"Holocaust" (1978) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

16 April 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Plot:

The saga of a Jewish family's struggle to survive the horror of Nazi Germany's systematic marginalization and extermination of their community.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Germany | Doctor | Lawyer | Anti Semitism

Awards:

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 14 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Tom Bell	...	Adolf Eichmann (2 episodes, 1978)
Joseph Bottoms	...	Rudi Weiss (2 episodes, 1978)
Tovah Feldshuh	...	Helena Slomova (2 episodes, 1978)
Rosemary Harris	...	Berta Palitz Weiss (2 episodes, 1978)
Tony Haygarth	...	Heinz Muller (2 episodes, 1978)
Michael Moriarty	...	Erik Dorf (2 episodes, 1978)
Deborah Norton	...	Marta Dorf (2 episodes, 1978)
George Rose	...	Lowy (2 episodes, 1978)
Robert Stephens	...	Uncle Kurt Dorf (2 episodes, 1978)
Meryl Streep	...	Inga Helms Weiss (2 episodes, 1978)
Sam Wanamaker	...	Moses Weiss (2 episodes, 1978)
David Warner	...	Heydrich (2 episodes, 1978)
Fritz Weaver	...	Dr. Josef Weiss (2 episodes, 1978)
James Woods	...	Karl Weiss (2 episodes, 1978)
John Bailey	...	Hans Frank (2 episodes, 1978)
Blanche Baker	...	Anna Weiss (2 episodes, 1978)
Michael Beck	...	Hans Helms (2 episodes, 1978)
Käte Jaenicke	...	Frau Lowy (2 episodes, 1978)
Charles Korvin	...	Dr. Kohn (2 episodes, 1978)
Stanley Lebor	...	Zalman (2 episodes, 1978)
Cyril Shaps	...	Weinberg (2 episodes, 1978)

(more)

Series Directed by
Marvin J. Chomsky		(2 episodes, 1978)

Series Writing credits
Gerald Green		(2 episodes, 1978)

Series Produced by
Pia Arnold	....	associate producer (2 episodes, 1978)
Robert Berger	....	producer (2 episodes, 1978)

Series Original Music by
Morton Gould		(unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Brian West		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Alan Heim		(unknown episodes)
Craig McKay		(unknown episodes)
Robert M. Reitano		(unknown episodes)
Stephen A. Rotter		(unknown episodes)
Brian Smedley-Aston		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
Geoffrey Johnson		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Design by
Theodor Harisch		(unknown episodes)
Wilfred Shingleton		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Hans Jürgen Kiebach		(unknown episodes)

Series Set Decoration by
Maxi Hareiter		(unknown episodes)

Series Costume Design by
Edith Almoslino		(unknown episodes)
Peggy Farrell		(unknown episodes)

Series Makeup Department
Hasso von Hugo	....	makeup department head (unknown episodes)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bruce S. Pustin	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Arbit Blatas	....	draughtsman: original titles (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
William S. Scharf	....	assistant sound editor (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Irving Rathner	....	negative cutter (unknown episodes)
Stephen A. Rotter	....	supervising editor (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Georg Eisler	....	artist: Karl's artwork (unknown episodes)
Leonhard Gmür	....	location manager (unknown episodes)
Dieter Limbek	....	co-location manager (unknown episodes)
Bruce S. Pustin	....	production executive (unknown episodes)
Marc H. Tanenbaum	....	script consultant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Titus Productions

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1978) (USA) (TV)
• Image Entertainment (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• RTV (1995) (Estonia) (TV)
• CBS Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Pictures (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Elephant Films (2009) (France) (all media)
• Future Film (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Hitlab (2009) (Russia) (DVD)
• Noble Entertainment (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Polyband (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Prisvídeo (2009) (Portugal) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

475 min | USA:420 min (DVD) (2008) | Finland:448 min (DVD) (2008)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2008) (DVD)

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company:

Titus Productions

Trivia:

So many people watched this mini-series in New York City when first broadcast, that when commercials were on, the local water pressure dropped due to so many people using their toilets at once.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In 1935 the family is talking about Hindenburg as if he was alive at the time. In fact, Hindenburg died on August 2, 1934.

Quotes:

Erik Dorf: Doctor, things won't get easier for you.
Dr. Josef Weiss: How much worse can they get? We're no longer citizens. We have no legal rights. Our property can be confiscated. I can't belong to a hospital. I can't get any drugs. In the name of *humanity*, what else can you do to us?
Erik Dorf: You mustn't come to me for help.
Dr. Josef Weiss: No appeal on the basis of past associations?
Erik Dorf: No appeal. I bear you no personal malice.
[Pauses]
Erik Dorf: Leave.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Seinfeld: The Bubble Boy (#4.7)" (1992)

Powerful educational tale of entire Holocaust

If you were only to see one movie, one television series in your life about the Holocaust (and you should see more), this would be it.

It is the most wide-ranging, most thorough examination of what happened to central and eastern Europe's Jews between 1935 and 1945. The series focuses not on one camp: but on several (Auschwitz, Theresienstadt, Buchenwald, Sobribor - and hear much of Maidenek, Dachau, and others). We see the creation and changes in the ghetto in Warsaw (and hear of the ghettos in Vilnius and elsewhere). We see the evolution in the methods of killing Jews - and why. We see what happened to those deemed defectives at yet another camp.

With two exceptions, I found the acting (by a truly stunning cast - from Nigel Hawthorne to Ian Holm, from James Woods to T.P. McKenna, from Meryl Streep to David Warner, from Rosemary Harris to Sam Wanamaker, from Fritz Weaver to Tovah Feldshuh, Robert Stephens to Deborah Norton, Michael Moriarty) superb - truly moving and powerful. The two exceptions were the daughter Anna and the son Rudy played by Joseph Bottoms. This may not be entirely their fault - their parts are so underwritten - conventional.

The fantastic aspect of this series is its scope - you really do have a grounding in the Holocaust that would serve you well reading any history, seeing any movies set in this time.

The downside is that as fine as the acting is, the series is split among the stories of six to eight people over the course of a decade - which inevitably limits how moved the audience is by the story of each. Thus, in contrast to say, Schindler's List or The Pianist, we are not living and breathing with one person and what happens to him - we do not know these characters THAT well.

I would also criticize the series as creating such one-sidedly virtuous characters in the victims. We are interested in a character in drama only to the extent that the person seems real and we can therefore wholly identify with this real breathing person. Although we do have some feeling of how James Woods' character is different from say, Joseph Bottoms', it isn't sufficient to move the drama to the greatest heights. Actors don't come better than those in this series - so I think it's really due to the nature of the series - the need to get it all in and move around all the different experiences. This better serves our education, but somewhat reduces the sense of having suffered with each individual.

This was a great and enormously expensive production. It is very worthwhile renting - and should be shown to everyone above say, the age of 12 (I'd say that a younger age is too susceptible to the horror). NBC is to be commended highly for having developed it. It's tremendous.