The Pawnbroker (1964)

Director: Sidney Lumet                                  Writers: Morton Fine & David Friedkin
Film Score: Quincy Jones                              Cinematography: Boris Kaufman
Starring: Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters and Jaime Sánchez

Three degrees of Rod Steiger? Unlike Kevin Bacon who is the most famous six-step connector of actors, in Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point he said at that time that Steiger was the most connected Hollywood actor in history, something the authors of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon even admitted. Of course, since Steiger’s death other living actors have passed him by, but he is still one of the greats. In The Pawnbroker he plays a Holocaust survivor living in New York. He manages a pawnshop in Harlem for the wealthy Brock Peters, who is using the place as a tax write off and for money laundering. In essence, Steiger isn’t supposed to make money, but shows up to work every day paralleling the uselessness he feels as a survivor, still haunted by his memories of Auschwitz and the deaths of his wife and children.

The film begins with Steiger and his family having a picnic in a field, when suddenly all eyes turn to see . . . We don’t know. It is just a memory and now we see him in the suburban backyard of his former sister in law, her two teenage kids, and her husband. At his shop he has a young Puerto Rican, Jaime Sánchez, working for him, showing him the trade but not sharing with him the purpose of the shop. Sánchez has dreams of owning his own shop and becoming successful, but is dogged by a gang of thieves he still wants to impress. Steiger is married and his father-in-law lives with them. He taunts Steiger for staying alive while so many others perished. At the same time he is being courted by Geraldine Fitzgerald, a lonely woman who senses in him a similar longing and wants to get him out of his shell. It’s a complicated character study and demonstrates Steiger’s tremendous acting abilities.

Sydney Lumet made a career out of character, from his tour de force 12 Angry Men to the quiet desperation of The Verdict. This film suffers from that strange, early sixties black and white artificiality, but there are some good things. The film score by Quincy Jones is actually one of his better scores. There are also some good supporting performances. Brock Peters is his usual commanding presence, and Thelma Oliver has a nice turn as a prostitute. The distinctive Charles Dierkop makes a brief appearance, as apparently does Morgan Freeman, though I wasn’t able to spot him. The story comes from the novel of the same name by Edward Lewis Wallant that explores the idea of survivor guilt. What really haunts Steiger, in addition to the obvious grief he has over his family, is the fact that he survived. The Pawnbroker, while dated, is undeniably a powerful film and a great introduction to Rod Steiger’s considerable talents.