''The Odessa File'' is an 1974

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

, adapted from the 1972 novel of the same name by

Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth (born 25 August 1938) is an English novelist and journalist. He is best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', '' The Fourth Protocol'', '' The Dogs of War'', ''The Devil's Alter ...

, about a reporter's investigation of a neo-Nazi political-industrial network in post-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

. The film stars

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...

Mary Tamm Mary Tamm (22 March 1950 – 26 July 2012) was a British actress, who appeared in many British TV drama series and serials, and is best known for her role as Romana I in the BBC's science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', starrin ...

Maximilian Schell Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was an Austrian-born Swiss actor, who also wrote, directed and produced some of his own films. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1961 American film '' Judgment at Nuremberg'', ...

and

Maria Schell Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...

and was directed by Ronald Neame, with a score by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musical ...

. It was the only film that the Schell siblings made together.

Plot

On 22 November 1963, the day of the

John F. Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...

in Dallas, Peter Miller (

), a young freelance reporter in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, pulls his car over to the kerb to listen to a radio report of the event. As a result, he happens to be stopped at a traffic signal as an ambulance passes by on a highway. He follows the ambulance and discovers it is en route to pick up the body of an elderly man who has committed suicide, leaving behind no family. Peter obtains the man's diary and learns the man was Salomon Tauber ( Towje Kleiner), a Jewish

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

. Salomon's diary details information on his life in the Riga Ghetto during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, including the name of the SS officer who ran the camp, Eduard Roschmann (

). Salomon's diary catalogues all of Roschmann's crimes including the murder of a highly decorated Wehrmacht officer (

Oskar Werner Oskar Werner (; born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer; 13 November 1922 23 October 1984) was an Austrian stage and cinema actor whose prominent roles include two 1965 films, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' and ''Ship of Fools''. Other notable ...

) while attempting to flee at the end of the war. Peter is filled with a determination to hunt Roschmann down and he sets out to meet famed Nazi-hunter

Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal (31 December 190820 September 2005) was a Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter, and writer. He studied architecture and was living in Lwów at the outbreak of World War II. He survived the Janowska concentration ...

, who informs him about

ODESSA Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, a secret organization for former members of the SS which is developing a missile guidance system for Nasserist Egypt. Wiesenthal explains that most of the West Berlin Police are members of ODESSA and not to be trusted. As Peter leaves he is accosted by Israeli

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

agents who suspect Peter of trying to harm Wiesenthal. Peter manages to convince the men that his true mission is to find and bring Roschmann to justice. The Israelis propose to send Peter deep undercover in the ODESSA. Peter agrees to the mission and with the help of the Israelis, they provide him with a cover identity. Peter is to be a former SS soldier who died recently in a nearby hospital. Before going under cover, Peter then leaves his girlfriend Sigi (

). The Israelis drill Peter on all details of his cover identity in preparation of meeting with ODESSA. Complete with a new cover identity, Peter gains access to the inner ranks of the ODESSA. After getting through his first test he is sent to get a

fake passport A fake passport is a counterfeit of a passport (or other travel document) issued by a nation or authorised agency. Such counterfeits are copies of genuine passports, or illicitly modified genuine passports made by unauthorized persons, sometime ...

from a forger who is working for ODESSA. While awaiting his train, Peter blunders by making a call to Sigi to assure her that he is OK. Thinking he is safe, he boards the train. Meanwhile, the ODESSA report back that Peter has made a call and they work out that Peter is not who he says he is. An assassin is dispatched to kill him. Peter meets with the forger Klaus Wenzer (

Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as '' Hamlet'', '' Much Ado About Nothing'', '' Macbeth'', '' Twelfth Night'', '' The Tempest'', ' ...

) a shy insecure young man living with his mother. After taking

passport photo Photo identification or photo ID is an identity document that includes a photograph of the holder, usually only their face. The most commonly accepted forms of photo ID are those issued by government authorities, such as driver's licenses, ide ...

s, Klaus tells Peter to return after the weekend, but then calls him after midnight and tells him to return within the hour. Suspicious, Peter rings Klaus' home from his hotel and having had no answer is wary, and sees the armed assassin who is waiting for him. Peter sneaks into the house and awakes Klaus' mother: she mistakes him for a priest and begs him to pray for her son. He then tackles the assassin and manages to kill the man. Whilst exploring Klaus' safe he uncovers a book detailing every fake ID Klaus created and detail the real identity of those he created the fake IDs for. Peter takes the file and hides it in a train station locker, later giving the key to Sigi, lest anything should happen to him. Peter victorious returns to the Israelis and details all he has found but refuses to disclose the location of the file until Roschmann has been apprehended. The Israeli agents reluctantly agree to Peter's demands and he then leaves for Roschmann's home where he finds him living an opulent life as a munitions factory owner. Peter manages to gain access to the mansion and evade his security before confronting Roschmann at gunpoint. Peter reveals Salomon Tauber's diary to Roschmann who attempts to deny everything, claiming Peter has been misled. Peter then discloses to Roschmann, Salomon's description of the murder of a fellow German Wehrmacht officer at the end of the war. Peter goes through the unique details of the cowardly murder and then discloses that the Wehrmacht officer was in fact Peter's father. Roschmann realising he is about to be exposed, panics and goes for his gun forcing Peter to defend himself. Peter returns fire at Roschmann killing the former SS officer. The detailed ODESSA files obtained by Peter are used to arrest numerous Nazi war criminals including high-ranking members of the police. Later Roschmann's factory mysteriously burns to the ground before any rockets are delivered to Egypt.

Cast

as Peter Miller *

as Sigi *

as Eduard Roschmann *

as Frau Miller *

as Klaus Wenzer *

Peter Jeffrey Peter Jeffrey (18 April 1929 – 25 December 1999) was an English character actor. Starting his performing career on stage, he would later have many roles in television and film. Early life Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence ...

as David Porath *

Klaus Löwitsch Klaus Löwitsch (8 April 1936 – 3 December 2002) was a German actor, best known in Germany for his starring role in the television detective series '' Peter Strohm''. He appeared in several films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, begin ...

as Gustav Mackensen *

Kurt Meisel Kurt Meisel (18 August 1912 – 4 April 1994) was an Austrian actor and film director. He appeared in 65 films between 1934 and 1994. He also directed 21 films between 1949 and 1984. Meisel was married to the actress Ursula Lingen. He was born a ...

as Alfred Oster *

Hannes Messemer Hannes Messemer (17 May 1924 – 2 November 1991) was a German actor from Dillingen an der Donau, Bavaria. Biography World War II Messemer served on the Eastern Front of World War II and was eventually captured by Soviet soldiers. H ...

as General Glücks * Garfield Morgan as Israeli General *

Shmuel Rodensky Shmuel Rodensky ( he, שמואל רודנסקי, 10 December 1902 – 16 July 1989) was a Russian-born Israeli actor whose stage, film, and television career in Israel and West Germany spanned six decades. He immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 19 ...

* Ernst Schröder as Werner Deilman *

Günter Strack Günter Strack (4 June 1929 – 18 January 1999) was a German film and television actor. Career In English language films, he played Professor Karl Manfred in the Hitchcock thriller '' Torn Curtain'' (1966) and appeared as Kunik in ''The Ode ...

as Kunik *

Noel Willman Noel Willman (4 August 1918 – 24 December 1988) was an Irish actor and theatre director. Born in Derry, Ireland, Willman died aged 70 in New York City, United States. Willman's films included '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), '' Across ...

as Franz Bayer *

Günter Meisner Günter Meisner (18 April 1926 – 5 December 1994) was a German film and television character actor. He is remembered for his several cinematic portrayals of Adolf Hitler and for his role as Arthur Slugworth in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...

as General Greifer *

Gunnar Möller Gunnar Möller (1 July 1928 – 16 May 2017) was a German television and film actor. He appeared in over 160 film and television productions between 1940 and 2016. He was most successful as a leading man in German cinema of the 1950s, especially w ...

as Karl Braun * Til Kiwe as Medal Shop Proprietor *

Cyril Shaps Cyril Leonard Shaps (13 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was an English actor of radio, television and film, with a career spanning over seven decades. Early radio Shaps was born in the East End of London to Polish-Jewish parents; his father ...

as Tauber's Voice (narrating the diary) *

as an

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

Officer (uncredited)

Production

Filming was done on location in

, Germany;

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

;

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

, Germany;

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, Germany; at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

, England; and the

Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the F ...

in Grünwald,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, Germany. It was filmed with

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...

equipment, produced with

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

technologies. The film's title song, "

Christmas Dream "Christmas Dream" is a song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, with German lyrics by Andre Heller, for the 1974 Columbia film ''The Odessa File''. It is sung by Perry Como and the London Boy Singers. Como and the choir performed the s ...

", written by

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

, was sung by

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signin ...

and the London Boy Singers. Simon Wiesenthal served as a technical advisor for the production.

Reception

The film premiered at the 1974

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

. The

American Nazi Party The American Nazi Party (ANP) is an American far-right and neo-Nazi political party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization was originally named the World Union of Free Enterprise Nation ...

staged a protest outside the theater but it was mistaken for a promotion of the film. Nora Sayre of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said, "The film makes its points methodically, almost academically. It also drags because there are many unnecessary transitional passages, devoted to moving the characters from one situation to another. Almost every occurrence is predictable."

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Odessa File 1974 films 1974 independent films 1970s English-language films 1970s spy thriller films British independent films British political thriller films British thriller drama films British spy thriller films Columbia Pictures films English-language German films Films about journalists Films about Nazi hunters Films about the Mossad Films based on British novels Films based on thriller novels Films based on works by Frederick Forsyth Films directed by Ronald Neame Films set in 1963 Films set in 1964 Films set in Hamburg Films set in Munich Films set in Salzburg Films set in Vienna Films shot in Austria Films shot in England Films shot in Germany Films shot in Hamburg Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films shot at Bavaria Studios Films about the aftermath of the Holocaust West German films 1970s political thriller films Films about Nazis Films about Nazism Films about Nazi fugitives Films set in Jerusalem Films set in Heidelberg Films about the Arab–Israeli conflict Films set in Riga Films set in 1944 1970s British films ja:オデッサ・ファイル#映画