The Wall

It could be said that without the incredible success of the ABC miniseries Holocaust in 1978, CBS might have thought twice before greenlighting the ambitious, three-hour TV docudrama The Wall four years later. Adapted by Millard Lampell from his own 1960 Broadway play, which in turn was inspired by John Hersey's 1950 novel, The Wall is the heartbreaking but inspiring story of the heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. When it becomes obvious that every Jew in Poland is doomed to be shipped off to the Nazi work and death camps, some 650 members of the newly formed Jewish Fighting Organization mount a last, brave stand against nearly 3000 German soldiers. The story is told through the eyes of Warsaw Jew Dolek Benson (Tom Conti, in his first American TV appearance), who is a passive observer of the atrocities all around him until he learns the truth about the Nazi's "resettlement" program. Rachel Roberts, cast as a former schoolteacher, made her final appearance in this film; she passed away shortly after production ended. Filmed on location in Sosnowiec, Poland and first telecast February 16, 1982, The Wall earned a Peabody Award the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide (NYTimes).

I saw this film over twenty years ago. Still remember the acts of sublime heroism and cowardice depicted convincingly by the cast. I didn't mind the the few historical inaccuracies, because I still felt that the film was true to the desperate situation in the Warsaw Ghetto at that time. I think that this was the first time that I saw Lisa Eichhorn. I have been a fan of her work since.

With A-level acting by Tom Conti, Eli Wallach and the great Rachel Roberts (in a cameo),THE WALL ends up being pretty effective and memorable. Much of the first 2/3 of the film seem stagy, betraying the origins as a stage play based on Hersey's novel. But the actors are mostly above average and quickly make you forget they are only performing. The horror of this story increases until the final hour when it goes into full gear, with shocking, graphic violence and psychological torment. The Polish locations lend a chilling authenticity to this film as well. Not one of the very greatest Holocaust films, but a pretty decent one.

John Hersey is a great author who has distinguished himself from the beginning after the war, by first of all "A Bell for Adano", an unforgettable classic also as film demonstrating a deep sense of humanity. For this book he has used authentic diaries and accounts of survivors from the Warsaw ghetto, so the story and film could be said to be next to quite authentic and is even filmed in Warsaw. It is more convincing than Andrzjej Wajda's great film of the same horrors, but this is no feature film but a television series, just like "Holocaust", "The Winds of War" and other great Second World War TV epics, while only Polanski's "The Pianist" can vie with this one for convincing authenticity, also based on a true story. As a whole, it's a great production with fine music and performances, especially by Eli Wallach and Tom Conti, and it is well sustained the whole way - you will find no difficulty in seeing the whole thing (2½ hours) in one sitting. There is no speculation, no conjecture, no romanticizing, but plain downright realism all the way, so it should be endorsed as a must, more so than "Holocaust" and "Winds of War" which are mainly fiction, for a vital testimony of important facts of the Second World War.

I agree with most of the posts and was impressed with the setting, huge number of extras used, and overall quality of the movie. But I was distracted by how too often their clothes were new and even at the end when they were running out they looked like they were in a fashion show. Also it was distracting that Lisa Eichhorn's eyebrows were finely plucked as if she would be concerned about looking like she was going to be in a fashion magazine. But that was the director's fault and whoever was in charge of makeup and costumes fault. I have seen this story done in other movies and think it is a very important message. My father fought in WWll and as a child I heard stories about the war and on TV there were always documentaries about it which had a great impression on me. It concerns me that in 2016 there seems to be a lot of fascism being supported.