Brainwashed
Cast & Crew
Gerd Oswald
Curd Jürgens
Claire Bloom
Hansjörg Felmy
Mario Adorf
Albert Lieven
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1938, shortly after the Nazi invasion of Austria, a prominent Viennese intellectual, Werner von Basil, is arrested for smuggling art treasures out of the country. When he refuses to collaborate, Hans Berger, a Gestapo official, tries to break his will by imprisoning him in a hotel room without mental sustenance of any kind. Irene Andreny, a young ballerina with whom Berger is in love, tries to intercede on von Basil's behalf but to no avail. During a visit to Berger's office, von Basil manages to steal a small book on chess which he studies voraciously in order to keep his mind alert. Even when the book is taken away from him, he continues to mentally play the game. So complete is his concentration that when Berger finally succeeds in breaking him down, von Basil suffers a total mental collapse, rendering him useless to his captors. When he is eventually released, he is joined by Irene, who helps him regain his sanity.
Director
Gerd Oswald
Cast
Curd Jürgens
Claire Bloom
Hansjörg Felmy
Mario Adorf
Albert Lieven
Alan Gifford
Dietmar Schönherr
Karel Stepanek
Wolfgang Wahl
Rudolf Forster
Albert Bessler
Jan Hendriks
Harald Maresch
Dorothea Wieck
Ryk De Gooyer
Susanne Körber
Hans Söhnker
Crew
Fritz Anton
Klaus Eckstein
Wolf Englert
Johannes J. Frank
Hans-martin Majewski
Harold Medford
Gerd Oswald
Bernard Reicherts
Herbert Reinecker
Ernst Richter
Willi Schöne
Günter Senftleben
Ursula Stutz
Wolf Vollmar
Luggi Waldleitner
Jochen Wiedermann
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Filmed in Austria and Czechoslovakia. Released in West Germany in 1960 as Die Schachnovelle. Also known as The Royal Game.
