The Man in the Glass Booth
Short description
Arthur Goldman lives comfortably in a Manhattan high-rise, a wealthy Jewish industrialist who trades barbs with his assistant Charlie and unsettles him with irreverent remarks about Jewish life. The routine ends when Israeli agents storm in and take Goldman into custody, accusing him of being a Nazi war criminal. He is brought to Israel to stand trial, where he turns the proceedings back on his accusers, forcing them to confront not only the question of his guilt but their own assumptions.
The film is a drama with thriller elements, directed by Arthur Hiller as the sixth of the seventeen features he made, between Plaza Suite and Silver Streak. Edward Anhalt wrote the screenplay, and Ely A. Landau produced for the American Film Theatre. Maximilian Schell plays Goldman, heading a cast that includes Lois Nettleton, Lawrence Pressman, Luther Adler, Lloyd Bochner and Robert H. Harris.
Released in January 1975 and running just under two hours, the film draws a solid response on IMDb, where a rating of 7 out of 10 comes from around 1,800 votes. On TMDB the same title sits lower, at 6.1 from a much smaller pool of 29 ratings.
What's left behind the scenes
- Robert Shaw (1927-1978) was dissatisfied with how Edward Anhalt (1914-2000) adapted his 1967 novel of the same name for the screen and demanded that his name be removed from the credits.
- This film became part of the 'American Film Theatre' series, a kind of marketing experiment for films (all based on plays) that otherwise would not have been funded. These films were not released in wide distribution, and tickets could only be purchased by subscribers to the 'American Film Theatre' series. Thus, theatrical screenings were available to only a strictly limited number of viewers. To attract potential subscribers, they were assured that none of the films would be broadcast on television or shown to the general public. The film was finally released on DVD in 2003. The experiment itself lasted only two years.
- The play that served as the literary source for the screenplay, as well as this adaptation, were inspired by the abduction and subsequent trial of Adolf Eichmann (1906-1962), which in turn became the subject of a separate documentary—Michael Prasadan's 'The Trial of Adolf Eichmann' (1997).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
