The Pawnbroker

The Pawnbroker, motion picture about a Jewish concentration camp survivor living a solitary life behind the counter at a New York City pawnshop, based on the 1961 novel by Edward Lewis Wallant. Released in 1965, this award-winning, critically acclaimed film stars Rod Steiger as Sol Nazerman. Traumatized after surviving the camps in which his wife was raped and his children murdered, Nazerman isolates himself from the outside world by behaving in a cold and sometimes cruel manner. He suffers from flashbacks and painful memories of the camps, while his assistant Jesus Ortiz (played by Jaime Sanchez) attempts to relate to him.

Director

• Sidney Lumet

Cast

• Rod Steiger (Sol Nazerman)
• Geraldine Fitzgerald (Marilyn Birchfield)
• Brock Peters (Rodriguez)
• Jaime Sanchez (Jesus Ortiz)
• Thelma Oliver (Ortiz'sgfirl)
• Marketa Kimbrel (Tessie)
• Baruch Lumet (Mendel)
• Juano Hernandez (Mr. Smith)
• Linda Geiser (Ruth Nazerman)
• Nancy R. Pollock (Bertha)
• Raymond St. Jacques (Tangee)
• John McCurry (Buck)
• Eusebia Cosme (Mrs. Ortiz)
• Warren Finnerty (Savarese)
• Jack Ader (Morton)
• E. M. Margolese (Papa)
• Marianne Kanter (Joan)
• Ed Morehouse (Robinson)
• Marc Alexander (Rubin)

Awards

• Berlin International Film Festival Award for Best Actor (1965): Rod Steiger