The Assassination of Trotsky is a 1972 British historical drama film, directed by Joseph Losey with a screenplay by Nicholas Mosley. It stars Richard Burton as Leon Trotsky, as well as Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.
The Assassination of Trotsky | |
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Directed by | Joseph Losey |
Written by | Nicholas Mosley |
Produced by | Norman Priggen Josef Shaftel (executive producer) |
Starring | Richard Burton Alain Delon Romy Schneider Valentina Cortese Jean Desailly |
Cinematography | Pasqualino De Santis |
Edited by | Reginald Beck |
Music by | Egisto Macchi |
Production companies | Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica Compagnia Internazionale Alessandra Cinematografica Cinétel |
Distributed by | Cinerama Releasing Corporation |
Release date | 20 April 1972 |
Running time | 103 minutes |
Countries | Italy France United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $2.5 million |
Box office | 561,109 admissions (France)[1] |
Exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929, Leon Trotsky travels from Turkey to France to Norway, before arriving in Mexico in January 1937. The film begins in Mexico City in 1940, during a May Day celebration. Trotsky has not escaped the attention of the Soviet dictator of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, who sends out an assassin named Frank Jacson. The killer decides to infiltrate Trotsky's house by befriending one of the young communists in Trotsky's circle.
In 1965, Josef Shaftel optioned the novel The Great Prince Died by Bernard Wolfe. The film was a co-production between the French Valoria Company and Dino De Laurentiis. It was originally to be shot in England,[2] but was eventually filmed in Rome. The movie used Isaac Don Levine's book The Mind of an Assassin as a source.[3]
According to author Melvin Bragg, the director Joseph Losey was so drunk and tired that he relied on long monologues by Burton to carry the film, in some cases even forgetting what was in the script. Burton himself wrote that he, or the continuity girl, would have to remind Losey of things that would have caused continuity gaffes.[4]
The Assassination of Trotsky was included as one of the choices in the book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time.[5]
Films directed by Joseph Losey | |
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