A war pacifist (Marlon Brando) is blackmailed to pose as an SS officer and to disable the scuttling explosives on freighter carrying rubber cargo to be captured by the Allies.
The film did not do well on its original release, probably at least in part because few people understood its title. The movie is also one of unrelieved gloom, which may have been a factor. The film was a financial disaster. In an attempt to be more commercial, the film was reissued as "Saboteur: Code Name Morituri". Even knowing what the word means and seeing the film, I still find it strange.
Marlon Brando is pretty great here. I don't know if he is generally recognized as a great actor. I suppose he is, but you don't often hear him listed among the greats. But if I didn't know who he was, I would have believed he was, in fact, a German actor. The accent is really good. (Germans may disagree, but to these American ears it was spot on.)
The film did not do well on its original release, probably at least in part because few people understood its title. The movie is also one of unrelieved gloom, which may have been a factor. The film was a financial disaster. In an attempt to be more commercial, the film was reissued as "Saboteur: Code Name Morituri". Even knowing what the word means and seeing the film, I still find it strange.
Marlon Brando is pretty great here. I don't know if he is generally recognized as a great actor. I suppose he is, but you don't often hear him listed among the greats. But if I didn't know who he was, I would have believed he was, in fact, a German actor. The accent is really good. (Germans may disagree, but to these American ears it was spot on.)