US (1975): Drama

Actor/writer Robert Shaw's powerhouse stage play was transferred to the screen as part of the American Film Theatre series. Maximillian Schell plays Arthur Goldman, a Jewish businessmen living in Manhattan in 1965. A group of Israeli underground agents barge into Goldman's office and kidnap him. He is brought to Israel, placed in a bulletproof glass booth, and put on trial. His accusers charge that Goldman is not a Jew, but in fact a notorious Nazi war criminal, guilty of unspeakable crimes against humanity. At first protesting that he himself was a holocaust victim, he begins to revel in the notion that he is in fact the man the Israelis have been looking for. By the third act, Goldman has become a strident, "Sieg Heil"-ing Nazi. The play's shattering conclusion addresses a different kind of "guilt" than what Goldman has been accused of. Robert Shaw's name does not appear in the credits of The Man in the Glass Booth; he was so displeased with Edward Anhalt's screen adaptation that he had his name removed from the project. Arthur Hiller directs. The cast also features Lois Nettleton and Luther Adler. (Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)

 View a trailer for the DVD release of this film on YouTube.com.

1 nomination