Johann Moritz (Anthony Quinn) is a Romanian Christian peasant as WWII breaks out. The police captain is lustful for his beautiful wife Suzanna. Johann is framed as being Jewish to the authorities and he joins other Jews in the forced labor camp. Both Johann and Suzanna struggle to correct the mistake. Johann joins an escape into Hungary but he can't continue the journey to America because he's not Jewish. As a non-Hungarian Christian, he gets sent to Germany as slave labor and two years later, he gets recruited into the SS for his Aryan looks as a darker complexion example. As the face of the SS, Johann is finally captured by the Americans after helping some prisoners to escape. He finds his friend Mr. Trajan in the camp. Trajan was supposed to write a book about the 25th Hour, the last hour of all.
This is a really interesting anti-racism anti-war satire. It's not jokey but it does have its light comedic touches. Mostly, it highlights the silliness of divisions among men. It is a Kafkaesque odyssey. Quinn is a great simple everyman as he struggle to adapt to ever changing circumstances. This is not a thriller nor a comedy. The drama is not really that intense. What it is is a portrait of the little guy in a chaos of a world in turmoil and the final scene really packs an emotional punch.
This is a really interesting anti-racism anti-war satire. It's not jokey but it does have its light comedic touches. Mostly, it highlights the silliness of divisions among men. It is a Kafkaesque odyssey. Quinn is a great simple everyman as he struggle to adapt to ever changing circumstances. This is not a thriller nor a comedy. The drama is not really that intense. What it is is a portrait of the little guy in a chaos of a world in turmoil and the final scene really packs an emotional punch.