Main Cast: Jessica Lange, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Frederic Forrest, Donald Moffat, Lukas Haas
Release Year: 1989
Country: US
Run Time: 126 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Jessica Lange plays an attorney whose affable Hungarian-immigrant father Armin Mueller-Stahl is arrested. He is threatened with deportation for lying about his activities during World War II; part of the charge is that Mueller-Stahl was a Nazi collaborationist, guilty of wartime atrocities. Absolutely convinced that her father is being railroaded by a revenge-seeking Hungarian communist government, Lange handles Mueller-Stahl's defense, expertly blowing huge holes in prosecuting attorney Frederic Forrest's case. But in doing her own research, Lange discovers that her father has spent a lifetime paying off a blackmailer. Why? In contrast to the fervency of his earlier Z, Costa-Gavras refuses to make things easy by proselytizing in The Music Box (nor does screenwriter Joe Esterhas indulge in his usual right-between-the-eyes fervency). Everything in the film is offered on the same calm, collected level, making the ultimate horror of the story all the more effective. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cheryl Lynn Bruce - Georgine Wheeler; Edward Blatchford - Young Man; J.S. Block - Judge Erwin Silver; Larry Brandenburg - John Staley; Elzbieta Czyzewska - Melinda Kalman; Toni Fleming - Housekeeper; Ralph Foody - Pawn Broker; Sol Frieder - Istvan Boday; Nicholas J. Giangiulio - Loop Group; Michael Gwynne; Albert Hall - Mack Jones; Gabor Koncz - Limo Driver; Mitchell Litrofsky - Sandy Lehman; Jane MacIver - Secretary; Tom Mason; Elizabeth Owens - Loop Group; Dan Resin - Loop Group; Michael Rooker - Karchy Laszlo; Ned Schmidtke - Dean Talbot; Michaél Shillo - Geza Vamos; Felix Shuman - James Nathanson; Mari Töröcsik - Magda Zoldan; Kevin White - Clerk; Ellis Williams - Loop Group; Margo Winkler - Irma Kiss; Marta Sebestyen - Singer; Andy Avalos - Weatherman; Mimi Bensinger - Loop Group; Leonard E. Boswell - Courtroom Guard; Nicholas Christianson - Boy with Mikey; Richard D'Angelo - Violent Protester; Gyorgy Emod - Andras Nagy; Agnes Gallwitz - Translator; Zoltan Gera - Man in Budapest; Tracy Grant - Servant; Donnez Harris - Security Guard; Erica MD Heit - Doctor; Pauline Kaner - Reporter; Tibor Kenderesi - Pal Horvath; Magda Szekely Marburg - Judit Hollo; Douglas Marcinek - Courtroom Guard; Christiana Nicola - Maria; George Pusep - Vladimir Kostav; Owen Rice - Courtroom Reporter; Magda Sass - Translator; Tom Skilling - Weatherman; Mark Steggerda - Courtroom Guard; Tom Stienke - Sports Announcer; Megan Warner - Secretary; Mary Goldberg; George Carson; Anne Gartlan; Joe Guzaldo - Joe Dinofrio; Pam Dixon
Credit
Bill Arnold - Art Director, Nelson McCormick - Associate Producer, Mary Goldberg - Casting, Pam Dixon - Casting, Eva Nemeth - Choreography, Rita Salazar - Costume Designer, Costa-Gavras - Director, Joëlle van Effenterre - Editor, Joe Eszterhas - Executive Producer, Hal W. Polaire - Executive Producer, Philippe Sarde - Composer (Music Score), Harry Rabinowitz - Musical Direction/Supervision, Steve LaPorte - Makeup, Jeannine Oppewall - Production Designer, Patrick Blossier - Cinematographer, Irwin Winkler - Producer, William Fosser - Set Designer, Sam Barkan - Special Effects, Pierre Gamet - Sound/Sound Designer, William Flageollet - Sound/Sound Designer, Gerard Lamps - Sound/Sound Designer, Joe Eszterhas - Screenwriter
