Sir Larry & Co.

The actors deserve a mention. Good grief, with Laurence Olivier in the cast, it's compulsory. And, of course, he's excellent He really is very good — absorbed in the character, utterly convincing, and, as Ezra Liebermann the aging Jewish Nazi-hunter, endearingly comic. I'm always amazed by this. Even in a piece of unrepentant rubbish like The Betsy, he's delivering a performance that's so flawless and integrated into the production that it's easy to forget that he's there, or at least that you've also seen him as Hamlet, Othello, Richard 111, et al. Gregory Peck also has a great time being on the side of Evil for once, even if he's not as consistently sinister as you could wish for. Rosemary Hams, in a cameo role as one of the widows Liebermann interviews, enjoys herself burlesquing her role in Holocaust. James Mason? He has precious little to do.

Franklin J. Schaffner's direction is, as I've indicated, efficient and at times exuberant. He keeps the whole thing moving forward at a fast and exciting clip, aided by Jerry Gold-smith's pounding score, and produces well-finished film that.....well, if it won't be hard to forget, it's at least very easy to enjoy.

Paul Hagan