Details

Release year: 1964

Storyline

A Jewish pawnbroker, victim of Nazi persecution, loses all faith in his fellow man until he realizes too late the tragedy of his actions.

Top credits

Directors

Sidney Lumet

Writers

Cast

Rod Steiger — Sol Nazerman
Geraldine Fitzgerald — Marilyn Birchfield
Brock Peters — Rodriguez
Jaime Sánchez — Jesus Ortiz

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Awards

0 wins & 1 nomination

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Did you know

• Richard Sylbert's set was deliberately designed to be a series of cages--wire meshes, bars, locks, alarms, etc.--to symbolize that even though Sol was no longer in a concentration camp, he was effectively still imprisoned by his memories.

• After the filmmakers appealed to the MPAA's appeals board to oppose censoring the film, it became the first US film to show a nude woman from the waist up and be granted a Production Code Seal. It was the first of a series of confrontations between filmmakers and the MPAA in the 1960s that would lead to the abandonment of the Code within five years, in favor of a ratings system.

• Thelma Oliver didn't realize until filming began that her nude scene would be shot with a full intent of being seen (nudity was usually done over the shoulder). She was highly upset about this but agreed to bare her breasts, thereby creating cinema history.