In this tightly wound and suspenseful film noir set in the early 1930s, Martin Schulz (Paul Lukas) returns with his family to his native Germany, leaving behind his San Francisco art gallery under the direction of his German-Jewish business partner, Max (Morris Carnovsky). As Martin falls under the spell of a charismatic Nazi leader (Carl Esmond) and fascism’s corrosive doctrine, tensions naturally rise between best friends Martin and Max. When Max’s daughter Griselle (K.T. Stevens), an actress in Berlin, faces escalating danger as antisemitism roils Germany, the two families are thrust into a web of intrigue, coded messages and shocking betrayals.
Despite Oscar nominations for art direction and musical score and an impressive creative team, “Address Unknown” remains little-known and rarely screened. A chilling work of strong political conviction with astonishing visual impact, “Address Unknown” is one of the most powerful and artistic films to emerge from Hollywood during World War II. Along with “Mortal Storm” (1940) and “None Shall Escape” (1944) — films presented by NCJF in our previous film festival editions — “Address Unknown” is one of the only wartime Hollywood films to explicitly depict what was happening to Jews in Nazi Germany.
Conveyed by bold expressionistic camera work, lighting and art design, “Address Unknown” was produced and directed by the great William Cameron Menzies, better known for his work as a production designer and art director on dozens of classics, including “Gone with the Wind” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” and “Spellbound.” Cinematographer Rudolph Maté creates an evocative, shadowy world of menace and paranoia. The terrific cast is led by Paul Lukas, who, as the duplicitous Martin, appears in his first movie role after his Oscar-winning turn in “Watch on the Rhine.” Lukas, a Hungarian Jew, and much of the cast were themselves European emigrees.
The film is based on the 1938 bestselling novel of the same name by American author Kathrine Kressmann Taylor, a devastating work of political fiction about the rise of fascism that resonates strongly today.
Directed by William Cameron Menzies, USA, 1944, 72 minutes, in English. New England premiere of new digital restoration.
Join us for a Q&A with Brandeis University professor Thomas Doherty, author of “Hollywood & Hitler.”
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