Upon learning that he will die of cancer in a few months, Gerlach, head of West Germany's greatest industrial combine, summons his younger son, Werner, and Werner's wife, Johanna, an actress, to the family home in Altona. Gerlach wants Werner to assume control of the business, but Werner disapproves of the power his father has amassed by openly supporting any government that would enable him to make money. Although Johanna has been told the elder Gerlach son, Franz, had been killed several years after being cited at the Nuremberg trials for war crimes, she discovers he is actually living in the attic of the house. Walled up in a room without windows and surrounded by relics of the Nazi era, he is totally insane and sees no one except his sister Leni, who brings him food and tells him that Germany is in poverty and ruins. Johanna manages to gain entrance to the room and, after several talks, tells him that Germany is enjoying enormous prosperity. Johanna begins to pity Franz; the embittered and possessive Leni tells the truth about Franz's long career as a soldier who enjoyed torturing and killing his victims. Franz, in desperation, leaves his self-imposed confinement and seeks out his father. The elder Gerlach takes Franz to the shipyards and proudly shows him his empire. As they travel to the observation platform, Franz, in an attempt to erase the guilt of his father and himself, leaps to his death, dragging his father with him.

Director:
Vittorio De Sica	Director
Manfred Wekwerth	Dir theatrical seq
Luisa Alessandri	Assistant Director
Giuseppe Menegatti	Assistant Director
Cast:
Sophia Loren	as Johanna
Maximilian Schell	as Franz
Fredric March	as Gerlach
Robert Wagner	as Werner
Françoise Prévost	as Leni
Alfredo Franchi	as Grounds keeper
Lucia Pelella	as Wife of grounds keeper
Roberto Massa	as Driver
Antonia Cianci	as Maid
Carlo Antonini	as Police official
Armando Sifo	as Policeman
Aldo Pecchioli	as Cook
Cinematography:
Roberto Gerardi	Director of Photography
Writer:
Abby Mann	Screenwriter
Cesare Zavattini	Scr (see note)
Producer:
Carlo Ponti	Producer
Editing:
Manuel Del Campo	Film Editor
Adriana Novelli	Film Editor
Music:
Dmitriy Dmitriyevich Shostakovich	Symphony no. 11 ("the year 1905"), 3d movement: "in memorium"
Franco Ferrara	Cond
Nino Rota	Mus comment
Art Director:
Ezio Frigerio	Art Director
Carlo Tommasi	Asst art dir
Make-Up:
Nilo Jacoponi	Makeup
Giuseppe Annunziata	Makeup for sophia loren
Ada Palombi	Hairdresser for sophia loren
Carlo Sindici	Hairdresser
Costume-Wardrobe:
Pier Luigi Pizzi	Ward des
Sound:
Ennio Sensi	Sound Engineer
Film Production - Main:
Luciano Perugia	Exec in charge of prod
Tommaso Sagone	Asst to the prod
Mario De Biase	Asst to the prod
Jerzy Macc	Asst to the prod
Barbara Fuchs	Cont girls
Pina Zani	Cont girls
Renato Guttuso	Drawings
George Tyne	Dial dir

Exteriors filmed in Hamburg. Released in Italy in 1962 as I sequestrati di Altona and in France in 1963 as Les séquestrés d'Altona. The film includes a scene in a theater where Sophia Loren interprets the "Referendum" scene from Bertolt Brecht's A Private Life of the Master Race, and Ekkehard Schall interprets a scene from The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui, as presented by the Berliner Ensemble. Cesare Zavattini does not receive U. S. screen credit.

Released in France 1963

Released in Italy 1962

Released in United States Fall October 30, 1962

Released in United States October 30, 1962

Released in United States September 1963

b&w

Scenes from Brecht's plays "A Private Life of the Master Race" and "The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui" are interpreted in the film.

CinemaScope

Released in Italy 1962

Released in France 1963

Released in United States September 1963

Released in United States Fall October 30, 1962

Released in United States October 30, 1962 (New York City)

Inspired by the play Les séquestrés d'Altona by Jean-Paul Sartre (Paris, 23 Sep 1959).