“A NAZI OR NOT-ZI?”

By Raymond Benson

Back in 1973, producer Ely Landau and his wife Edie launched a daring and unprecedented cinema series that played in the U.S. for two “seasons,” with a total of fourteen titles (but only thirteen were shown), all renowned works—classic and modern—originally produced on the stage. It was called the American Film Theatre. (A review of a DVD box set of the entire series appeared on Cinema Retro HERE.)

The concept tried something different. The directive was to take a great stage play, not change a word, and in most cases, use the actual play script as the screenplay. The next step was to hire an accomplished film director to interpret the text for the film medium but stay faithful to the play. Sometimes the director was the same person who helmed the original stage production. A further step was to persuade the original casts from the Broadway or London productions of those plays to star in the film; or, when that wasn’t possible, to cast big-name Hollywood or British actors. Thus, the result was indeed a filmed play—but you as an audience member wouldn’t be watching it from the middle of the orchestra or from the side or from the first balcony; instead you were up close and personal in a realistically-presented world (on studio sets and/or real interior or exterior locations)—just like in “regular” movies. You had the best seat in the house, so to speak, but there’s no proscenium arch. It’s a movie. But it’s a play.

Kino Lorber has slowly been re-releasing the movies from the American Film Theatre in individual packages, upgraded to high definition Blu-ray. One recent title is the picture that closed the series in 1975, The Man in the Glass Booth, which earned star Maximilian Schell a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Schell lost to Jack Nicholson (for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), but his performance is a tour-de-force and perhaps the actor’s crowning achievement on screen.

You won’t see playwright/actor Robert Shaw’s name anywhere in the credits of this film adaptation of his play because—in a departure from the AFT’s directive—the text was changed in many places to allow for a more cinematic experience…and Shaw was unhappy about it and had his name removed. However, director Hiller reports in an interview (a supplement on the disk) that when Shaw saw the film prior to its premiere, he was extremely pleased and asked that his name be reinstated, but it was too late!

Nevertheless, the film is a riveting, first-rate drama. The story, loosely inspired by the abduction and trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, concerns Arthur Goldman, a wealthy Jew in New York City, who is captured by an Israeli commando team and flown to Israel to stand trial as a concentration camp commander. Is the man really the Nazi colonel, or is he impersonating him because in truth he’s just a guilt-ridden Holocaust survivor?

The film co-stars Lawrence Pressman as Goldman’s faithful assistant and Lois Nettleton as the Israeli prosecutor—both are terrific. Nevertheless, it is Schell who carries the film on his shoulders to great heights.

Kino Classics’ new Blu-ray is a 2K restoration from the original 35mm negative and looks wonderful. Supplements included are the previously mentioned interview with director Hiller, an interview with co-producer Edie Landau, and a short promo piece on the AFT featuring Ely Landau (the latter two pieces also appear on every Kino Blu-ray re-issue of each title in the series). There are also trailers for the other AFT releases.

The Man in the Glass Booth is highly recommended viewing, not only for Schell’s brilliant performance, but also for a powerful meditation on the Holocaust and its survivors.

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