THE ODESSA FILE [1974 / 2018] [Limited Edition] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
A Gripping Puzzle of Pursuit and Escape! This Movie Will Startle You!
Hamburg 1963. German journalist Jon Voight [‘Midnight Cowboy,’ ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Coming Home’] finds himself in possession of a diary detailing the unspeakable crimes of cruelty, torture and mass murder perpetrated by an SS captain, now veiled as a top industrialist. Ronal Neame’s compelling mix of conspiracy thriller and action-adventure, adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s bestseller, is a fine addition to the post-war spy thriller genre, and features an outstanding performance from Jon Voight and glorious location photographed by the great cinematographer Oswald Morris.
FILM FACT: Filming was done on location in Hamburg, Germany; Salzburg, Austria; Heidelberg, Germany; Munich, Germany; at Pinewood Studios, England; and the Bavaria Filmstudios in Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany. It was filmed with Panavision equipment, produced with Eastmancolor technologies. The film's title song, "Christmas Dream" is sung by Perry Como and the London Boy Singers.
Cast: Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Maria Schell, Mary Tamm, Derek Jacobi, Peter Jeffrey, Klaus Löwitsch, Kurt Meisel, Hannes Messemer, Garfield Morgan, Shmuel Rodensky, Ernst Schröder, Günter Strack, Noel Willman, Martin Brandt, Hans Caninenberg, Heinz Ehrenfreund, Alexander Golling, Towje Kleiner, Günter Meisner, Gunnar Möller, Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel, Christine Wodetzky, Werner Bruhns, Til Kiwe, Georg Marischka, Joachim Dietmar Mues, Hans Wyprächtiger, Cyril Shaps (Tauber's Voice), Alexander Allerson (uncredited), Walter Feuchtenberg (uncredited), Herbert Fux (uncredited), Michael Gahr (uncredited), Wolfgang Lukschy (uncredited), Miriam Mahler (uncredited), Henning Schlüter (uncredited) and Jean-Pierre Zola (uncredited)
Director: Ronald Neame
Producers: John R. Sloan and John Woolf
Screenplay: Frederick Forsyth (based on the novel), George Markstein (screenplay) and Kenneth Ross (screenplay)
Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Cinematographer: Oswald Morris, O.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.C., B.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision) (Anamorphic)
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 128 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Powerhouse Films / INDICATOR
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ [1974] is based on the true story of a freelance journalist, Peter Miller, [Jon Voight] who, purely by chance, ends up being involved in the search for a Nazi war criminal by the name of Eduard Roschmann [Maximilian Schell], also known as the “Butcher of Riga.”
By following an ambulance Peter Miller discovers that an elderly Jewish Holocaust survivor has committed suicide, leaving behind no family. Peter Miller eventually obtains the diary of the Jewish Holocaust survivor, through a contact at the police, which contains information on his life in the Riga ghetto during WWII, including the name of the SS officer who ran the camp, Eduard Roschmann.
Determined to hunt Eduard Roschmann down, Peter Miller consults with renowned Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal [Shmuel Rodensky] who informs him about ODESSA, a secret organisation dedicated to helping out former members of the SS. Miller is soon after approached by the Israeli intelligence service who recruit him to infiltrate the ODESSA. Things don’t quite go according to plan, leading to a cat and mouse sequence between Peter Miller and a hit-man and finally a powerful encounter between the good and of course evil, where sometimes we do not know who is good and who is evil.
The acting on offer here is also of high calibre from an impressive array of excellent actors. Jon Voight is especially good, as is also Maximilian Schell as his Nazi foil during the film’s tense last act. In fact, the film positively oozes tension in a few sections, especially during the sequence where Peter Miller senses that something is amiss at a printer’s and first sees the hit-man waiting to ambush him.
Also of note about the film’s musical score, which was composed by none other than musical legend that is Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, with his frequent musical partner, Tim Rice, who was also on hand to compose the opening film title song, which seems to have no relevance to the overall theme of the film, very strange. ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ remains a thought-provoking and a very impressive piece of Seventies film making and certainly worth a look, or a second one, whether or not you have seen the film or not, so check it out if you are interested, because you will not be at all disappointed, despite the nasty negative comments by the film critics at the time of the release of the film.
THE ODESSA FILE MUSIC TRACK LIST
CHRISTMAS DREAM (Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber) (Lyrics by Tim Rice) (English) and André Heller (German) [Sung by Perry Como and the London Boy Singers]
SCHWARZBRAUNIST DIE HASELNUSS ("Black Brown is the hazelnut") (Traditional) (uncredited) [Sung at the soldier’s reunion]
Blu-ray Image Quality – Powerhouse Films + INDICATOR with the cooperation of Columbia Pictures, gives you the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ with a totally remarkable 1080p image presentation and of course it is enhanced with a wonderful 2.39:1 aspect ratio and at the same time in every aspect and really showcasing Oswald Morris's awesome professional cinematography. The image contrast is totally spot on, and especially with its robust black levels and shadow detail, while the colour is vibrant without feeling over-saturated and the sharpness and picture detail are consistently strong. Powerhouse Films + INDICATOR have put a vast amount remastering and in doing so there is of course no sign of any damage or dust and the image sits rigidly firm in frame. All in all this is really superb professional effort.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Powerhouse Films + INDICATOR with the cooperation of Columbia Pictures, presents you the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ in the original 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio experience. Some say that there is a total lack of bass response with this audio track, I say the opposite and it still boasts an impressive clarity and dynamic audio range, which is especially evident in the bright and lively reproduction of the music film score. The Mono track has been fully remastered and it is easy to tell. But most of all the audio is very stable, clear, and properly balanced and there is not even a negative aspect of the dynamic instability. Andrew Lloyd Webber's music film score does have an important role to play as it helps the film's action dramatic intensity.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: The Guardian Interview with Director Ronald Neame [Audio only] [2003] [1080p] [2.39:1] [66:31] Here we have an exclusive archival audio recording of the award-winning filmmaker Ronald Neame in conversation with Matthew Sweet at National Film Theatre, London on the 19th October, 2003. The following audio presentation exhibits a range of technical problems which are to be expected from a recording of its age and type. Abrupt dropouts in the source recording have been left intact, especially with its importance as a unique archival document that makes its inclusion here very essential and they hope you agree, as it is a totally fascinating and very interesting interview with the director Ronald Neame and again he himself is far more entertaining than this might suggest, recalling his entry into the film business, his first film job working for Alfred Hitchcock on ‘Blackmail,’ and how the decision to transform this into the first British sound film meant dubbing Anny Ondra's strong Czech accent live in the studio and how the noise made by the arc lights meant that the lighting and the sound departments were constantly at war on the film. Director Ronald Neame talks about his long career and working with the likes of actor Robert Donat who suffered from terrible bouts of asthma, to the point the filming had to be held up with the film ‘The Magic Box’ [1951] and working with John Boulting, and also discusses some of the way in which cinema has evolved, but for him personally, not for the better, especially he hated the fuck there is far too much expletive swearing. Ronald Neame also talks about the joy of working for Arthur Rank and how the studio went downhill fast once the accountants took over. Ronald Neame also reveals some fascinating and insightful anecdotes about working with Sir Alec Guinness, on Judy Garland on filming her last film in London and the very erratic performance of this Hollywood actress, who sadly passed away after the filming, had stopped. We also hear some fascinating information about trying to get Albert Finney to star in the film ‘Scrooge,’ who initially turned it down, so tried to get Rex Harrison on board and was keen to star as Scrooge, but then Albert Finney had finally read the script and was keen to be in the film, then Ronald Neame had to embarrassingly inform Rex Harrison that due to financial problems could not be the star in the film ‘Scrooge.’ Matthew Sweet, who asks some really good and interesting questions, but gushes a bit at the end by suggesting we all write to our MPs and ask why Ronald Neame hasn't received a knighthood? So all in all this was a totally fascinating and interesting interview, as well as experiencing some really laugh out moments in the working environment of Ronald Neame’s illustrious career in directing films. While you listen to the audio recording, you get the film running at the same time.
Special Feature: : The Guardian Interview with Cinematographer Oswald Morris [Audio only] [2006] [1080p] [2.39:1] [61:28] Here we have another exclusive archival audio recording of the celebrated cinematographer Oswald Morris, O.B.E., in conversation with Anwar Brett at the National Film Theatre on the 14th May, 2006. Once again, the following audio presentation exhibits a range of technical problems which are to be expected from a recording of its age and type. Abrupt dropouts in the source recording have been left intact, especially with its importance as a unique archival document that makes its inclusion here very essential and they hope you agree, as it is a totally fascinating and very interesting interview with the cinematographer Oswald Morris. Once again, this is a very lively and entertaining interview with this one of a kind cinematographer, with particular focus on the films Oswald Morris has photographed for the director John Huston. Subjects that Anwar Brett covered includes the long process of the casting for ‘The Man Who Would Be King.’ The prep work for creating a specific colour design for ‘Moulin Rouge,’ and tells a very amusing story about the use of Technicolor for this film and how John Houston praised Oswald Morris for his amazing cinematography work and the specific use of Technicolor in getting the right balance, but to add insult to injury, other people were praised for the Technicolor work on the film and as you can imagine Oswald Morris was not pleased when he heard this news. Oswald Morris was asked whether he liked filming on location or in the studio and goes into great detail on why he prefers to film in the studio, as you have more creative control on the environment. Oswald Morris talks in detail about designing a specific look for the Sidney Lumet's film ‘The Hill’ in black-and-white and goes into great technical detail on how obtained the look of the film in getting the black-and-white image to look as though the film was filmed in very high temperatures. Oswald Morris talks in great detail about the wonderful time in filming ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and especially the technical detail about how he attained in getting the right colour texture for the film, that the director Norman Jewison gave great praise for his work on the film and of course was equally pleased when he won an Oscar for his Cinematography. Oswald Morris goes into great technical detail of how he got the colour balance for the film ‘Moby Dick.’ Shooting the film ‘Lolita’ for director Stanley Kubrick, who as a director Oswald Morris really admired but would not at any cost have worked with Stanley Kubrick again and he is not the only Director apparently he would not be involved in working for and to find out who they are, you will have to listen to this audio interview. I was particularly amused and interested to hear that director Carol Reed really detested musicals, and only took on the challenge of filming ‘Oliver!’ because he liked working with child actors and on the big musical numbers in the film, Oswald Morris claims director Carol Reed was totally "impossible" and extremely frustrating. Near the end of the interview, Oswald Morris goes back to talking about the director John Houston and giving him great praise and was a joy to work with him, but also goes back to the filming of ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ and at the time John Houston was not a well man, as he was suffering seriously from emphysema and on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve there was a break of filming and they went to John Houston’s room and found him all alone, as he had marriage problems, reading books and they felt he looked like a very lonely man, but when it came to working with actors, they got on well together and whatever John Houston asked them to do, they were willing to do whatever he asked of them. So once again, this was another totally fascinating and interesting interview, and once again experiencing some really laugh out moments in Oswald Morris’s illustrious career in cinematography and his also fascinating anecdotes on working in films. While you listen to the audio recording, you get the film running at the same time.
Special Feature: Safe But Real [2018] [1080p] [1.78:1/2.39:1] [2:31] Here we have a brand new exclusive interview with stuntman Vic Armstrong, who recalls working on the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ and doubling for Jon Voight for the underground train stunt sequence. Vic Armstrong talks about the Stunt Coordinator Joe Powell (1922 – 2016), who died aged 94, and was known as the “daddy of British stuntmen” for the gut-wrenchingly high-risk feats he performed in classic films, who Vic Armstrong says was a fantastic guy and was decorated in the Second World War, and Vic Armstrong says he learnt a hell of a lot with stunts from Joe Powell. Watching the sequence again, I could swear it was Jon Voigt rolling under the underground platform as the train approaches and if you do a freeze frame on that particular scene sequence and seems to confirm that is was definitely stuntman Vic Armstrong doubling us as Jon Voight. Either way, it was a very dangerous move that you had to do for real back then, and as Vic Armstrong points out, with modern day CGI at every filmmaker's disposal today, which was not available in 1974, they would not contemplate the same stunt today and of course that one particular scene in the film is the one everyone talks about. Vic Armstrong talks about the fantastic time he had in Germany and the scenes with the black Mercedes car was driven by Vic Armstrong and on top of all that, it was Vic Armstrong’s first trip to Hamburg. Sadly this is very short special feature and it would have been nice to hear more anecdotes from Vic Armstrong and his involvement with the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE,’ despite this, it was still a very fascinating special feature.
Special Feature: Foreign Friends [2018] [1080p] [1.78:1/2.39:1] [6:17] Here have another brand new exclusive interviews with continuity supervisor Elaine Schreyeck, talks about her work on the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE.’ Elaine Schreyeck recalls meeting for the first time director Ronald Neame (1911 – 2010), was invited to work on the film ‘Scrooge’ (1970) that starred Albert Finney, whom Elaine Schreyeck loved working with director Ronald Neame, and despite being a perfectionist, he was still a joy to work with and at the time became good friends, and especially working with the director on the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE,’ where they were based in Munich, but they also did some work in Hamburg and Elaine Schreyeck informs us how well they got on with the German crew members, especially as they had a six week schedule of filming all together and it was a very happy unit. Another person Elaine Schreyeck enjoyed working with was production Supervisor Pia Arnold. Elaine Schreyeck also talks about the actor Maximilian Schell who informs us that he was quite a character and when they had finished their six week filming schedule, Maximilian Schell informed Elaine that he was off to direct a film in Switzerland and Jon Voight recommended that Elaine should work on his film and Elaine did eventually follow Maximilian Schell to Switzerland to work on the film ‘The End Of The Game’ [1975] that starred Robert Shaw, Donald Sutherland and Jon Voight. Another person Elaine enjoyed working with was Derek Jacobi and despite being mainly a stage actor did a very good job with his part in the film. But one this Elaine enjoyed working on the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ is that she made a lot of very nice German friends and after the interview, Elaine was off to Germany to meet up with some of her good friends that are still alive from meeting them in 1974 and at the same time is celebrating someone’s 80th Birthday.
Special Feature: Super 8 Version [1975] [480i] [1.37:1] [16:48] In the days before the home video formats, original cut-down Super 8mm versions of popular films were produced for audiences to enjoy in the comfort of their own homes. The following Super 8mm presentation of ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ has had the running time reduced to an eighth of its original length, but at the same time the quality is absolutely atrocious and of course it is a really badly panned and scanned compared to its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio. So if you were like the many people at the time that owned this film in the Super 8mm version, and probably at the same time will be totally mystified and confused in wondering at the time what the hell you were watching. I was so glad and pleased when the Super 8mm format died the death.
Theatrical Trailer [1974] [1080i] [1.78:1] [2:01] This the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ and what a shame it was not shown in the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio.
Special Feature: Image Gallery: Here we get to view 19 images of Original Black-and-White and Colour Promotional Material that includes publicity stills, posters and press material, and even a photograph of the 45rpm single of the German folk song-influenced tune “Christmas Dream” that runs at the same time with the film's opening credits, which was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and Andre Heller, and sung by Perry Como. Note: This one I will not be purchasing for sure. Use the right and left skip function arrows on your remote control to navigate the image gallery. Press MENU or TOP MENU to leave.
BONUS: Here we have is a really nice 48 page limited edition exclusive booklet with a new 2018 essay by Carmen Gray [is aFreelance Film Critic, Journalist and Curator] entitled THE ODESSA FILM, which is an overview of contemporary critical responses and historic articles on the film. Next up we also have another new 2018 essay by Dr. Keith M. Johnson [is a Reader in Film & Television Studies at the University of East Anglia] entitled THE COLOURS OF THE PAST. Next we have another 2003 essay entitled RONALD NEAME ON THE ODESSA FILE that describes the production technicalities of the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE.’ We also get an essay entitled CRITICAL RESPONSE on the negative comments about the film THE ODESSA FILE.’ We also ge to read ABOUT THE PRESENTATION; SPECIAL THANKS; ACKNOWLEGMENTS and INDICATOR CREDITS. Last but not least, we get a plethora of wonderful black-and white publicity images and a film poster from the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE.’
Finally, with the film ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ I am not sure I agree with the negative critics, who slatted this film, as I think it is a very underrated and too often forgotten gem from the 1970s. It's safe to say that I enjoyed in more than I did back when I was first saw it in the cinema, because I would say the film is "workmanlike" rather than "exciting" or "enthralling." Also throughout the film there are some good action packed edge of your seat moments and I cannot fault its presentation on this excellent Blu-ray, because the transfer is immaculate and is backed by a strong collection of special features to keep you well entertained and of course the bonus of the brilliant 48 booklet that has massive amount of information on the film. If you're a fan of the film, you need to get this Blu-ray disc, and if you are new to it then this is definitely the way to see ‘THE ODESSA FILE’ film first. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
