The Man in the Glass Booth [1975] dir Arthur Hiller

The Man in the Glass Booth (1975)


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073345/

The Man in the Glass Booth is a 1975 American drama film directed by Arthur Hiller. It was adapted from the novel and stage play of the same name by Robert Shaw.

Maximilian Schell ... Arthur Goldman
Lois Nettleton ... Miriam Rosen
Lawrence Pressman ... Charlie Cohn
Luther Adler ... Presiding Judge
Lloyd Bochner ... Churchill
Robert H. Harris ... Dr. Weisberg
Henry Brown ... Jack Arnold
Norbert Schiller ... Dr. Schmidt
Berry Kroeger ... Joachim Berger
Leonardo Cimino ... Dr. Alvarez
Connie Sawyer ... Mrs. Levi
Leonidas Ossetynski ... Samuel
David Nash ... Rami
Martin Berman ... Uri
Richard Rasof ... Moshe

The plot was inspired by actual events surrounding the kidnapping and trial of Adolf Eichmann. Arthur Goldman is Jewish and a Nazi death camp survivor. Now a rich industrialist, he lives in luxury in a Manhattan high-rise. He banters with his assistant Charlie, often shocking him with his outrageousness and irreverence about aspects of Jewish life. One day, Israeli secret agents burst in and kidnap Goldman and take him to Israel for trial on charges of being a Nazi war criminal. Goldman's trial forces his accusers to face not only his presumed guilt, but their own as well.

Academy Awards, USA
1976 Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Leading Role Maximilian Schell

Golden Globes, USA
1976 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama Maximilian Schell

Writers Guild of America, USA
1976 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Edward Anhalt

Describing the play as an “intellectual thriller”, Arthur Hiller says the play was re-written for the screen by AFT script-editor Edward Anhalt in order to give it more emotional charge. He talks about Shaw’s dislike of the screenplay and his decision to remove his name from anywhere on the credits, but claims that Shaw changed his mind when he saw the finished film.