The Boys from Brazil (1978) 7.0
A Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich. Director:Franklin J. Schaffner |
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The Boys from Brazil (1978) 7.0
A Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich. Director:Franklin J. Schaffner |
|
0Share... |
Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Gregory Peck | ... | ||
Laurence Olivier | ... | ||
James Mason | ... | ||
Lilli Palmer | ... |
Esther Lieberman
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Uta Hagen | ... |
Frieda Maloney
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Steve Guttenberg | ... |
Barry Kohler
(as Steven Guttenberg)
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Denholm Elliott | ... |
Sidney Beynon
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Rosemary Harris | ... |
Mrs. Doring
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John Dehner | ... | ||
John Rubinstein | ... |
David Bennett
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Anne Meara | ... |
Mrs. Curry
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Jeremy Black | ... | ||
Bruno Ganz | ... |
Professor Bruckner
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Walter Gotell | ... |
Mundt
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David Hurst | ... |
Strasser
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Barry Kohler, a young Nazi hunter, tracks down a group of former SS officers meeting in Paraguay in the late 1970s. The Nazis, led by Dr Mengele, are planning something. Old Nazi hunter, Ezra Lieberman, is at first uninterested in Kohler's findings. But when he is told something of their plan, he is eager to find out more. Lieberman visits several homes in Europe and the U.S. in order to uncover the Nazi plot. It is at one of these houses he notices something strange, which turns out to be a horrible discovery. Written by Rob Hartill
A very well done (if quite implausible) fictional account about a post World War II Nazi plot based in Paraguay and led by Josef Mengele that could lead to the establishment of the Fourth Reich.
Gregory Peck was well cast as the evil Mengele. Having seen him primarily in "good guy" roles, I was impressed by how well he pulled off this role as one of the more sinister characters of the 20th century. Laurence Olivier also put on a good performance as the Nazi hunter Lieberman.
The basics of the story (I won't give it away) are implausible, but strike me as the sort of thing Nazi scientists might have wanted to do if the knowledge had been around in the 1940's. Some parts are predictable (I figured out who - or what - the "boys" were soon after they appeared) but I must confess that I wasn't able to figure out the reason behind the killing of the 65 year old civil servants who were married to younger women until it was revealed. And the ending of the movie was appropriately spine-chilling. What will this boy (indeed, these boys) grow up to be, anyway?
Well done, indeed. 8/10