The Pawnbroker is an unusually strong drama showing the gradual breakdown of an aging survivor of the Holocaust. The 1965 film by Sidney Lumet creatively uses flashbacks and dream sequences to show the inner workings of the protagonist’s mind as he goes about the humdrum activities that make up his life until a shocking event is finally able to reach the old man in his depths of despair where he has been locked for twenty years mourning his murdered family.

Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger) is a middle-aged pawnbroker in the slummy red light district of Spanish Harlem. Every day, Sol deals with an assortment of pimps, prostitutes and thieves who come to sell their possessions for the few precious dollars that Sol doles out, with hardly a glance at the faces of his customers. He is so jaded to their plight that he makes out the pawn tickets by rote, even before they agree to the miserable pittance he offers them, but then, they always agree, grabbing the proffered sum and furtively exiting the shop before the depressive atmosphere stifles them.

Sol’s customers are an interesting lot, entering the shop in an almost continuous stream throughout the day. They are usually armed with a bold, boastful, or plaintive tale behind why they are selling in hopes of getting a few more dollars, but they are seldom able to move the old pawnbroker.

Sol has a knack for reducing merchandise to its lowest common denominator and the customers routinely accept his initial offer, which is almost never increased despite all their attempts to move the old Jew. Sol has already filled out the pawn ticket and passed the sum through the cage with barely a glance at the person’s face. Sol’s new assistant, Ortiz (Jaime Sanchez) quickly whisks the new acquisition back into the jumble of shelves where the pledges are stored; pledges that are seldom reclaimed.

The Pawnshop can be seen as a metaphor for Sol’s emotional life; bottled up with memories that will never be released just as the pledges are never reclaimed. Every waking hour Sol seems to relive some horrifying memory of his days in Auschwitz or a pleasant memory of his earlier life that was irrevocably marred by the remembrance of how his wife and children were torn from him by the horrifying brutality of Nazi Germany.

The story is fairly good as dramas go, but it is the directing, acting, and editing that makes it a compelling film.

Filmed in gritty black and white, The Pawnbroker has more impact than it would have had in color. Lumet uses the camera to show the humanity of Sol’s clientele, who perform a remarkable array of cameos that must be seen to be appreciated. Juano Hernandez plays an intellectual drunk, who wants to discuss Plato, Baudelaire, and Voltaire with the unresponsive Sol. Raymond St. Jacques plays a cocky thief who brings his hot merchandise into the shop. Thelma Oliver plays a succulently endowed prostitute who tries to move the old man by exposing her charms. Geraldine Fitzgerald plays a do-gooder who pesters Sol to contribute to her youth charity. Brock Peters plays a mobster who runs the crime in Spanish Harlem and uses Sol’s shop as a front to launder dirty money.

But as good as these supporting performances are, the screen belongs to Rod Steiger who almost single-handedly dominates the story. Steiger’s acting is at the top of his form and he is totally believable as the man who is alive but wishes he were dead along with his family. He has repressed his thoughts so often he doesn’t even realize what he thinks or desires. On two occasions he is offered sexual intimacy but is unable to react he is so closed up. Director Lumet’s storytelling, aided by superior editing by Ralph Rosenblum is riveting. The only sour note, as it were, is the Quincy Jones jazz score that is a little overly dramatic, but maybe that is Lumet’s way of showing how out of touch Sol is with real life. So it may not be a con after all, taken in that context.

The Pawnbroker is powerful drama and should be seen by all movie fans. It should not be seen by persons who may become depressed by a tale of despair.

Not recommended for children due to the strong theme and nudity.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV