Review – The Odessa File

This tale is typical Frederick Forsyth: international intrigue with just enough real life to keep it interesting. A German journalist (Jon Voight) stumbles across a diary revealing the existence of Odessa, a conspiracy to use war plunder to help former SS members escape justice. Our hero becomes obsessed with one concentration camp guard in particular (ably played by Maximilian Schell in an interesting departure from his role in Judgment at Nuremberg). Before the end we even get Simon Wiesenthal (Schmuel Rodensky) as a character. Andrew Lloyd Webber did the music, though it’s a standard score rather than an overblown musical. I thought the final twist betrayed the spirit of the production somewhat, but otherwise it was a reasonably entertaining thriller. Mildly amusing