QB VII

Starring:Ben Gazzara, Anthony Hopkins, Leslie Caron, Lee Remick, Juliet Mills, Dan O'Herlihy, Robert Stephens, Anthony Quayle, Milo O'Shea, John Gielgud, Edith Evans, Jack Hawkins, Judy Carne, Kristoffer Tabori, Joseph Wiseman, Anthony Andrews, Signe Hasso, Sam Jaffe, Alan Napier, GrÃ©goire Aslan
Director: Tom Gries
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

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This five-hour miniseries, which was hailed as both a critical triumph and a milestone "television event" when it originally aired in 1974, is based on the Leon Uris novel, which itself was based on a libel trial that arose after Uris published his novel Exodus. The fictionalized drama is essentially the story of two men, Dr. Adam Kelno, a Polish doctor who was imprisoned by the Nazis in a concentration camp, and Abe Cady, a successful Hollywood writer who publishes a serious book on the Holocaust that exposes Kelno's past. Playing Dr. Kelno, Anthony Hopkins steals the show, and the nuances he brings to the character keep the audience guessing whether he is in fact a dedicated healer or a diabolical villain intent on papering over a fiendish past. Ben Gazzara is credible as the tough-talking Cady, but when Hopkins leaves the action for a time the film sags and begins to resemble an ordinary TV movie. Eventually the two men's lives come into conflict when Kelno sues for libel. The trial, which takes place in a London courtroom (the "Queen's Bench VII" of the title), seeks to sort out the truth about the past of Dr. Kelno. His precise activities during the war, and how the world deals with his past, receive intelligent and dramatic treatment. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews:

The writing on the wall..........2007-02-22

Ben Gazzara plays a rather cynical Jewish author who is inspired to write about an ex concentration camp doctor played by Hopkins. The book tells of the inhumane things that were done to the inmates of the camp. The doctor is outraged and sues the author for defamation. The trial takes up most of the second half of the film. Queen's Bench Seven is the name of the court room. Films are shown about the Holocaust and they are as horrific today as they ever were. The trial has the only kind of ending that it could have and that means that there really are no winners in a story like this one. It's great drama even if a bit harrowing at times and the cast turns in some great performances. This was actually the first TV mini-series and was shown in at least two parts when it first came out. Written by Leon Uris and based on a similar court case that he was involved in. Well worth your time even though it's a bit slow to start with.

TV First Mini Series.......2006-08-15

When you think of Television mini series, you may think of such great television production in the 70's and 80s (its GOLDEN era) such like Backstairs at the White House, Upstairs Downstairs, The Bourne Identity (yes long before Matt Damon movie-with Richard Chamberlain and Jackie Smith), Roots (and the mini series sequel Roots the Next Generation), North and South (books 1-3), Noble House (with future James Bond Pierce Bronsnan), Shogun (with Richard Chamberlain), Jesus of Narazeth , Rich Man Poor Man (with newcomer Nick Nolte), Holocaust (with Meryl Streep and James Woods)or even The Thorn Birds (again with Chamberlain). These were some of the best TV had to offer. However, in April 1974 , the first NOVEL FOR TELEVISION (done on ABC TV) was presented. Over two nights.... Leon Uris QB V!!.

The story of Abraham Cady (Ben Gazzara) learns of his Jewish heritage from his father (Dr No's Joseph Wiseman)-- that most of his family had been exterminated in the gas chambers at the Jadwiga concentration camp. After becoming penetrated in Jewish faith after his father's death, Cady decides to move to Israel and write a book called The Holocaust. In this book, Cady accuses a surgeon, Dr. Adam Kelno (played with Relish by Anthony Hopkins), as being one of the doctors at the Jadwiga camp that did experiments on other human beings and was a war criminal. Dr. Kelno finds out about the book and decides to sue Cady in court to prove that Cady is a liar. This is based of the real life case where Leon Uris was a defendant in a law suit growing from his novel Exodus, where someone sued Uris saying he were defamed

Told in two parts, Kelno's story on the first night and the second night is Cady.story . This production lead the way for many future mini series. The production was filmed in Hollywood, England, Belguim and Israel and it shows in the production detailed filming.

Lets talk supporting cast of this piece Leslie Caron, Milo O'Shea, Sir John Gielgud, Juliet Mills, Lee Remick, Joseph Wiseman, Sir Anthony Quayle, Jack Hawkins, and Kris Tabori-all holding their own with the talented leads Gazzara and Hopkins . This production

This production is over 30 years old and it doesn't date itself. There are very strong message in this film even for today standards, the Holocaust usually is .. Parents should be advised it is VERY powerful. I suggest this for a teen and not a young child.

So should you get this? Why aren't you ordering it now?

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

QB VII.......2006-03-10

This movie was an excellent visual presentation of the Leon Uris book. Anthony Hopkins in an early role was excellent. The basic scenario of the movie was a trial being conducted in Queens Bench VII concerning complicity with the Nazis.

You can't escape the past!.......2005-07-23

I've read the book it was excellent. Bought this movie on VHS & was totally into it. Had seen it on TV in 1974 when it was first aired. It deals with a difficult time in history with honesty in a sensitive manner without sugar coating the truth. Am very pleased it is finally out on DVD. Buy this DVD & enjoy it.

So-so disc, brilliant source material.......2005-02-07

This being the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, there has been much media attention given the Holocaust of late, from PBS and BBC's tremendous six-hour documentary series, Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State to Daniel Anker's documentary for AMC, Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust, about the thorny relationship between the Hollywood dream factory and events of the not-so-distant past.

Looking at QB VII today, it's amazing how dated it looks on a purely technical (read: superficial) level - the style of filmmaking (or lack of style, if you prefer), the awkward framing, the grainy film stock, etc.

Content is what's important, though, and while the disc has no choice but to live with the film elements of the day - a proper film restoration would have proven frightfully expensive, I imagine, though I for one would have considered it money well spent - there's no denying that this is compelling, powerful drama.

QB VII was made at a time when the TV mini-series was still in its infancy; if I recall, Rich Man, Poor Man was the watercooler show of the day, and Roots had yet to be aired.

And yet, when I look back - I was 13 at the time QB VII played on TV - this miniseries has stuck in my memory where others have faded. Credit is due to Leon Uris, of course, but what I find compelling - all the more so, today - is the eternal moral dilemma of whether it's possible to redeem a past sin through good works, or whether there are certain sins so awful they can never be redeemed.

Parallels have been drawn between Anthony Hopkins's Dr. Kelno in this film and Dr. Josef Mengele in real life (an irredeemable historical figure, if ever there was one) - but the parallel I believe to be more apt is with Leni Riefenstahl, "Hitler's filmmaker," as she was known at the time, who first sang the praises of the Nazi state in her propaganda films and then devoted her post-war career to photographing the Dinka tribes of Sudan.

QB VII poses a tough moral question, and reaches a similarly tough conclusion. Some sins are beyond redemption, Uris argues, especially if there is no effort to admit guilt or atone publicly for past sins.

Uris wrote novels that are far better known than QB VII, lord knows - Exodus, for one. For me, though, this is the one that has stood the test of time. I fear QB VII is more relevant today than it has ever been. War criminals from the Nazi era continue to be exposed, aging older men who are living lives of relative anonymity. Inevitably the person's neighbours say, once the truth is know, 'Hey, he's an old man, he's harmless, that was a long time ago, let bygones be bygones.'

Never, Uris says, and QB VII shows why. The death camp footage - actual newsreel footage that survived the war - is unforgetable.

I wish this DVD were a perfect visual transfer, with pristine stereo sound (Jerry Goldsmith's musical score is astonishing, and has always been one of my favourites of his) but that was never likely to happen. I'm glad to have this DVD in my library, in any event.

There are many films and TV miniseries about the Holocaust that are more famous and better known, but if I had my way this is the one that would be shown in schools, in history classes. At the very least, it would prompt some important questions and provoke a lively debate.

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