The Desperate

Based on a true story, this dramatic short film stars veteran character actor Peter Mark Richman as Dr. Blumenthal, a renowned Jewish surgeon incarcerated at a death camp during World War II. When the son of Nazi commander General Von Ulbricht (Greg Mullavey) is seriously wounded and lies dying in an infirmary, Blumenthal is tapped to save the young man's life. Blumenthal initially refuses, resisting Ulbricht's efforts at pleading, bullying, bargaining, and more, but eventually yields to his own conscience as a man of healing. Ulbricht winds up being reduced to making the cowardly I'm-just-following-orders excuse for his participation in the Holocaust, while Blumenthal is suddenly seen by the German as an actual human being. It's nice to see Richman—a constant presence on series television in the 1960s and ‘70s—playing a substantial role late in his career. Recommended. Aud: P. (T. Keogh)