Beautiful Blue Eyes

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Beautiful Blue Eyes
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2022 US release poster
Directed byJoshua Newton
Written byJoshua Newton
Produced by
  • Joshua Newton
  • Kevin Farr
Starring
CinematographyAdrian Cranage, James Simon
Edited byJoshua Newton
Music by
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Beautiful Blue Eyes (originally entitled Iron Cross) is a 2022 English thriller film written and directed by Joshua Newton. It stars Roy Scheider in his final role as a retired police detective who believes he has found the Nazi officer who slaughtered his family in World War II. Scott Cohen, Alexander Newton, Calita Rainford, Sarah Bolger, Anna Polony, and Helmut Berger appear in supporting roles.

Contents

Shot in 2007, the original version of the film premiered as Iron Cross at the 26th Boston Film Festival in 2010. It was shortlisted by Variety as an Oscar contender (and without distribution secured) was screened at a small, four-walled theatre in Los Angeles for one week in order to qualify for entry into festivals. At the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance International Film Festival (MOTIFF), the film's director Joshua Newton was presented the Remembrance Award by Clint Eastwood. At the Boston Film Festival, Joshua Newton received the Festival's Visionary Filmmaker Award and his 18-year old son Alexander Newton was voted Best Young Actor. [1] Iron Cross was not shown publicly again, and in 2022 the film was re-edited and retitled Beautiful Blue Eyes and given a new release in 431 US Regal Cinemas to coincide with a re-release of Scheider's film Jaws . [2] The film is currently exclusively available through the digital platform MovieKey.

Plot

Joseph is a retired NYPD cop and Holocaust survivor. He travels to Nuremberg to visit his son Ronnie years after turning his back on him for rejecting a promising career in the NYPD and marrying a local artist, Anna. No sooner does Joseph attempt to heal the rift with Ronnie than he swears that an elderly man living in Ronnie's building, under the false name of Shrager, is the Nazi SS Commander who slaughtered his entire family during World War II. With little hope of seeing him stand trial, Joseph talks Ronnie into exacting justice – and vengeance – and together they set out to kill him.

Flashbacks reveal the teenage love of Young Joseph for a heroic Polish girl, Kashka, and his narrow escape from the massacre, leading to the film's climax.

Cast

Production

Newton developed the script from a concept involving his father, Bruno Newton. Joshua asked himself what his father would do in the event that he discovered the man who murdered his family during the Holocaust. The character of Joseph, played by Roy Scheider, is loosely based on Bruno Newton. Alexander Newton, son of Joshua and grandson of Bruno, played the character of Joseph as a youngster during World War II. Bruno Newton died during filming from the same disease that took Roy Scheider's life nine months later, Multiple myeloma.

As Scheider died before production was finished, some of his scenes were completed utilizing CGI techniques.[ citation needed ]

Accolades

The film had a week-long qualifying run in Los Angeles, for awards consideration. It later aired at the 26th Boston Film Festival in September 2010, where director Joshua Newton won the Visionary Filmmaker Award. His son, Alexander, won the festival's prize for Best Young Actor for his portrayal of the young Joseph. [3]

On 15 November 2010, the film received the Remembrance Award at the Museum of Tolerance International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Museum of Tolerance and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called the picture "The most important film since Schindler's List".

Box Office Pro magazine's Pete Hammond gave the film a favourable review, writing "What he's achieved here is a beautifully crafted movie likely to have audiences talking long afterward, especially considering the twist ending that left the audience I previewed the film with buzzing." [4]

12 Year Wait To Release

In the summer of 2009, Variety editor Tim Grey listed Iron Cross, among about 50 other films, as a potential Academy Awards nominee. [5] The magazine's sales staff, apparently acting independent of the editorial staff, contacted Joshua Newton that same day, signing him to a $400,000 ($546,000 today) Oscar ad campaign. [5]

The November 2009 Oscar ad campaign was undercut after the film had a week-long, unadvertised, Oscar qualifying run in Los Angeles in December 2009. [5] [6] A review from that run, published by Variety's editorial staff, was quite negative, opening with: "Iron Cross will be remembered as Roy Scheider's swan song and little else". [6] Following an apology by the magazine's managing director, the editor removed the review from the magazine's website, with no official explanation. [5]

Calibra LLC, the production company behind the film, sued Variety, stating that the review breached the advertising agreement to promote the picture for Oscar consideration. On 12 May 2010 a California Superior Court judge granted Variety's anti-SLAPP motion and dismissed Calibra's case as Variety's review was protected under the First Amendment. [7] Calibra subsequently appealed on the grounds that Variety had impliedly waived the magazine's free speech rights when it signed the promotions contract. The California Court of Appeal held that Variety's rights under the First Amendment could only be waived expressly, not as an implied term of the agreement, and as such ruled in favor of Variety. The original negative review from Variety has been re-posted to their website. [6]

Following a lawsuit and the death of actor Scheider, the release of the film was put on hold, as it did not align with director Joshua Newton's original intentions. It was previewed at the Boston Film Festival in September 2010, where it won two awards: Visionary Filmmaker for Joshua Newton and Best Young Actor for Alexander Newton.

In 2022, damaged scenes were repaired using artificial intelligence (AI), and the film was finally completed in accordance with Newton's original script. The film was released to the public on September 9, 2022, in 431 Regal Cinemas, marking a notable achievement for an independent film.

Facebook advertising ban

Facebook had banned the filmmakers from promoting or advertising the film. The social media giant said the film’s title, which refers to the eye color of a child who perished at the hands of the Nazis and invokes a key scene in the movie, violated its policy against content that “includes direct or indirect assertions or implications about a person’s race,” among other personal attributes. [8] In September 2023, a California federal court dismissed the producer's lawsuit against Facebook for refusing the ads. [9]

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References

  1. ↑ "Clint Eastwood and British director honoured at Los Angeles gala". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  2. ↑ Justice/Vengeance "restored-footage release info" in news article
  3. ↑ Forbes.com [ dead link ]
  4. ↑ Pete Hammond (12 March 2010). "Iron Cross". Box Office Pro . Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 John Cook and Bob Garfield (5 March 2010). "Quid Pro Ad Quota". "On The Media" radio program. WNYC . Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Robert Koehler (20 December 2009). "Review: Iron Cross". Variety . Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Eric Goldman (4 June 2010). "Calibra v Variety BC433320 Notice of Ruling". Los Angeles County Superior Court . Scribd . Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Tatiana Siegel (14 September 2022). "Facebook Bans Holocaust Film for Violating Race Policy". Rolling Stone.
  9. ↑ Newton v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 2023 WL 5749258 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 6, 2023)
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