What with 1966's The Quiller Memorandum, 1970's The Kremlin Letter, and 1972's The Salzburg Connection, it was only a matter of time before a film came along with "The something-or-other File" for its title. The Odessa File duly obliged, a 1974 Ronald Neame-directed thriller, based on a powerful bestseller by Frederick Forsyth. At 123 minutes or thereabouts, the film is decidedly a bit overlong but it still has its share of tauts moments, and a particularly horrible villain in the shape of Maximilian Schell, to help the time along.
Young German reporter Peter Miller (Voight) is given the memoirs of a Jewish suicide victim. He takes the memoirs home and reads them. What he comes across is a terrifying and thoroughly disturbing account of the conditions and dangers faced by prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp. Contained within the memoirs are descriptions of outrageous atrocities committed by the psychotic camp commandant Eduard "The Butcher" Roschmann (Schell). Traumatically affected by what he has read, Peter goes undercover in an attempt to find The Butcher, but he must first find a way of infiltrating the ultra-secret Neo-Nazi organisation "Odessa" in order to pinpoint the whereabouts of his despicable quarry.
The black-and-white sequences set during the war years and detailing Roschmann's appalling actions are powerful and provocative indeed. Other outstanding sequences include Voight's nerve-wracking cross interrogation at the hands of Noel Willman; an attempt on Voight's life in which he is pushed onto a train-track; a splendid tussle on a glass roof-top; and the electrifying final confrontation between Peter and The Butcher. In between these superb moments, the film all too often slows down to a crawl and in parts it gets mighty verbose too. Nowadays, the film might also appear dated (it is very much shot in the tried-and-trusted style of other '60s and '70s espionage thrillers). However, if these are the kind of movies you like you'll definitely like this one!
Young German reporter Peter Miller (Voight) is given the memoirs of a Jewish suicide victim. He takes the memoirs home and reads them. What he comes across is a terrifying and thoroughly disturbing account of the conditions and dangers faced by prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp. Contained within the memoirs are descriptions of outrageous atrocities committed by the psychotic camp commandant Eduard "The Butcher" Roschmann (Schell). Traumatically affected by what he has read, Peter goes undercover in an attempt to find The Butcher, but he must first find a way of infiltrating the ultra-secret Neo-Nazi organisation "Odessa" in order to pinpoint the whereabouts of his despicable quarry.
The black-and-white sequences set during the war years and detailing Roschmann's appalling actions are powerful and provocative indeed. Other outstanding sequences include Voight's nerve-wracking cross interrogation at the hands of Noel Willman; an attempt on Voight's life in which he is pushed onto a train-track; a splendid tussle on a glass roof-top; and the electrifying final confrontation between Peter and The Butcher. In between these superb moments, the film all too often slows down to a crawl and in parts it gets mighty verbose too. Nowadays, the film might also appear dated (it is very much shot in the tried-and-trusted style of other '60s and '70s espionage thrillers). However, if these are the kind of movies you like you'll definitely like this one!