Carl Jaffe Movies

Norman Jewison's adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical is set in the Ukranian ghetto village of Anatevka (the film was actually lensed in Yugoslavia). Israeli actor Topol repeats his London stage role as Tevye the milkman, whose equilibrium is constantly being challenged by his poverty, the prejudicial attitudes of non-Jews, and the romantic entanglements of his five daughters. Whenever the weight of the world becomes too much for him, Tevye carries on lengthy conversations with God, who does not answer but is at least more willing to listen than the milkman's remonstrative wife Golde. After arranging a marriage between his oldest daughter Tzeitel and wealthy butcher Lazar Wolf, Tevye is forced to do some quick rearranging when the girl falls in love with poor tailor Motel Kamzoil. Fancying himself more broad-minded than his gentile oppressors, Tevye cannot accept the notion that his other daughter Chava would want to marry Fyedka, a non-Jew. And after shouting the praises of "tradition," Tevye must change his tune-and his entire life-when he and his neighbors are forced out of Anatevka by the Czar's minions. Topol's co-stars include Norma Crane as Golde, Yiddish theater legend Molly Picon as Yente the matchmaker, and Leonard Frey as Motel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this espionage thriller, Dan Slater (Yul Brynner) is a CIA agent who travels to Austria after his son dies in a skiiing mishap. Slater begins to suspect that his son's death wasn't an accident and begins investigating the matter on his own. Slater finds that fellow agent Frank Wheatley (Clive Revill) is of little help to him. Beautiful Gina (Britt Ekland), the companion of prominent socialite Mrs. Carrington (Moira Lister), then slowly draws Slater into her web. In time, he discovers that his son's death was all part of a diabolical plan to lure him to Austria; Soviet agents led by Bethold (Anton Diffring) have performed extensive plastic surgery on one of their top spies until he's identical to Slater, and they intend to send him back in Slater's place, giving them an insider at the highest levels of U.S. intelligence. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A bomb planted in a maternity home must be defused by an injured bomb-disposal expert and some volunteers. ~ Rovi

Placed in command of France's Chateau de la Marre district in 1944, sadistic Nazi general Guenther Hautmann (Andrew Morell) prepares to ship all of the locals to work camps. First, however, he perversely throws the unfortunates a lavish party in a luxurious chateau, the site of a similar celebration held in 1723 by a despotic landowner. Hautmann even goes to great lengths to recreate the original party, down to the tiniest detail. But the guests who show up for the festivities are definitely not on the General's invitation list. This is one of several One Step Beyond episodes filmed in England. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the covert operations at the beginning of World War II is enacted in this fast-paced docudrama about a government-approved diamond heist. A Major from the British army (Tony Britton) joins up with a Dutch diamond expert (Alexander Knox) and another adventurous Dutchman (Peter Finch) to steal a fortune in diamonds from a bank vault in Amsterdam before the Nazis completely close off the city. The trio are launched under the covering fire of a British battleship in the harbor and then chauffeured into Amsterdam by Anna (Eva Bartok), one of many people they encounter who could be either friend or foe. There is no time to waste in emptying the bank vault because it is estimated that the city will be overrun by the Nazi army in just fourteen hours. Meanwhile, the war is intensifying all around them, and the Nazi soldiers already on patrol are a continual threat. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Berlin provides the backdrop for this crime drama that centers on a military doctor falsely accused of dealing illegal drugs. Determined to prove his innocence, he escapes from the MPs and ends up holing up in the apartment his wife rented. He doesn't know that she has sublet the flat to a nightclub singer. When he finds out, he begs the singer to assist him. She is attracted to him and agrees. The doctor believes that his wife is behind the black-market dealings, but in the end, they find the real culprit. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The still-controversial L'Affair Dreyfuss of the late 19th century is the focal point of I Accuse! Jose Ferrer (who also directed) stars as French Army captain Alfred Dreyfus, who is chosen as the fall guy for a major military scandal for no other discernable reason than his Jewishness. Wrongly accused of treason, Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and shipped off to Devil's Island. Friends and family members, bolstered by the support of novelist Emile Zola (Emlyn Williams), force a retrial, to no avail. When their mistake and subsequent coverup is revealed, the Army tries to save face by offering Dreyfuss a pardon, even though they will not rescind their accusation of treason. Left with no alternatives, Dreyfuss accepts, returning to France in disgrace. Only the confession of the genuine traitor enables Dreyfuss to clear his name and have his rank restored. Many of the facts of the case that had been glossed over for legal reasons in 1937's Life of Emile Zola are herein presented on film for the first time. The screenplay for I Accuse! was adapted from the Nicholas Haasz' book by Gore Vidal, who manages to make several allusions to America's own McCarthy-era "witch hunts". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Unseen Heroes, along with Missiles from Hell, represented the US titles of the British The Battle of the V1. Set in wartime Poland, the film involves the secret Nazi missile installation at Peenemunde. British guerilla fighter Michael Rennie leads a group of Polish partisans on a mission to destroy the base and cripple the German war effort. The basic storyline is a good one, though it is muddied by several arbitrary plot transitions. Further undermining Unseen Heroes is the editing, which at times seems to have been accomplished with a paper shredder. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a story by prolific if uninspired sci-fi writer Charles Eric Maine, The Atomic Man stars Peter Arne in the title role. Fished out of the Thames with a bullet in his back, Arne is discovered to be highly radioactive. He turns out to be a missing atomic scientist, whose exposure to radioactive substances, coupled with his brush with death, has endowed him with remarkable prognostic powers (the script explains that he's living 7 1/2 seconds into the future!) With the help of snoopy reporter Gene Nelson, Arne exposes a plot hatched by evil tungsten magnate Vic Perry. Atomic Man was released in Great Britain as Timeslip. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The topicality of Satellite in the Sky enabled the British-based Danzinger Bros. to release the film through Warner Bros., rather than their usual United Artists distribution channels. The story concerns the first manned space satellite, launched from England with commander Michael Hayden (Kieron Moore) at the controls. It is the mission of Hayden and his crew to test out the deadly "tritonium" bomb in outer space. Once he's left the atmosphere, Hayden discovers that he's been harboring a stowaway: reporter and anti-weapons activist Kim Hamilton (Lois Maxwell). Everyone's life is placed in peril when the bomb affixes itself to the side of the satellite. As tension mounts, the crew -- and Kim -- race against time to either remove or defuse the tick-tick-ticking weapon. Satellite in the Sky represented documentary filmmaker Paul Dickson's first fictional effort; like most other directors, Dickson was unable to curb the overacting of the venerable Donald Wolfit, here cast as the near-maniacal creator of the tritonium bomb. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this crime drama, two WW II veterans become fugitives from the police after one of them kills a man during a fight. A friendly reporter offers them sanctuary aboard her boat, but one of the two is so flighty he is almost psychotic. His erratic actions attract too much attention and during a fight with police he is killed causing his cohort to surrender. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A tired-looking Tom Conway plays a private detective who is framed for murder. Eva Bartok, the head of a smuggling, has arranged the frameup. Eva is herself "set up" by the actual killer, unreconstructed Nazi Robert Adair. At this point, Bartok belatedly sides with Conway. Only one of the three above-mentioned actors is still alive at fadeout time: guess which one. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a novel by Martin Albrand, Desperate Moment is set in postwar Germany. Simon van Halder (Dirk Bogarde) serving a life term for murder, escapes to prove innocence. After linking up with his girlfriend Anna de Burgh (Mai Zetterling), Simon relates, in flashback, the events leading up to his current dilemma. He also explains why he initially confessed to the crime. To tell more would be to tell all. It's rather enjoyable to watch the hero and heroine outwitting both British and German authorities, who aren't depicted as stupid, simply not equipped for so resourceful a fugitive. Billed at the bottom of the cast list, Theodore Bikel has a pivotal role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi