The fictionalized story of Daniel, the son of Paul and Rochelle Isaacson, who were executed as Soviet spies in the 1950s. As a graduate student in New York in the 1960s, Daniel is involved in the antiwar protest movement and contrasts his experiences to the memory of his parents and his belief that they were wrongfully convicted.
Direction
Lumet's fractured timeline mirrors Daniel's broken psyche.
Acting
Hutton's simmering rage; Patinkin and Crouse's devastating final scene.
Writing
E.L. Doctorow's novel adapted with zero sentimentality.
Director
Sidney Lumet
Timothy Hutton
Daniel Isaacson
Mandy Patinkin
Paul Isaacson
Lindsay Crouse
Rochelle Isaacson
Ed Asner
Jacob Ascher
Ellen Barkin
Phyllis Isaacson
Julie Bovasso
Frieda Stein
Tovah Feldshuh
Linda Mindish
Joseph Leon
Selig Mindish
Carmen Mathews
Mrs. Ascher
Norman Parker
East Bronx Children's Shelter Director
Amanda Plummer
Susan Isaacson
Lee Richardson
Reporter
John Rubinstein
Robert Lewin
Colin Stinton
Dale
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Loosely based on the Rosenberg case; Doctorow's novel caused controversy for fictionalizing real executed spies.
Lumet—son of Yiddish theatre actors—reportedly saw the film as personal: 'This is what America did to my parents' world.'
US
GB
