Jon Voigt is Peter Miller, a freelance journalist who ends up on the trail of former concentration camp kommandant Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell) in 1963 Germany. Roschmann and other war criminals are aided and protected by ODESSA, a shadowy organisation of former SS officers. By modern standards the 'action' is a bit slow but otherwise the film is an entertaining, if somewhat implausible, thriller. The movie simplifies Forsyth's novel and the plot is somewhat reliant on coincidences (especially the personal reason for Miller's obsession with Roschmann). Voigt is pretty good as the dogged reporter, although the plot requires him to be 'aged', which isn't very convincing. Schell is fine as Miller's quarry but I found his character in the flashback scenes at the Riga Concentration Camp a bit clichéd. The rest of the cast is serviceable and the German settings are good (although there are anachronisms). The score is by Broadway impresarios Webber and Rice yet sounds like typical '70s thriller music, which dates the film somewhat. All in all, not too bad. The film opens with a statement from Forsyth about the factual existence of ODESSA; however, I don't think that there is any real evidence that such an organization actually existed.
Review of The Odessa File
