QB VII 

A physician sues a novelist for publishing statements implicating the doctor in Nazi war crimes.

Stars:

Ben Gazzara, Anthony Hopkins, Leslie Caron

Won 6 Primetime Emmys. Another 11 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ben Gazzara	...	Abe Cady 2 episodes, 1974
Anthony Hopkins	...	Adam Kelno 2 episodes, 1974
Leslie Caron	...	Angela Kelno 2 episodes, 1974
Dan O'Herlihy	...	David Shawcross 2 episodes, 1974
Robert Stephens	...	Robert Highsmith 2 episodes, 1974
Anthony Quayle	...	Tom Banniester 2 episodes, 1974
Milo O'Shea	...	Dr. Stanislaus Lotaki 2 episodes, 1974
Kristoffer Tabori	...	Ben Cady 2 episodes, 1974
Lee Remick	...	Lady Margaret 2 episodes, 1974
Julian Glover	...	Zaminski 2 episodes, 1974
Vladek Sheybal	...	Sobotnik 2 episodes, 1974
Anthony Andrews	...	Stephen Kelno 2 episodes, 1974
Alan Napier	...	Semple 2 episodes, 1974

Storyline

Adam Kelno has made it to England in the days following World War II. Having escaped from a death camp in Nazi Europe, he finds that his identification with anti-communists in Poland has made him a target of the Soviet Government, which brings up war crime charges against him in England. When the witness is unable to identify him as one of the doctors who castrated him, he is released. Kelno takes his wife and young son to Arabia where he labors for years upgrading public health standards. Upon his return to England he is Knighted. Twenty years have passed and he has just begun to enjoy his life of renown when a book is published that names him as a willing participant to Nazi medical experiments on Jews in the camps. He sues for defamation and finds that not only can he not escape his past, but that the plaintiff a defamation case has his own reputation on trial. QB VII refers to the courtroom in which the trial is held, Queen's Bench, Room 7.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | war crime | doctor | courtroom | roman numeral in title | 

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Taglines:

The Dramatic Event of the Year!

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

QB VII

Company Credits

Production Co:

Douglas S. Cramer Company, Screen Gems

Technical Specs

Runtime:

390 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original script began with Adam Kelno (Sir Anthony Hopkins) doing volunteer work in the jungle. After two days of shooting in the jungle, the jungle setting was scrapped and changed to a desert. The same thing happened during the shooting of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).

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Quotes

Samantha Cady: I don't know what the word for 'male slut' is - but that's what you are.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Joan Rivers/Truman Capote/Bob Speca (1975)

User Reviews

A Television milestone

One of the first major TV movie events (1974) concerned a case of libel in which a best-selling book "The Holocaust" named a knighted doctor as a concentration camp monster, Dr. Adam Kelno. A Polish Christian doctor who was in a camp as a prisoner (under the scrutiny of Nazi staff) Kelno claimed he was responsible for saving and sparing Jews who might have been butchered or gassed otherwise. But as 25+ years have passed, Kelno has led a modest, unselfish life and now, the author of the book, Abe Cady, needs to find living witnesses who can prove Kelno was no saint. My only beef with this (I didn't read QB VII) is my surprise that Cady, a street-smart writer and his sharp publisher (Dan O'Herlihy) would name a real, living person as an inhuman butcher and then worry about being sued and then, try finding living and written proof. Ben Gazzara as Cady, Anthony Hopkins as Kelno and Leslie Caron as his wife are superb in their roles. The story (running just over 5 hrs), is more of a saga including the lives of Cady and Kelno's family for a quarter century before converging at the titular QB VII (Queen's Bench, Courtroom 7) for a jury trial. While the story periodically dips into the strained family relations of both men, the heart of the story is engrossing, enhanced by on-location filming (including England, Europe and Israel) and a moving score by the late and great Jerry Goldsmith. Robert Stephens and Anthony Quayle are more than convincing as attorneys and Juliet Mills as Cady's wife and Joseph Wiseman as Cady's father both shine. I am not of the Jewish faith, but the film still packs a punch to the heart and is still profoundly moving.