The Odessa File (1974)

The Odessa File is a 1974 British-German-American thriller film. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth and directed by Ronald Neame.

The film takes place in post-World War II Germany and is directed by Peter Miller, a journalist. It is about the quest to find SS officer Eduard Roschmann, who was responsible for the Jews killed at the end of World War II. Miller believes that an organization called Odessa is helping to hide Roschmann, and he embarks on a dangerous journey to expose the organization.

The movie features such famous actors as Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell and Maria Schell. The film received positive reviews from critics and had a successful box office performance. They also collaborated with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice for the soundtrack.

The plot of The Odessa File takes place in post-World War II Germany and is about the search of journalist Peter Miller to find SS officer Eduard Roschmann.

Miller gets the diary of a Jewish man killed in Nazi concentration camps. The diary shows where Roschmann was at the time of the murder of the Jews. Miller conducts research to find out if Roschmann is alive and believes that an organization called Odessa is helping to hide Roschmann.

Miller embarks on a dangerous journey to find Roschmann and encounters many obstacles. But thanks to his determination, he eventually finds Roschmann and holds him to account.

The film tells the story of Nazi crimes in post-war Germany and those who tried to escape from these crimes. It also discusses how far a journalist can go to seek the truth.

In the meantime, there is some interesting information about the movie. We can list them as follows.
  • The film is based on the novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. The novel is inspired by true events and is about Odessa, an organization from which Nazi war criminals escaped.
  • The soundtrack of the film was composed by famous composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice. The duo would later collaborate on many musicals and soundtracks.
  • The movie stars Jon Voight in the lead role. Voight was trained by a journalist to pretend to be a real journalist before traveling to Germany during the filming of the movie.
  • The shooting of the movie was done in real locations. Many scenes of the movie were shot in German cities such as Hamburg, Bremen and Munich.
  • The film received positive reviews from critics and had a successful box office performance. Also, in the theaters where the movie is shown, a condition called "The Odessa File Syndrome" has occurred due to the fact that the audience sits silently and thinks at the end of the movie.
  • The title of the film comes from the name of the Odessa organization. Odessa is an organization that helps Nazi criminals escape after the Second World War. The name of the organization derives from the port of Odessa, which its members initially used to flee to Argentina.

Director : Ronald Neame
Writers : Frederick Forsyth (based on the novel by), Kenneth Ross (screenplay), George Markstein (screenplay)
Director of Photography : Oswald Morris
Music : Andrew Lloyd Webber
Production : 1974 - USA / UK / Germany - 130 m.
Genre : Dram / Thriller

CAST :
Jon Voight
Maximilian Schell
Maria Schell
Mary Tamm
Derek Jacobi
Peter Jeffrey

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