First in a series of anthology films dealing with Christians who put their lives on the line to help rescue Jews from the Holocaust. In the first of two short films, "Mamusha," as the Nazis invade her country, a Polish Catholic housekeeper takes under her wing the youngster in the Jewish family for whom she is employed, and shepherds him through WWII in hopes of ultimately getting him repatriated to Palestine. In "Woman on a Bicycle," an unmarried French woman is pressed into service by the church to distribute underground communication pamphlets for the Resistance and ultimately ends up helping the church shelter 19 Jews.
Acting
Perkins and Ward do career-best work, criminally overlooked.
Direction
Bogdanovich's restraint lets horror breathe in negative space.
Writing
No speechifying—courage shown through mundane daily choices.
Director
Peter Bogdanovich
Elizabeth Perkins
Gertruda Babilinska (segment "Mamusha")
Sela Ward
Marie-Rose Gineste (segment "Woman on a Bicycle")
Anne Jackson
Maman (segment "Woman on a Bicycle")
Fritz Weaver
Father Theas (segment "Woman on a Bicycle")
Al Waxman
Dr. Jakob Weinstock (segment "Mamusha")
Nicky Guadagni
Lydia Stolowitsky (segment "Mamusha")
George Morfogen
Adult Michael - Narrator (segment "Mamusha")
Mark Humphrey
Tomas Kolchak (segment "Mamusha")
Gerard Parkes
Father Daniel (segment "Mamusha")
Stuart Stone
Aaron Weinstock (segment "Mamusha")
Nancy Beatty
Ella Weinstock (segment "Mamusha")
Gerry Quigley
Franek (segment "Mamusha")
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was part of a planned Showtime anthology series that only produced two installments before cancellation, making it a true TV movie graveyard survivor. Perkins reportedly took minimum pay to secure the role.
Both segments are based on real women finally receiving recognition decades later—Gertruda Babilinska was named Righteous Among the Nations in 1985, Marie-Rose Gineste in 1988. The film arrived just as Holocaust education was pivoting from male saviors to hidden female networks.
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