deny that the film packs a very powerful punch. Although Robert Shaw decried Edward Anhalt's adaptation of his stage play, the fact is that it's a respectful version of the original; the problem is that, as part of the American Film Theatre series, the film by design and intent has been opened up only minimally. Those who prefer their films to be cinematic will likely find Booth somewhat claustrophobic, but director Arthur Hiller actually deserves a great deal of credit for using his camera in such a way as to make the film feel like it's moving even when it's not. Some will have a bigger problem with the screenplay, feeling that it is too manipulative, achieving effects that shock without really digging into deeper moral and dramatic issues. While there is some validity to this, it's also true that this manipulation is enormously effective. Audiences will also be about two minds concerning Maximilian Schell's Oscar-nominated performance. Detractors will complain that he hits one note too often and for too long, and that furthermore that note is shrill. But there's such intensity, power, conviction, and sheer showmanship in his performance that others will be inclined to overlook these complaints. There should be general agreement, however, that Lois Nettleton turns in a subtly nuanced yet surprisingly strong supporting performance and that Lawrence Pressman provides a nicely shaded Charlie. The Man in the Glass Booth's screenplay and central performance have their flaws, but those flaws are inextricable from and add to the film's ultimate impact. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Richard Rasof - Moshe; David Nash - Rami; Martin Berman - Uri; Sy Kramer - Rudin; Robert H. Harris - Dr. Weisberg; Leonidas Ossetynski - Samuel; Lloyd Bochner - Churchill; Norbert Schiller - Schmidt
Credit
John A. Anderson - Costume Designer, Arthur Hiller - Director, David Bretherton - Editor, Mort Abrahams - Executive Producer, Joel Schiller - Production Designer, Sam Leavitt - Cinematographer, Ely Landau - Producer, Henry T. Weinstein - Producer, Stan Winston - Special Effects, Jim di Gangi - Supervisor/Manager, Edward Anhalt - Screenwriter, Robert Shaw - Play Author
Arthur Goldman is Jewish and a Nazideath camp survivor. Now a rich industrialist, he lives in luxury in a Manhattan high-rise. He banters with his assistant Charlie, often shocking him with his outrageousness and irreverence about aspects of Jewish life. One day, Israelisecret agents kidnap Goldman and take him to Israel for trial on charges of being a Nazi war criminal. Goldman's trial forces his accusers to face not only his presumed guilt, but their own as well.
At the end it appears that Goldman falsified the dental records which the Israelis used to identify him in order to bring about the trial. When the deception is revealed by the Israeli prosecutor, Goldman is left standing in the trial court's bulletproof glass box, a broken man. The stress shatters his mental health, and he becomes catatonic. He then relives in his mind a Nazi firing squad execution and dies.
