The Tenth Man

In the late 1980s, I had just seen Anthony Hopkins in "The Bounty," which together with the earlier "Magic" convinced me he was an actor to watch for; and I had read Graham Greene's recently unearthed little novel "The Tenth Man," when I heard about this TV adaptation. My excited anticipation was not disappointed, and since then I have probably seen this little gem 25 times, often screening it for high school students, who watch in rapt fascination. The plot is amazing -- as only GG could concoct -- and I am still convinced this is Hopkins's best performance. Also superb are Kristin Scott Thomas, Derek Jacobi, Cyril Cusack and Brenda Bruce. Production values are strong if not stellar (after all, it's made for TV). Too bad this film is all but unavailable -- you'll have to buy a used VHS online if you want to see it; but you won't be sorry.

"The Tenth Man" is a screen adaptation of the powerful novel by Graham Green. Set in 1940s France at the time of the Nazi occupation and its aftermath, it tells the story of a man who does something despicable to save himself and later comes face to face with those whom he wronged. It's a great story with excellent acting by Anthony Hopkins and Kristen Scott Thomas, and well worth watching. However, you should bear in mind that this was a made-for-tv movie in 1988 for the Hallmark Channel.

This means its presentation suffers from a lot of dated clichés, such as a saccharine Hallmark Channel musical score that often detracts from the powerful acting, bright lighting & sets which give it a slightly cheap look, and it also feels a bit rushed in pace, not giving the dramatic moments enough time to sink in. But if you can overlook these small flaws, the story and acting will sweep you away.

Though set during WW2, this is not a war movie, there isn't much violence, and when there is violence it's handled in a safe PG-13 way. This is mostly a sentimental film that focuses on the characters' feelings more than action and plot twists. The plot does get twisty toward the end, bordering on crime thriller, but really this movie is more for people who enjoy slow, nostalgic films with themes of regret, forgiveness, morality and a dash of romance.

I would compare this film to "Somewhere in Time" (1980) though the stories are nothing alike; they both share the same sentimental vibe, a bit syrupy in presentation but with first class acting and a great story.

When the Germans invade northern France, they round up a hundred local men, including Anthony Hopkins. Being Nazis and all, they announce that ten of the prisoners will die, and leave it up to them to decide who. They decide on lots. Hopkins is one of the ten. He trades his lot with Timothy Watson, in return for all his goods. Watson leaves everything to his sister and mother.

Three years later, a bearded Hopkins is free and goes to his estate, where Kristen Scott Thomas and an ailing Brenda Bruce are in possession. They wait with fear and hatred Hopkins' return, so he claims to be a nobody and gets a job with them as a common laborer. Then one day,collaborator and fugitive Derek Jacobi, the son of one of the other men in the hundred, shows up, fleeing from the Resistance. He claims to be Anthony Hopkins.

It's based on a novel by Graham Greene that he turned into a script and left in the MGM archives in the mid-1940s. Director Jack Gold handles the film like it's a TV movie with enough of a budget for some extra location shooting. Hopkins plays his role in a repressed combination of shame for what he has done, love for Miss Thomas, and fear for the consequences of any revelation. With a better director, or a better lighting cameraman, the role might have worked. As it is, those who are familiar with Greene's world will understand what is going on. Those who approach it without any background will just find it bizarre.

In Nazi-occupied France, a well-to-do businessman is imprisoned by chance and trades all his money and possessions to another prisoner in order to escape execution. Once released, he travels back to his old home and there encounters the bitter family of the man who took his place...

It's a good distance from the perfection of The Third Man, but this largely-forgotten TV adaptation is still a thoroughly engrossing story, much better than the great majority of cinema releases in a similar vein. It's better early on, and ends a little weakly, but all the turns of the plot keep you watching.

Anthony Hopkins is truly first rate, and the script is fine, even if the camerawork, music, direction and general production values are strictly from a 1980s made-for-TV movie. All the other actors are solid, although the young Kristin Scott-Thomas, not yet fully-formed, is slightly miscast as a working class woman with a continually appearing and disappearing amateur dramatics cockerney accent.

With more money, time and care, this could have been just as much a classic as The Remains of The Day or The English Patient, but even as it is, it still remains one of the better adaptations of Greene's work.

Anthony Hopkins stars with Kristin Scott Thomas, Derek Jacobi, Brenda Bruce, and Timothy Watson in "The Tenth Man," an adaptation of a novel by Graham Greene.

During World War II, an attorney in Pris, Jean Louis Chavel (Hopkins) is picked up on the street by the Nazis and thrown in a group prison with other men. It's part of a routine roundup. Wrong place, wrong time.

The men are informed that three of them will be executed in the morning because of some French malfeasance. The group is to choose who will be killed. The prisoners rip up a letter and mark three with an X. They then each draw a piece of paper from a shoe.

When Chavel draws a paper with an X, he panics, and offers 100,000 francs to anyone who will take his place. The men laugh. How could anyone enjoy the money from there? However, one man, Michel Mangeot (Watson) is interested. He has a bad cough, and at this point, would rather die than stay in horrible conditions.

Chavel offers him 300,000 francs and his country home. He signs everything over to Mangeot. Mangeot then writes a will, witnessed by two prisoners, and leaves everything to his sister and mother.

Three years later, the war over, Chavel is a free man. He is a man with nothing and must beg on the street. He walks to his old house. There he sees Therese, Mangeot's sister. She is used to hobos coming to the house for food and offers him some. He gives her a fake name.

Chavel then realizes the deep hatred Therese and her mother have for this Chavel, a coward who let their brother die. Therese's dream is that she will meet him and spit in his face. Then she intends to kill him.

Needing help with the house and grounds, she has Chavel stay and work for her. Over time, an attraction develops. Then one night, during a storm, there is a frantic knock at the door. The man (Derek Jacobi) identifies himself as Jean Louis Chavel.

Normally I take these things for what they are, but I did wonder how Chavel managed to live imprisoned over the next three years, and also if anyone else was executed.

This film serves as a reminder of several things - committing something one perceives as a bad deed does not make the person bad, everyone has good and bad in them, and hatred that is allowed to fester cannot bring any happiness.

Hopkins is fantastic as a terrified man who has no understanding of what's happened to him. Through his performance, one really feels the horror of being picked up and taken from your life for no reason.

Kristin Scott Thomas beautifully portrays a lonely, angry, bitter woman who has isolated herself from the world.

The production values are good.

"The Tenth Man" is truly a gem that deserves a DVD release. It is a powerful film.