A Review of "The Boys from Brazil"

“If they survive…will we?” Perhaps by the time the 1970’s rolled around, people were ready to move on from the Nazi atrocities of World War II and the Holocaust, and use them for creative, not documentary, purposes. What else could explain the plethora of escaped-Nazi-themed thrillers that burst onto the scene during that decade? The Odessa File (1974), The Man in the Glass Booth (1975), and Marathon Man (1976) are just a few. While mostly based in reality, sometimes this sub-genre would stretch to even include science fiction, such as The Boys from Brazil, where Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck) attempts to re-create the Third Reich by cloning Hitler in Paraguay and Brazil. The plot is accidentally uncovered by a famous and aging Nazi hunter named Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier), and at first he does not know what to make of it. He finds that Mengele’s plans include having 94 men all aged 65, located all over the world, killed by a certain time. He then realizes that these men have families who adopted babies from an agency in Brazil years ago (Hitler clones which Mengele worked on), and he is trying to recreate the life Hitler would have lived, by having their fathers killed at the same time. The act of cloning, he surmises, is not entirely genetic, but also involves the environment the child is in (through typical Hollywood coincidences, all families have a domineering/abusive father and loving mother, just as Hitler did). As Lieberman investigates, he stumbles further into this massive plot, and finds that the raising of the next Fuhrer is already well underway. This must have been very shocking for audiences at the time, because the real Mengele is purported to have still been alive at the time, and still carrying out experiments in Brazil. It is no secret that countless Nazi war criminals escaped to South America because of weak extradition laws. The Boys from Brazil takes a no-frills approach to the prospect of such a story being real. While Peck does overact at times, and can be quite silly with his mannerisms, Olivier’s acting is spot-on, and worthy of the Oscar nomination he received. This is a rare instance of a science-fiction film being loaded with star-power and also having a strong script and production values, and a lively score by Jerry Goldsmith. This makes it a highly credible , creative, (though sometimes dated) production even today. Given what we know now about cloning and the activities of certain Nazis in the post-war world, who knows, maybe this film is more fact than fiction? Also starring James Mason, Steve Guttenberg, Lilli Palmer, Denholm Elliot, and Uta Hagen. Based on the novel by Ira Levin. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Nominated for three Academy Awards. Final Verdict: Trophy Case.

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