The 25th Hour relates the misadventures of Johann Moritz (Anthony Quinn), a simple and innocent Romanian peasant, who is literally dragged out of his house during WWII and taken away from his gorgeous wife Suzanna (Virna Lisi) and two sons by forces he cannot comprehend.
A local police captain (Grégoire Aslan) who lusts after Suzanna includes Johann’s name on a list of local Jewish residents – even though Johann is Catholic – and he is sent to a forced labour camp for Jews.
Johann explains to the Kommandant that he is not Jewish while Suzanna tries unsuccessfully to get help from the authorities to rectify the mistake, but she is forced to divorce Johann in order to keep their house.
“For you, it’s an injustice,” he tells his fellow slave labourers, “for me, it’s a mistake.”
The hapless Johann finally escapes from the camp with a group of Jews but is captured again and sent to a concentration camp. The SS “race specialist” there (Marius Goring) realises there has been a mistake as Johann has the profile of the perfect Aryan and proclaims him the most perfect German discovered in 400 years.
Johann is subsequently freed and joins the SS and is unwittingly turned into a national hero in Nazi propaganda publications for having suffered the indignity of the Jewish label.
As the war ends, Johann – apolitical and an internal optimist – is captured by the Russians and thrown into prison until he is tried as a war criminal at Nuremberg and faces execution – only to be acquitted – with the help of his British defence counsel (Michael Redgrave) – because of the testimony of the Jewish friends whose lives he saved.
Filmed on location in Munich, Budapest and parts of Yugoslavia, The 25th Hour is one of the best anti-war films of all time. Quinn’s characterisation of the kindly, uneducated peasant is superb.
The Paris-Rome-Belgrade co-production in Metrocolor was packaged by Carlo Ponti with a screenplay by Henri Verneuil, Francois Boyer and Wolf Mankowitz.
Johann Moritz
Anthony Quinn Suzanna Moritz
Virna Lisi Dobresco
Grégoire Aslan Defence Lawyer
Michael Redgrave Strul
Marcel Dalio Sgt. Constantin
Jan Werich Isaac Nagy
Harold Goldblatt D.A.
Alexander Knox Father Koruga
Liam Redmond Abramovici
Meier Tzelniker Insp. Varga
Kenneth J. Warren Tribunal President
John Le Mesurier Trajan Koruga
Serge Reggiani Col. Greenfield
Robert Beatty Marcou
Stojan Decermic Bailiff
Raoul Delfosse Cabinet Minister
Jean Desailly Juliska
Rada Djuricin Col. Muller
Marius Goring Capt. Brunner
Drewe Henley Madame Koruga
Dara Milosevic Goldenberg
George Roderich Madame Nagy
Françoise Rosay Joseph Grenier
Albert Rémy Rosa
Olga Schoberová Hurtig
Viktor Starcic Nora
Hénia Suchar Ghitza Ion
David Sumner
Director
Henri Verneuil
Related Posts
Assault On A Queen (1966) Some gangsters get their hands on an old WWII German submarine and set out to pirate a luxury liner -…
Deadly Bees, The (1966) Vicki Robbins (Suzanna Leigh) is a pop singer who is suffering from exhaustion and collapses while performing a song on…
Ship of Fools (1965) At the beginning of this film, Michael Dunn - the dwarf who serves as commentator - confides to the viewing…
In The Heat Of The Night (1967) While travelling in the Deep South, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a black Philadelphia homicide detective, becomes unwittingly embroiled in the…
House in Marsh Road, The (1960) David Linton (Tony Wright) is supposed to be writing a novel - but all he ever produces is the occasional…
Happening, The (1967) Retired gangster Roc Delmonico (Anthony Quinn) is kidnapped by a group of idealistic Miami beach bums who are hoping to…
Zorba the Greek (1964) A timid English writer arrives in Crete to open a mine for his family business and falls under the spell of…
Father Came Too (1964) After a Mediterranean honeymoon. Dexter Munro (Stanley Baxter) and his new wife Juliet (Sally Smith) are forced to move in…
Johann explains to the Kommandant that he is not Jewish while Suzanna tries unsuccessfully to get help from the authorities to rectify the mistake, but she is forced to divorce Johann in order to keep their house.
As the war ends, Johann – apolitical and an internal optimist – is captured by the Russians and thrown into prison until he is tried as a war criminal at Nuremberg and faces execution – only to be acquitted – with the help of his British defence counsel (Michael Redgrave) – because of the testimony of the Jewish friends whose lives he saved.
