The Pawnbroker

Released Apr 20, 1965

1h 56m

Drama

List

86%

22 Reviews

Tomatometer

87%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Based on the novel by Edward Lewis Wallant, this drama focuses on former professor Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger), the survivor of a German concentration camp who now runs a pawn shop in East Harlem. Having witnessed his family's death at the hands of the Nazis, he is embittered toward humanity and pushes away anyone around him, including his young Puerto Rican employee, Jesus (Jaime Sanchez). As Nazerman contends with his internal conflicts, the harsh realities of the city affect his life as well.

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Ryan O

A quite portrait of a man who's quietly haunted by life after the concentration camps of Germany, now living a seemingly docile family life In New Jersey.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/31/23

Full Review

Alec B

The legacy of the Holocaust is deeply felt here. Steiger is reined in by Lumet, which produces a pretty great performance.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Many films have depicted the atrocities of The Holocaust in many diversely detailed forms since The Pawnbroker's release but few have captured life for the victims who survived as well as this film did, and less than twenty years removed in this case. Rod Steiger is exceptional in his role as the titular character in a film that tackles the effects of trauma and PTSD, likely before the term was even in use. As is the case for many PTSD sufferers, everyday items to most people can often trigger horrifying reveries, examples of which are hauntingly brought to the screen here by Steiger as a way to fill in the pawnbroker's motivations, while acting as a plot device in which the flashbacks reveal information to the audience little by little. Lumet loves his gritty and grimy city streets and appears much more comfortable, even early in his career, setting his films amidst the detritus of the masses, adding a texture that in most cases give his films a uniquely authentic feel. NYT 1000: #281

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

william k

Absorbing character study of a Holocaust survivor is excellently directed with great b/w photography and New York City settings and a remarkable jazzy score by Quincy Jones, but it's the intensity of Rod Steiger's performance of a tortured man that fully holds one's attention.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Grim, unpleasant, but well done. Rod Steiger is excellent!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/21

Full Review

dave s

Sol Nazerman is a Holocaust survivor who wears his bitterness and anger like a shield in order to keep others, who he perceives as ‘scum and rejects', at a comfortable distance. Sidney Lumet's The Pawnbroker is an unrelentingly grim examination of a man who lives in the darkest depths of despair. Rod Steiger is nothing short of brilliant as Nazerman and his performance alone makes the film worth watching. Lumet's direction may not be to the taste of all, as the exterior shots (they appear to have been inspired the French New Wave stylings of Truffaut) don't seem to match up with the more traditionally structured interior shots. Additionally, the movie is filled with odd quick cuts and split-second flashbacks, which tend to be distracting. Despite these apparent faults, the film remains a powerful study of a man alone in the world.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Sidney Lumet

Director

Rod Steiger

Sol Nazerman

Geraldine Fitzgerald

Marilyn Birchfield

Brock Peters

Rodriguez

Jaime Sanchez

Jesus Ortiz

Thelma Oliver

Ortiz' Girl

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The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - No Shooting

2:02

The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - Are You That Kind of Man?

2:13

The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - You People

2:13

The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - No To Hurt You

2:05

The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - Subway to the Camps

2:12

The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - Money Is the Whole Thing

2:12

The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - It's Glass

2:12

The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - Internment Barking

1:56

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

The result is a kind of sensory madness and torture that telegraphs perfectly the interior state of our sympathetic protagonist's mind.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 13, 2021

Full Review

William J. Nazzaro

Arizona Republic

[The Pawnbroker] is a brilliant cinema achievement. Directed with sharp eye by Sidney Lumet, this is a film that holds you by the throat for its full two-hour running time, and a film you will not long forget.

Sep 2, 2020

Full Review

Pauline Kael

McCall's

Juano Hernandez, as the man who wants to talk, gives the single most moving performance I saw in 1965, and Rod Steiger’s power makes our questioning of much of the action seem like quibbling.

Sep 20, 2023

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

It’s dynamic and alive, a magnificent piece of location photography by the great Boris Kaufman and an early glimpse of the Lumet who will become one of the great chroniclers of New York City life.

Jul 1, 2023

Full Review

Judith Crist

New York Herald Tribune

It is distinguished not only by Mr. Steiger's portrayal of a man encased in the world's anguish but also by several other performers and, above all perhaps, by its dealing with its story on its own terms.

Aug 15, 2022

Full Review

Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

Indeed, In Steiger's incredible performance Lumet has a central pivot which makes it so tense and such a powerful piece of cinema.

Aug 16, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Based on the novel by Edward Lewis Wallant, this drama focuses on former professor Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger), the survivor of a German concentration camp who now runs a pawn shop in East Harlem. Having witnessed his family's death at the hands of the Nazis, he is embittered toward humanity and pushes away anyone around him, including his young Puerto Rican employee, Jesus (Jaime Sanchez). As Nazerman contends with his internal conflicts, the harsh realities of the city affect his life as well.

Director: Sidney Lumet
Screenwriter: Morton S. Fine, David Friedkin
Distributor: Allied Artists Pictures
Production Co: Landau Company
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 20, 1965, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 9, 2016
Runtime: 1h 56m

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