Varian's War (2001)

Varian Fry rescues more than 2,000 artists from Nazi persecution during World War II.

Director:

Lionel Chetwynd

Writer:

Lionel Chetwynd

Stars:

William Hurt, Howard Ryshpan, Carol Shamy

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Hurt	...	Varian Fry
Howard Ryshpan	...	Konditerei Owner
Carol Shamy	...	The Owner's Wife
Harald Winter	...	First Brownshirt
Susan Almgren	...	Eileen Fry (as Susie Almgren)
Barry Blake	...	Drury
Noel Burton	...	Thompson
Emma Campbell	...	Clifton's Girl
Ian Finlay	...	Ballroom Man 1
Maitreya Friedman	...	Ballroom Woman (as Maitreya Frieman)
Alain Goulem	...	Clifton
Christopher B. MacCabe	...	Ballroom Man 2 (as Christopher Maccabe)
Walter Massey	...	Sydney
Tom Rack	...	Reinhold Neibuhr
Michael Rudder	...	Thomas Mann

Storyline

After witnessing the treatment of Jews in Nazi territory made him physically sick, cultured American gentleman Varian Fry starts en emergency rescue commission to raise funds and lobby to help intellectuals and artists, especially Jews, escape from Vichy France -where the Pétain government avoid occupation only by utter collaboration- to the US, and for lack of a better volunteer personally sets out in search of them. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt personally overcomes the reticence of the State Department. In Marseille he finds the people he specifically looked for, such as Marc Chagall, already housed by Harry Bingham, a Jewish US consulate official so he starts screening less obvious candidates and examines with Miriam Davenport and a German social democrat they pass for US clergyman Beamish how some can be rescued legally, others via a clandestine route, while colonel Joubert's State Police is at their trace...

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | artist | two word title | apostrophe in title | world war two | 

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Taglines:

He changed the world forever. One person at a time. The true story of the American Schindler.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

UK USA Canada

Language:

English French German Italian

Release Date:

22 April 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Au service de la liberté

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ardent Productions,Ardglasson Productions,Barwood Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Near the beginning of the movie, Varian is holding the "Foreign Affairs" book differently depending on the camera angle.

User Reviews

Gripping story, well told...

This movie successfully takes one back to the dark days after the fall of France. Jews have escaped to Vichy (unoccupied, southern) France, where they are trapped as the puppet French government and Nazi forces prepare for deportations to concentration camps. (The construction of death camps still lay in the future....). Varian Fry is an American of conscience who goes to France in the days when the U.S. was still a neutral power to see if he can assist prominent Jewish intellectuals to get out and to the United States. This documentary tells the story of his actions, and the first group out. It is low-key, subtle, but gripping in a very human way.... It truly takes one back into a time when good and evil not only coexisted, but shook hands, exchanged pleasantries, dined together, and smiled across the abyss at each other's visage.... Put this on your 'must see' list -- and take the kids, too!