Iron Cross / Beautiful Blue Eyes (found English thriller film; 2009)

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Theatrical poster

Status: Partially Found"Partially Found" is not in the list (Lost, Found, Partially lost, Partially found, Existence unconfirmed, Unknown, Non-existence confirmed) of allowed values for the "Has status" property.



Iron Cross was a thriller film written and directed by Joshua Newton. It starred Roy Scheider as a retired police detective who believes he has found the Nazi officer responsible for his family's deaths in his son's apartment complex.

The film marked the final role of Scheider, who died during production. Newton completed the film through a prosthetic latex mask based on Scheider's face and CGI to have Scheider appear in the unfinished scenes.[1]

Iron Cross received a limited theatrical release in 2009, and would later have a limited showing at the 26th Boston Film Festival in 2010 and another limited theatrical release in 2011 but was never released to home media. While no official word has been made on why it has not appeared on home media, clues can be found in Calibra Pictures, the film's production company, taking unsuccessful legal action against a negative review and subsequently filing for bankruptcy.

Plot

Joseph, a retired New York City detective, travels to Nuremberg for a visit with his son Ronnie. The two have been estranged since Ronnie ended his career with the NYPD to become an actor, but Joseph is seeking reconciliation following the death of his wife. Ronnie is married to Anna, an artist, and lives in an apartment complex that is also home to two elderly tenants, Ernst Shrager and Frau Ganz.[2]

When Joseph arrives at the apartment, he becomes convinced that Shrager is Vogler, the SS officer who murdered his parents and siblings during World War II. Ronnie doubts these claims until he and his father find Nazi items in Shrager's apartment, along with a passport identifying him as Ernest Otto Volger. Following this revelation, Joseph develops a plan to take vengeance on Shrager.[2]

The film also depicts Joseph's time on the run from the Nazis in Poland. In the flashbacks, Joseph meets a Polish girl named Kashka who falls in love with him. Sarah Bolger, Kashka's actress, stated in an interview that Kashka "is interrogated, tortured, and killed to save the person she loves".[3]

Aided by a reluctant Ronnie, Joseph kidnaps Shrager and takes him to a remote area to enact his revenge. The film concludes with a final twist.[2]

Release

Iron Cross was shown in a limited capticiy in 2009, but it was not until 2010 when Iron Cross was shown at the 26th Boston Film Festival where Iron Cross received more exposure but was met with mixed reviews. Later in 2011, Iron Cross would receive another limited release in select theaters.

Accolades

Despite the mixed reception, Iron Cross was in considering for an Oscar award.Iron Cross was given the Remembrance Award at the Museum of Tolerance International Film Festival on November 15, 2010. Found of the Musuem of Tolerance Rabbi Marvin Hier said "The most important film since Schindler's List".[4]

Reception

Iron Cross was exclusively shown between December 12, 2009, and December 20, 2009, in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco to qualify for the Academy Awards.[5] The IMDb reports that it also had a release in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany in 2011.[6]

Due to the film's limited release, only a few reviews were made. Those who reviewed the film universally praised Scheider's performance, but Newton's direction drew more scrutiny.

Whom You Know gave the film high praise for its characters and "complex personal historical nature", noting that Newton based Scheider's character off his father's experiences in World War II, and called it "an intelligent film for intelligent people".[2]

Tim Grierson of LA Weekly said that Iron Cross "is overwhelmed by its own sense of dour significance" and while he enjoyed seeing Scheider have a leading role for the final time in his career, the film wasn't "the farewell he deserved".[7]

A positive review of Iron Cross was written by Pete Hammond of Boxoffice Magazine, which was featured on the film's poster. The review is included on the Rotten Tomatoes page but has since been taken down and was not archived.[8]

Five user reviews of the film were submitted to the IMDb, one negative and three positive. The fifth and most recent review, submitted in 2016, did not directly review the film, but instead questioned why it had never been released to DVD.[9]

A negative review was written by Robert Koehler for Variety. Koehler found that "Scheider put body and soul into the project", but "Newton’s film is simply mediocre stuff, choppy and uncertain, with hints of ambitious ideas that fail to gather steam".[10]

Lawsuit

The negative review from Variety prompted a lawsuit from Calibra Pictures, LLC, the film's production company. According to the lawsuit, Calibra and Variety had an exclusive media partnership where Calibra signed a $400,000 contract in exchange for Variety providing an Academy Award campaign for Iron Cross. The lawsuit alleged that after Calibra paid Variety $226,000, the negative review was "effectively destroying the promotion to distributors and any chance for award nominations for the 2009-2010 awards season".[11]

In the lawsuit, Calibra sought damages for breach of contract, fraud, deceit, and unfair business practices.[12] Variety countered with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that it was a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). The motion to dismiss was granted by the California Superior Court in 2010.[13] Calibra appealed the decision, but the California Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal in 2011, finding that Calibra's allegations lacked legal merit and "Variety had a virtually unfettered right under the First Amendment to choose what to print regarding the film and it did not waive that right in the advertising contract between the parties". Variety was awarded $57,474 in attorneys’ fees and costs and was entitled to recover its attorneys’ fees and costs from Calibra.[14]

After losing the lawsuit, Calibra filed for bankruptcy in 2012.[15] No home releases would be made of Iron Cross and the film has not been seen since its brief theatrical run.

Availability

While there has been no home media release for Iron Cross, the film's trailer can be found in its entirety online. Due to the aforementioned lawsuit and the bankruptcy of Calibra Pictures, no home media of Iron Cross has been made available.

Gallery

Film trailer.

References

  1. [1] Retrieved 9 April '21
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 [2] Retrieved 9 April '21
  3. [3] Retrieved 9 April '21
  4. Article on Iron Cross receiving the award from the Museum of Tolerance Retrieved 11 Apr '21
  5. [4] Retrieved 9 April '21
  6. [5] Retrieved 9 April '21
  7. [6] Retrieved 9 April '21
  8. [7] Retrieved 9 April '21
  9. [8] Retrieved 9 April '21
  10. [9] Retrieved 9 April '21
  11. [10] Retrieved 9 April '21
  12. [11] Retrieved 9 April '21
  13. [12] Retrieved 9 April '21
  14. [13] Retrieved 9 April '21
  15. [14] Retrieved 9 April '21

External links