I knew one or two of the big names in the cast of this movie, I didn't have any idea what it was about, but I was intrigued enough to watch it, based on the novel by Ira Levin (Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet of the Apes, Patton, Papillon). Basically in Paraguay, young aspiring Nazi hunter Barry Kohler (Steve Guttenberg) stumbles upon a secret organisation of Third Reich war criminals, and finds that Dr. Josef Mengele (Golden Globe nominated Gregory Peck), the infamous Auschwitz doctor who performed experiments on Jews during the war, is with them. Kohler calls famed Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman (Oscar nominated Lord Sir Laurence Olivier), who is ageing and living in Vienna, Austria, he gets annoyed by Kohler's calls. Kohler knows when the next clandestine meeting with Mengele is taking place, and decides to bug, but when he is about to overhear crucial details Mengele discovers the bug. Kohler did overhear that Mengele plans to kill ninety-six men who are sixty-five years old all over the world, including Austria, West Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Kohler calls Lieberman to tell about this information, but before he can say more he is found and killed by Mengele, although frail, Leiberman decides to follow Kohler's leads. Leiberman receives photos sent by Kohler, before his death, they are of the guests that attended the meeting with Mengele, he recognises many of them as Nazis, he decides to also keep an eye out for a rash death of sixty- five year old men. Lieberman gains insight from incarcerated former Nazi guard Frieda Maloney (Uta Hagen), and discovers the truth behind the insane plot, they want to use Professor Bruckner (Bruno Ganz), an expert on cloning, to use a sample of Hitler's DNA, preserved since World War II, to resurrect him and establish the Fourth Reich. Mengele's principal contact, Eduard Seibert (James Mason), tries to get Mengele to have the scheme aborted before Lieberman can expose it to the authorities, Lieberman continues his snooping and discovers that all of the men who are killed have an adopted son who all resemble each other. One of the Hitler clones, Bobby Wheelock (Jeremy Black), lives on a farm with his parents in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Mengele murders his father father (John Dehner), a Doberman dog breeder, and awaits the arrival of Lieberman. Eventually the two men come face to face, young Bobby hears the explanation of the whole situation, knowing that Mengele killed his father, he has the vicious Dobermans attack him until his death, the young man relishes watching him being killed. Lieberman is encouraged American Nazi-hunter David Bennett (John Rubinstein) to expose Mengele's scheme to the world, he asks him to hand over the list that identifies the names and whereabouts of all those born from the experiment, this will be used to kill them before they grow into bloody tyrants. In the end, Lieberman objects on the grounds that they are mere children, and he burns the list before anyone can read it. Also starring Lilli Palmer as Esther Lieberman, Denholm Elliott as Sidney Beynon, Spider-Man's Rosemary Harris as Mrs. Doring, Michael Gough as Mr. Harrington, Walter Gotell as Mundt, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory's Günter Meisner as Farnbach and Fawlty Towers' Prunella Scales as Mrs. Harrington and 'Allo 'Allo's Richard Marner as Doring. Peck makes a convincing departure from his good guy roles as the sinister Nazi doctor masterminding the Hitler resurrection plot, Olivier putting on an accent is terrific, and Mason does well in the short time he has on screen. It perhaps seems a plausible plot in the age of genetic engineering than it does back then, the globe-trotting action works fairly well, and there is certainly enough violence and intrigue to keep you engaged, a reasonable thriller. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Film Editing and Best Music, Original Score for Jerry Goldsmith. Worth watching!

The re-birth of the Third Reich has proved to be an oddly desirable topic for many an inspiring schlock-maker. Titles such as They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968) and Gestapo's Last Orgy (1977) come to mind - movies from a bygone era when cinema-goer's would travel to like their local drive-in or tune into their TV sets late at night and expect to see something cheap, awful, but most likely hilarious. The Boys from Brazil, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1970)), is an event movie with a budget and an A-list cast that plots a Jewish Nazi-hunter against a tyrannical doctor hell-bent on creating a new fuhrer.Such a mainstream movie could be labelled as insensitive for creating outlandish fiction out of such a terrible event and for profiteering from it, but The Boys from Brazil, although handsomely filmed and mostly well-performed, is pure pantomime exploitation. This is evident from the moment we meet Ezra Lieberman, an ageing Austrian Nazi hunter played by Laurence Olivier, who delivers his lines in an accent so ludicrous he could be voicing a Disney character. When a conspiracy to assassinate 94 civil servants headed by SS surgeon Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck) is brought to Lieberman's attention by young Jewish activist Kohler (Steve Guttenberg) - who quickly vanishes - the old man travels throughout Europe to investigate the potential targets.Mengele's plot seems like random, senseless madness at first, but it doesn't take long to figure out what's going on. The goal, when revealed, is utterly preposterous but may have been scarily plausible if executed with care. But The Boys from Brazil is often camp, with Peck especially hamming it up and gobbling up the scene whenever he appears. He's the best thing in it - a moustached, maniacal lunk with the complexion of a pint of milk - and has greatest line of the film when he shouts "shut up, you stupid bitch!" to the unfortunate wife of an SS officer. It all leads to fisticuffs at the climax between the frail Lieberman and the bulky Mengele, which despite the extraordinary levels of gore and the presence of three angry Doberman, is unintentionally hilarious. Weird, absurd, but undeniably fun, this is pure nazisploitation polished by a talented director.

I saw this movie when it first came out and I really enjoyed it. Compared to today's more authentic period pieces, it might not stand up that well… yes, the accents are pretty bad, for example… but all things considered I thought it was well done and I've seen it several times, the most recent being just last night. I loved the foreshadowing in the scene where one of the cloned boys lets Olivier's character into his house and is reflected an infinite number of times by the hallway mirrors… it appears to be nothing more than an odd directorial choice the first time through, but for those of us who know what's coming, it's a very clever device.The dam scene was very intense and from the Trivia notes I gather it was a real dam, not a special effect. Very striking sequence in a very interesting location.I didn't follow the bit about the dog's birthday… maybe that led somewhere in the book, but if it was explained in the film I must have missed it. There were a few other awkward moments here and there (I did chuckle at the cloning expert who could reproduce DNA at the drop of a hat yet demonstrated his high-tech theories and technique using a chalkboard and a film projector), but all in all I'd recommend this movie. Intriguing idea that translated very well to film, with a classic cast the likes of which we'll probably never see again.

If Hollywood starts turning out movies this good again, then maybe they will solve their problems with declining ticket sales.This movie grabs you from the opening scenes and keeps grips on you until the end. It makes me want to dig up the original novel (Ira Levin, Rosemary's Baby and a long list of others) and read it.I watched this on DVD the first time, which is the way to go. I've only seen scratchy versions chopped up by TV commercials before now. The DVD version looks like it's been taken off the master prints. It does not have the scratches and other defects of a circulation print.I knocked off a star because of Gregory Peck's congenital inability to master foreign accents and some continuity errors. These minor flaws are easy to ignore. Hollywood should learn from it past successes, and this is one.