''The Assassination of Trotsky'' is a 1972 British historical drama film, directed by Joseph Losey with a screenplay by

Nicholas Mosley Nicholas Mosley, 3rd Baron Ravensdale, 7th Baronet, MC, FRSL (25 June 1923 – 28 February 2017) was an English novelist. Life Mosley was born in London in 1923. He was the eldest son of Sir Oswald Mosley, 6th Baronet, a British politician, ...

. It stars

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

, as well as

Romy Schneider Romy Schneider (; born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach; 23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982) was a German-French actress. She began her career in the German genre in the early 1950s when she was 15. From 1955 to 1957, she played the central chara ...

and Alain Delon.

Plot

Exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929, Leon Trotsky travels from Turkey to France to Norway, before arriving in Mexico in January 1937. The film begins in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

in 1940, during a May Day celebration. Trotsky has not escaped the attention of the Soviet dictator of the Soviet Union,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, who sends out an

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

named Frank Jacson. The killer decides to infiltrate Trotsky's house by befriending one of the young communists in Trotsky's circle.

Cast

* Alain Delon as Frank Jacson *

as Gita Samuels *

Valentina Cortese Valentina Cortese (1 January 1923 – 10 July 2019) was an Italian actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in François Truffaut's ''Day for Night'' (1973). Personal life Cortese was born ...

as Natalia Sedowa Trotsky *

Luigi Vannucchi Luigi Vannucchi (25 November 1930 – 30 August 1978) was an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Caltanissetta, Vannucchi graduated at Silvio d'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1952 and shortly after en ...

as Ruiz *

Jean Desailly Jean Desailly (24 August 1920 – 11 June 2008) was a French actor. He was a member of the Comédie-Française from 1942 to 1946, and later participated in about 90 movies. Life and career Desailly studied at the École nationale supérieure des ...

as Alfred Rosmer *

Simone Valère Simone Valère (2 August 1923 – 11 November 2010) was a French actress. She appeared in more than forty films from 1941 to 1993. Filmography External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valere, Simone 1923 births 2010 deaths Actresses from Pa ...

as Marguerite Rosmer *

Duilio Del Prete Duilio Del Prete (25 June 1938 – 2 February 1998) was an Italian actor, dubber and singer-songwriter. Del Prete was born at Cuneo, Piedmont. As a singer-songwriter, he wrote political songs and recorded an album of Jacques Brel's covers; he al ...

as Felipe *

Jack Betts Jack Fillmore Betts, also credited as Hunt Powers, is an American character actor and playwright. He has acted in film, on stage, and on television. Career Betts portrayed Chris Devlin in the CBS mystery series '' Checkmate'' (1960-1962). He ...

as Lou ''(as Hunt Powers)'' * Michael Forest as Jim *

Claudio Brook Claudio Brook (born Claude Sydney Brook Marnat, 28 August 1927 – 18 October 1995) was a Mexican actor. Life Born in Mexico City, Brook had a prolific career, making around 100 film and television appearances in his 38 years as an actor. ...

as Roberto *

Joshua Sinclair Joshua Sinclair (born May 7, 1953) is an American writer, producer, actor and director born in New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 po ...

as Sam *

Giorgio Albertazzi Giorgio Albertazzi (20 August 1923 – 28 May 2016) was an Italian actor and film director. Born in San Martino a Mensola, Tuscany, Albertazzi joined the Italian Social Republic and reached the rank of lieutenant. After their defeat, he spe ...

as Commissioner

Production

In 1965,

Josef Shaftel Josef Shaftel (14 March 1919–9 March 1999) was an American film producer, director and writer. He made a number of films in England. Shaftel was particularly prolific in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1970 he raised seven million pounds to ...

optioned the novel ''The Great Prince Died'' by Bernard Wolfe. The film was a co-production between the French Valoria Company and Dino De Laurentiis. It was originally to be shot in England, but was eventually filmed in Rome. The movie used

Isaac Don Levine Isaac Don Levine (January 19, 1892 – February 15, 1981) was a 20th-century Russian-born American journalist and anticommunist writer, who is known as a specialist on the Soviet Union. He worked with Soviet ex-spy Walter Krivitsky in a 1939 exp ...

's book ''The Mind of an Assassin'' as a source. According to author Melvin Bragg, the director Joseph Losey was so drunk and tired that he relied on long monologues by Burton to carry the film, in some cases even forgetting what was in the script. Burton himself wrote that he, or the continuity girl, would have to remind Losey of things that would have caused continuity gaffes.

Reception

''The Assassination of Trotsky'' was included as one of the choices in the book ''

The Fifty Worst Films of All Time ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

References

External links

*
Original New York Times Review
1972 films 1970s political drama films Films set in 1940 British political drama films British historical drama films Cultural depictions of Leon Trotsky 1970s English-language films Films about communism French historical drama films 1970s historical drama films Drama films based on actual events Films directed by Joseph Losey Films set in Mexico Films about assassinations English-language French films English-language Italian films French political drama films Italian historical drama films Italian political drama films 1972 drama films 1970s British films 1970s Italian films 1970s French films {{historic-film-stub