Martin Brandt Movies

This historical drama is the story of Jacob Paul von Grundling (Wolfgang Kieling) and his fluctuating, turbulent relationship with King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia (1713-1740). This period was one of wars and of intellectual debate and literary accomplishments. It is that setting that is embodied in Grundling, a professor of literature, history, and law, and a court historian of sorts. When King Friedrich Wilhelm I first comes to power, he dismisses Grundling from his university position in disagreement with his views. Grundling then writes a treatise against certain widely-held religious tenets that attracts the king's attention and his favor. Soon Grundling is back at court, parrying his wit and knowledge against his detractors -- though since he will not compromise on his strict ideals, his stays at court are punctuated with exiles or with disfavor. This up-and-down relationship with the king and the hardship it imposes on Grundling have inevitable bad effects: he begins to drink more heavily, vacillating back and forth on some of his ideals, but never giving up on them entirely. Since Grundling's very existence depends on the good will of the king, his viewpoints often put him in serious jeopardy -- and his fate will be determined by whether or not he can compromise either his beliefs or his intellectual acuity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Odessa File is set in Hamburg in the winter of 1963. Jon Voight plays Peter Miller, a German reporter who is investigating the whereabouts of missing Nazi war criminals. After reading the diary of a Holocaust survivor who has recently committed suicide, Miller goes on the trail of in-hiding SS officer Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell). The reporter finds his investigation blocked by members of a secretive group called Odessa. With the help of Israeli activists, Miller persists in his search. Schell's sister Maria also appears in The Odessa File as Miller's mother, the widow of a German soldier. Based on a nailbiting novel by Frederick Forsyth, The Odessa File is highlighted by the exquisitely Teutonic score of Andrew Lloyd Webber. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sal Mineo guest stars as Private Larry Kogan, who bears witness when Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) is trapped under a fallen beam during an enemy attack. Though he has plenty of time to pull Saunders out, Kogan panics and runs away--then reports to Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) that the sergeant has been killed. By episode's end, however, Kogan has experienced an epiphany, risking his own life by heading back into occupied territory to rescue Saunders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Irving Wallace, The Prize takes place in Stockholm, where several laureates gather to accept their Nobel Prizes. At first, the film concentrates on iconoclastic novelist Paul Newman, but he is temporarily shunted to the background when physics expert Edward G. Robinson is kidnaped and replaced by his wicked twin brother. The real Robinson is to be spirited behind the Iron Curtain, while the "fake" Robinson is to disrupt the awards ceremony with an anti-American tirade. Newman gets wind of the plot, and with the help of Swedish foreign office functionary Elke Sommer, he endeavors to rescue the real Robinson and expose the phony-who has yet another trick up his sleeve before the film is over. We'll go along with the fantastic plot convolutions of The Prize, provided we don't have to swallow the premise of another man's voice emanating from that familiar Eddie Robinson mug. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was the last film by director Stuart Heisler, and in his uneven output it was not one of the most memorable. The evil dictator (Richard Basehart) is shown to be very much involved with his love life, as though impotency and a severe Oedipal complex alone could account for his dominion over Germany and the insanity that led into World War II. Other characters in the top echelons make their way into and out of the story, including Heinrich Himmler (Rick Traeger), Joseph Goebbels (Martin Kosleck), and of course, Eva Braun (Marla Emo). Any viewers looking for an explanation of how the madness within Hitler related to his rise to power and his downfall, will best look elsewhere. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

After the end of World War II, the world gradually became aware of the full extent of the war crimes perpetrated by the Third Reich. In 1948, a series of trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, by an international tribunal, headed by American legal and military officials, with the intent of bringing to justice those guilty of crimes against humanity. However, by that time most of the major figures of the Nazi regime were either dead or long missing, and in the resulting legal proceedings American judges often found themselves confronting the question of how much responsibility someone held who had "just followed orders." Judgment at Nuremberg is a dramatized version of the proceedings at one of these trials, in which Judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) is overseeing the trials of four German judges -- most notably Dr. Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) and Emil Hahn (Werner Klemperer) -- accused of knowingly sentencing innocent men to death in collusion with the Nazis. Representing the defense is attorney Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell), while prosecuting the accused is U.S. Col. Tad Lawson (Richard Widmark). As the trial goes on, both the visiting Americans and their reluctant German hosts often find themselves facing the legacy of the war, and how both of their nations have been irrevocably changed by it. Judgment at Nuremberg also features notable supporting performances by Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, and Montgomery Clift. Originally written and produced as a play for television, the screen version of Judgment at Nuremberg was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, with Maximilian Schell and Abby Mann taking home Oscars for (respectively) Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide