The Pawnbroker (1964) ( The Pawn broker )

The Pawnbroker (1964) (DVD) (*)

$24.99

Alternate Title: The Pawn broker
Screened, competed or awarded at:
BAFTA Awards
Berlin International Film Festival
Golden Globes
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital Stereo )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital Stereo )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
110 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1964 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Sidney Lumet

Written By:
Morton S. Fine
David Friedkin

Actors:
Rod Steiger ..... Sol Nazerman
Geraldine Fitzgerald ..... Marilyn Birchfield
Brock Peters ..... Rodriguez
Jaime Sánchez ..... Jesus Ortiz
Thelma Oliver ..... Ortiz' Girl
Marketa Kimbrell ..... Tessie
Baruch Lumet ..... Mendel
Juano Hernandez ..... Mr. Smith
Linda Geiser ..... Ruth
Nancy R. Pollock ..... Bertha
Raymond St. Jacques ..... Tangee
John McCurry ..... Buck
Ed Morehouse ..... Robinson
Eusebia Cosme ..... Mrs. Ortiz
Warren Finnerty ..... Savarese

Synopsis:

In a poor neighborhood of New York, the bitter and lonely Jewish pawnbroker Sol Nazerman is a survivor from Auschwitz that has no emotions or feelings. Sol lost his dearest family and friends in the war and his faith in God and belief in mankind. Now he only cares for money and is haunted by daydreams, actually flashbacks from the period of the concentration camp. Sol's assistant is the ambitious Latino Jesus Ortiz, who wants to learn with Sol how to run a business of his own. When Sol realizes that the obscure laundry business he has with the powerful gangster Rodriguez comes also from brothels, Sol recalls the fate of his beloved wife in the concentration camp and has a nervous breakdown. His attitude leads Jesus Ortiz to tragedy and Sol finds a way to cry.

This was one of the first films to deal with the effects of Nazi Germany's concentration camps on their survivors. Sol Nazerman, operator of a pawn shop, and a concentration camp survivor faces a horrid internal conflict. Being engulfed in a New York ghetto Environment, Sol suffers flashbacks. The flashbacks juxtapose concentration camp treatment with ghetto neighborhood treatment. Although, the flashbacks suffer several historical inaccuracies, the point is well made. His internal conflicts between submitting to the same injustices he and his family suffered or resisting the injustice a peak at the end of the film.

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

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 25 April, 2013.