The Boys from Brazil (1978)

A Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.

Director:

Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers:

Ira Levin (novel), Heywood Gould (screenplay)

Stars:

Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gregory Peck	...	Dr. Josef Mengele
Laurence Olivier	...	Ezra Lieberman
James Mason	...	Eduard Seibert
Lilli Palmer	...	Esther Lieberman
Uta Hagen	...	Frieda Maloney
Steve Guttenberg	...	Barry Kohler (as Steven Guttenberg)
Denholm Elliott	...	Sidney Beynon
Rosemary Harris	...	Mrs. Doring
John Dehner	...	Henry Wheelock
John Rubinstein	...	David Bennett
Anne Meara	...	Mrs. Curry
Jeremy Black	...	Jack Curry / Simon Harrington / Erich Doring / Bobby Wheelock
Bruno Ganz	...	Professor Bruckner
Walter Gotell	...	Mundt
David Hurst	...	Strasser

Storyline

Barry Kohler, a young Nazi hunter, tracks down a group of former SS officers meeting in Paraguay in the late 1970s. The Nazis, led by Dr Mengele, are planning something. Old Nazi hunter, Ezra Lieberman, is at first uninterested in Kohler's findings. But when he is told something of their plan, he is eager to find out more. Lieberman visits several homes in Europe and the U.S. in order to uncover the Nazi plot. It is at one of these houses he notices something strange, which turns out to be a horrible discovery.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | nazi hunter | nazi war criminal | paraguay | 1970s | 

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Taglines:

If they survive...will we?

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los niños del Brasil

Filming Locations:

Kölnbrein Dam, Austria

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$19,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sir Lew Grade, Producers Circle, ITC Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Ezra Liebermann" was called "Yakov Liebermann" in the original book. Laurence Olivier patterned his performance on Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal.

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Goofs

Several scenes have obvious dubbing. Mostly when the actors are a bit farther away from the camera. Mouth movements do not match the dialogue heard.

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Quotes

Mrs. Doring: Would you like me to tell you who really killed him? God. To set free a stupid little farm girl after twenty-two years of unhappiness. Do Nazis answer prayers, Herr Lieberman? No, that is God's business and I have thanked Him every night since He pushed Emil under that car. He could have done it sooner, but I thank Him anyway.

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Alternate Versions

The version currently shown by Netflix (March 2017) ends with the shot of the list burning to ash, followed by slow fade to black, then the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009)

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Soundtracks

WE'RE HOME AGAIN
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Lyrics by Hal Shaper
Sung by Elaine Paige

User Reviews

Better than you'd think

Had I seen the film without reading the back of the video cassette, I would have enjoyed the film a lot more. But for some reason, a major plot point, revealed 1 1/2 hours into the film, is plainly written in black on orange. Since the movie moves in ever decreasing circles to reveal this secret quite efficiently, I don't see why the publicity department chose to sabotage it.

Nevertheless, the plot is more plausible than it sounds when you try to describe it (which, as I have just said, should be avoided anyway), and the leads play beautifully. Especially incredible is Laurence Olivier as the doddering, worldly-wise jewish Nazi hunter, Dr. Lieberman. You'd never expect the frail form in this movie to be the same man as Hamlet. Gregory Peck also plays Dr. Joseph Mengele as suitably and calmly evil. A lesser actor would find playing the part of a Nazi Death Doctor, responsible for some of the worst atrocities in human history, a perfect excuse to ham it up and click into the black-hatted, moustache-twisting token villain.

The less impressive acting of Steve Guttenberg overacting into a telephone and Jeremy Black with a really strange german accent as Erich Doring. This I can forgive. The ending is also comfortable and understated, with a moral instead of a huge explosion, as could have been expected in a 90's movie. Worth seeing, especially if you know nothing about the film.