The Fixer (1968)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

Bernard Malamud (novel)
Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 December 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

This is "The Fixer" who didn't know he had courage...until courage was all he had left.

Plot:

In Czarist Russia, unjustly jailed Jewish handyman tries to get out.

Plot Keywords:

Russia | 1910s | Pulitzer Prize Source | Child Murder | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Alan Bates	...	Yakov Bok
Dirk Bogarde	...	Bibikov
Georgia Brown	...	Marfa Golov
Hugh Griffith	...	Lebedev
Elizabeth Hartman	...	Zinaida
Ian Holm	...	Grubeshov
David Opatoshu	...	Latke
David Warner	...	Count Odoevsky
Carol White	...	Raisl
George Murcell	...	Deputy Warden
Murray Melvin	...	Priest
Peter Jeffrey	...	Berezhinsky
Michael Goodliffe	...	Ostrovsky
Thomas Heathcote	...	Proshko
Mike Pratt	...	Father Anastasy

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (1993) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:M (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Hungary

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Trivia:

Pg. 96 of Steve Martin's memoir ‘Born Standing Up’, relates a story in which Trumbo's daughter tells Martin: "He's got a screenplay due in four days and he hasn't started in yet." This is in reference to her father writing 'The Fixer' at the last minute.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lionpower from MGM (1967)

In these times of arrest without trial or evidence, this film strikes a chord.

I came home from work after working a 24 hour shift and turned on the TV to find something mindless to numb my brain (ready to do the same thing tomorrow), and turned on this film, I had to watch it to the end. The story is simple enough, its the tale of someone who is wrongly accused of a crime in order to satisfy someones higher political manifesto but there's an ageless quality to it. I'm not particularly clued up on films or politics, and certainly not a critic but I have to say that in these times of arrest without trial or evidence, this film strikes a chord. This film highlights some of the best and worst aspects inherent to human nature, a truly remarkable work.