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"QB VII" (1974)

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
The verdict is in...., 14 April 2003
Author: Poseidon-3 from Cincinnati, OH

The lives of two men, vastly different in their beliefs and in their lifestyles, come head to head in this sprawling mini-series, the first, in fact, of the "television events" that had their heyday in the 1970's and early 1980's. This one was based on a novel by (and real life event in the life of) Leon Uris. Hopkins plays a doctor and former concentration camp prisoner who, while in captivity, was compelled to aid the Nazis in operations related to their horrific human experiments. He is briefly charged with willing compliance in war atrocities, but is found innocent. He then takes his wife (Caron) and baby boy to Kuwait where he works tirelessly to make a difference in the world of the less fortunate. Eventually, he is knighted for his efforts. Meanwhile, Gazzara plays an American Jew who volunteers in the RAF and is gunned down. He courts his nurse (Mills), eventually marrying her, and becomes a celebrated writer. Before long, he is a jaded, wealthy hack who cheats on Mills and lives at odds with his heritage. Eventually, though, he finds that he is compelled to write about the Holocaust and when he does, his reference to Hopkins in the book sparks a libel suit from the now-decorated doctor. The climax of the film is a tense and agonizing court trial at Queen's Bench Seven (hence, the title) as Gazzara tries to prove that Hopkins is guilty while Hopkins strives to keep his name clean. This film set the pace for all mini-series to come (until budgets and tastes changed in the 1990's) and contains many of the characteristics which would mark the format (episodic story arcs, endless star cameos, dubious age make-up, etc...) The story takes a looonnng time to pick up speed with sporadically interesting periods done in by the common (at the time) practice of setting each scene with excruciating shots of buildings, cars pulling up, characters walking to buildings, etc... while Jerry Goldsmith's "Exodus"-flavored score blares and a hopelessly campy narrator butts in. There is, however, some good location work throughout. Fortunately, once the pre-history of the men is finally established, the courtroom scenes make up for the tedium and soapiness of the early sections. Hopkins is wonderful. He invests the character with a wealth of expression and mystery, especially as the case wears on. Gazzara is often wooden, but comes across nicely several times. Caron gets very little to do except fret under layers of age make-up and a grey wig. Mills won an Emmy for her sensitive, appealing work. The film gets a huge shot of class and talent from the excellent Remick (though her role peters out as the film continues) and from the appearances of several renowned British character actors, notably Quayle and Evans. It's a memorable mini-series due to the striking nature of the case, it's place in TV history and the work of Hopkins and a few others. Some of the sequences alluded to and shown are just as unsettling and horrifying in today's "seen-it-all" world as they must have been in 1974, with the tour of the actual camp and the visit to a Holocaust memorial particularly vivid (even if the same cheesy narrator of the mini-series is used, with an accent, to narrate the memorial's documentary!!) Many viewers will be put off by the pace of the scenes in the mid-section, but those who stick with it will find value in the courtroom climax.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Hard to find but well worth looking for,..., 19 July 2005

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

This was a fascinating mini-series based on the Leon Uris novel of the same name, and it helped to launch the mini-series genre. It is VERY fortunate that the producers were able to get such gifted stars as Ben Gazzara and Anthony Hopkins for the leads. Writing, acting, music and exotic locales make this a must-see.

The plot is based on a real-life lawsuit against Uris following the publication of his novel EXODUS. Dr. Adam Kelno is a very well-respected medical doctor who was knighted for his humanitarian work. However, the writer Abe Cady writes a novel that names Kelno, among others, as having committed was crimes while working for the Nazis many years earlier. The central questions of the series are DID Kelno work for the Nazis and IF he did, was he the benevolent man he claims to have been or a monster who was NOT forced to commit atrocities.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
courtroom drama as only the Brits can do, 19 May 2001
Author: (sailor7sam@aol.com) from maryland usa

A saintly doctor, Kelno (Anthony Hopkins) is accused of being a collobroator with the nazis by a Jewish writer, Cady (Ben Gazzara), and the two 'duel' in a courtroom, Queens Bench VII (hence the title). Kelno stoutly defends his character but the past catches up to him. I wish the movie could have explored how Dr Kelno--clearly a morally admirable doctor, helping the poor and defying the powerful--changed; or was he always a saint...except when dealing with the Jews? The opposing counsels, played by John Gielgud and Anthony Quayle, are the show. Frankly, I fast forwarded through the first half to watch the courtroom part, which is superb, very British, elegant and fascinating, especially as the Anthony Quayle barrister finally pins down the frantic Kelno, while Kelno's lawyer watches helplessly ("My Lord...!") Highly recommended. A terrific slap at communists early ('You spoke well of Dr --.' 'That was before he defected. Now I say he is guilty'. 'Guilty of what?' 'Of whatever you are charging him with.')

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
First Rate Entertainment, 27 January 1999
Author: Robert Grant from Calgary, Canada

Strong acting and a blistering courtroom drama unfold in this six hour mini-series.

Ben Gazzara and Anthony Hopkins are fantastic and the make-up job on Anthony Hopkins is phenomenal as the artist has him look the way he does now and the show is 25 years old.

Very good entertainment that moves along at a rapid pace.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A flawed but important film., 4 September 2005

Author: urbisoler-1 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I write this from a distance of 31 years after the fact. Time colors ones perspective. Anthony Hopkins is one of my all time favorite actors and I hated to see him as one of the doctors who experimented horrifically on Jewish patients. Nevertheless, it is a part designed for at least an Emmy nomination and I feel that Hopkins deserved one. Is it remotely possible that he was deliberately overlooked BECAUSE of the part he played? Perhaps. I would liked to have given the film a higher rating but feel it was sufficiently flawed to justify the 7 I gave it. Here are my reasons for doing so. 1. Abe Cady was an SOB throughout most of Part 1. His father dies and a single visit to bury his father in Israel changes his entire persona virtually overnight. It does not ring true. 2. Samantha Cady is the good guy in this and she is totally abandoned by her husband, son and the filmmakers; a fate she does not deserve. It is as if she were put in the film simply to produce a son who deserts his mother and is destined to die as punishment for Abe's early transgressions. 3. The important parts of the film are the trial sequences, a fair portion of which was devoted to exposing Jewish atrocities which had nothing to do with Cady's charges against Adam Kelno. 4. Unless I am mistaken, there was a point where Chief Justice Gilroy (Jack Hawkins) allows testimony subject to later connection which connection was never made. 5. I fail to understand why the Polish woman(?) revealed to Abe Cady the name of the man she loved who was in possession of a record that would destroy Kelno. 6. Unless I am mistaken, David Shawcross, Cady's lawyer played by Dan O'Herlihy, is only made aware of those records at the final moment in the trial and yet, is suddenly so thoroughly familiar with it that he is able to destroy Kelno's credibility point by point in the most dramatic sequence in the film. I suspect that if I had read the Leon Uris book, I would have given the film an even lower rating.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant drama of Nazi war crimes trial, 7 June 2002

Author: the55tan from Burbank, CA

My first discovery of astonishing acting by Anthony Hopkins, still memorable after 25+ years. Riveting plot with twists and turns and dogged detective work by the Ben Gazzara character. Not sure where you can find it these days, but if you run across it, you won't be disappointed.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Outstanding land-breaking series, 30 April 2007

Author: canuckteach from Ontario

This was a land-breaking mini-series -- fine actors, quality cinematography, and superb production values. Anthony Quayle, Ben Gazzara, Jack Hawkins, Lee Remick and Anthony Hopkins are outstanding. TV was challenging the Hollywood film industry at the time in producing serious extended drama, and this time they scored. Note that some real survivors of the Holocaust (the actual atrocities of the real-life doctor on which the story is based) appeared in minor parts. Jack Hawkins had undergone surgery on his throat, and played his role struggling with a disability. Also, some extended courtroom dialog was shot in one take, since the actors (most notably Anthony Quayle) were so pumped about the roles they were playing.

Many may have forgotten this outstanding (early) performance (as the hapless Adam Kelno) by Anthony Hopkins (who just doesn't seem to age!), who also appeared in a fine mini-series in this era about the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Hopkins played Bruno Hauptmann, the man who was convicted for the kidnapping and murder.

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