The Odessa File (1974)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Ronald Neame

Writers:

Frederick Forsyth (novel)
Kenneth Ross (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 October 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

A gripping puzzle of pursuit and escape

Plot:

After reading the diary of an elderly Jewish man who committed suicide, freelance journalist Peter Miller...

Plot Keywords:

Diary | Suicide | SS | Concentration Camp | German

Cast

Jon Voight	...	Peter Miller
Maximilian Schell	...	Eduard Roschmann
Maria Schell	...	Frau Miller
Mary Tamm	...	Sigi
Derek Jacobi	...	Klaus Wenzer
Peter Jeffrey	...	David Porath
Klaus Löwitsch	...	Gustav Mackensen
Kurt Meisel	...	Alfred Oster
Hannes Messemer	...	General Glücks
Garfield Morgan	...	Israeli General
Shmuel Rodensky	...	Simon Wiesenthal
Ernst Schröder	...	Werner Deilman
Günter Strack	...	Kunik (also as Gunter Strack)
Noel Willman	...	Franz Bayer
Martin Brandt	...	Marx

Also Known As:

Der Fall Odessa (West Germany)
Die Akte Odessa (West Germany)
The O.D.E.S.S.A. File (UK) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

130 min | Germany:120 min

Country:

UK | West Germany

Language:

German | English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:PG (TV rating) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) (2005) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1975) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Alter Elbtunnel, St. Pauli, Hamburg, Germany

Company:

John Woolf Productions

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~8.7 Seconds. Median Shot Length = ~8 seconds.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Peter Miller phones his girlfriend from Munich Central station, there is an InterCity train headed by a class 103 electric locomotive clearly visible in the background. Both weren't put into service before the early 1970's.

Quotes:

[Miller is trying to sell his editor on a story based on the diary]
Editor: No one wants to read about Jews.
Miller: They were GERMANS!
Editor: They were German Jews.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Two Senoritas (1975)

Soundtrack:

Christmas Dream

engrossing, suspenseful drama

Jon Voight does an excellent job in this intriguing film about a reporter searching for a war criminal who escaped Germany after World War II with the help of an organization called Odessa. His investigation leads him to Simon Wiesenthal and to a group of Israelis who train him to infiltrate Odessa. The historical setting is 1963 Germany, at the time of the Kennedy assassination This is a very suspenseful film with wonderful performances from the supporting cast as well: Mary Tamm, Maximillian Schell, Maria Schell, and Derek Jacoby.

For me, The Odessa File has always had an old-fashioned feeling to it -it was made in 1974, set in 1963, and almost seems like it could have been made in the '40s. Truly an excellent film.

As a bit of trivia no doubt already mentioned, Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music for the film, which I frankly found rather intrusive.