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The Fixer (1968)

M | | Drama | October 1969 (UK)
The Fixer Poster
In Czarist Russia, around 1911, a Russian-Jewish handyman, Yakov Bok, is wrongly imprisoned for a most unlikely crime.

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(novel), (screenplay)

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, , | See full cast & crew »
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Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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...
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Marfa Golov
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Lebedev
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Zinaida
...
Grubeshov
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Latke
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Count Odoevsky
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Raisl
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Deputy Warden
...
Priest
...
Berezhinsky
...
Ostrovsky
Thomas Heathcote ...
Proshko
...
Father Anastasy
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Storyline

Set in tsarist Russia around the turn of the century and based on a true story of a Russian Jewish peasant Yakov Bok who was wrongly imprisoned for a most unlikely crime - the "ritual murder" of a Gentile child in Kiev. We witness the unrelenting detail of the peasant-handyman's life in prison and see him gain in dignity as the efforts to humiliate him and make him confess fail. Written by alfiehitchie

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

russia | torture | secularism | anger | justice | See All (47) »

Taglines:

They accused him... They beat him... They condemned him... and after all that, they were more afraid of him than ever. See more »

Genres:

Drama

Certificate:

M | See all certifications »

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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

October 1969 (UK)  »

Also Known As:

El hombre de Kiev  »

Filming Locations:

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Company Credits

Production Co:

, ,  »
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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

MGM wanted Peter Sellers for the Alan Bates part but director John Frankenheimer was against the idea. See more »

Quotes

Yakov Bok: To be anti-Semitic, you first have to be anti-Christian. 'Sin the book.
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Connections

Featured in Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998) See more »

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User Reviews

 
Worth watching for Alan Bates
8 July 2000 | by – See all my reviews

Alan Bates is one of the most sadly forgotten actors from the 60's and 70's. While he's been doing mostly stage work recently, many seem to have forgotten the extraordinary output that he had: Zorba the Greek, A Kind of Loving, Georgy Girl, Far From the Madding Crowd, An Unmarried Woman, Women in Love, Butley, and this.

His performance as Yakov Bok, a Jewish handyman wrongly accused of murder, is the the driving force behind Dalton Trumbo's adaption of Bernard Malamud's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. While John Frankenheimer's direction is rather clunky at times (a disappointment, seeing as he was coming off a good run with The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, and The Train), the length is about twenty minutes too long, and a few supporting characters remain under-developed, his gritty performance keeps The Fixer going. It's interesting to see Yakov go from being a non-religious Jew who agrees to work for an Anti-Sematic official for money to a political prisoner who will proclaim his innocence despite whatever torture is inflicted on him. As the brutality of the officials grows harsher, his religious feelings grow stronger, and Bates makes it believable from beginning to end.

Dirk Bogarde also does well as a lawyer who will defend Yakov at any cost (even though his character's intentions remain unclear), as does Ian Holm as an investigator who considers Jews to be inhuman criminals.

The Fixer had a brief run on video a few years ago, but I am not sure if it is still being circulated.
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