4. Szell - Marathon Man (1976)
A car crash happens in downtown NYC, one of the people in the car is the brother of a Nazi War Criminal - Szell - who has diamonds in a mystery hidden casket. A history student - Babe is rather angry and haunted by his father's suicide. When his big brother Doc - a CIA agent - gets shot by a former Nazi who is looking for the diamonds, Babe becomes embroiled in an international conspiracy and must confront his murky past whilst evading the Nazis. Laurence Olivier was very ill during the filming of Marathon Man but he still commands the screen with his evil Nazi presence - Szell - cunning, manipulative and generally just a nasty immoral Sociopath. Olivier was nominated for an Oscar for his turn in the film. Apparently Hoffman went for days without sleep in order in prepare for the film's dental mayhem scene. Olivier told him 'Why don't you just act?'. Brimming with a terrible feeling of antisemitism, the actors in the film have good chemistry between them and the film is well paced by the ever capable John Schlesinger. The characterisation is wonderful - particularly that of Babe (Dustin Hoffman) who is a deep and troubled man. A film that shows World War Two and the nefarious Nazis lingered on beyond the truces on the battlefield and they are every bit as sadistic, greedy and immoral as they ever were.