Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:Wow - now
that is a plot.
Is this film actually any good?
I don't like it. Olivier's performance is terrible, I feel and I say that as a huge fan of the man. He seems tired or jaded throughout the film and his accent is ropey at times. Peck's dyed hair, moutache and similarly ropey German accent are all pure camp, surely? Maybe not. Again, I greatly admire Peck but this one is phoned in on an Alex Bell prototype model. The tone of the film is really erratic, swinging from tight, serious, suspenseful thriller into seemingly unintentional absurdity. The production values are a bit out of tune at times, too, where early on you have what seems to be a glossy epic shot in astounding locations, ending up in bland working class housholds and Herchell Gordon Lewis quality fake blood everywhere. But it's an entertaining piece of shit, no doubt about it, but don't look at the cast be impressed
a priori, as these three titans of drama all show themselves up a fair bit. Recall Olivier in John Badham's
Dracula where he looks more like death than Langella, who looks positively radiant. The best performance comes from the child actor, Jeremy Black who plays multiple roles as the Hitler clones!
It's an odd film, with far too silly a premise considering the real history of Hitler and the Nazis.
The Producers aside, I'm not to keen on the Nazis being associated with silliness or sci-fi/horror. I think that with a bit of work, a better screenwriter could have made the whole story far more sinister and other directors would have reigned in Peck and Olivier towards better performances. Schaffner really seems to have lost his touch after
Papillon, which I think is a fine film with excellent performances. I'm a big fan of
Nicholas and Alexandra, too.
