When "The Boys From Brazil" was released in 1978, the concept of cloning was more science fiction than reality. Now, almost 25 years later, the possibility of human cloning is here.
The fictional story involves real life German WWII "Angel of Death", Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck) having cloned 94 baby boys from the cells of you know who and placed them around the world in environments that closely approximate the real life conditions in which the donor was raised, in the hope of reproducing an exact duplicate. Student Barry Kohler (Steve Guttenberg in an excellent early performance) discovers the plot and tries to alert famed Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier). After Kohler is murdered, Weisenthal begins to take the warnings seriously. He too discovers the plot and frightens the Nazi commanders in South America (including James Mason) enough to have Mengele's project canceled. Mengele tries to carry on alone before the inevitable showdown with Lieberman.
Gregory Peck, cast against type, gives a chilling performance as Mengele. Olivier, complete with Jewish accent and looking thin and frail as the Nazi hunter (allegedly based on Simon Weisenthal), gives an excellent performance as well. Mason is given little to do as Mengele's Chief of Security. Young Jeremy Black plays the various clones convincingly right down to the accents. Others in the cast include Lili Palmer as Lieberman's sister, Uta Hagan as Frieda the prisoner who provides Lieberman with vital information, Anne Meara and Rosemary Harris as two of the mothers and Denholm Elliot and John Dehner in other roles.
It's really frightening to realize that the concept of cloning presented in this story could now become a reality.
The fictional story involves real life German WWII "Angel of Death", Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck) having cloned 94 baby boys from the cells of you know who and placed them around the world in environments that closely approximate the real life conditions in which the donor was raised, in the hope of reproducing an exact duplicate. Student Barry Kohler (Steve Guttenberg in an excellent early performance) discovers the plot and tries to alert famed Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier). After Kohler is murdered, Weisenthal begins to take the warnings seriously. He too discovers the plot and frightens the Nazi commanders in South America (including James Mason) enough to have Mengele's project canceled. Mengele tries to carry on alone before the inevitable showdown with Lieberman.
Gregory Peck, cast against type, gives a chilling performance as Mengele. Olivier, complete with Jewish accent and looking thin and frail as the Nazi hunter (allegedly based on Simon Weisenthal), gives an excellent performance as well. Mason is given little to do as Mengele's Chief of Security. Young Jeremy Black plays the various clones convincingly right down to the accents. Others in the cast include Lili Palmer as Lieberman's sister, Uta Hagan as Frieda the prisoner who provides Lieberman with vital information, Anne Meara and Rosemary Harris as two of the mothers and Denholm Elliot and John Dehner in other roles.
It's really frightening to realize that the concept of cloning presented in this story could now become a reality.