The Pawnbroker

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The Pawnbroker

1965

1h 56m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Based on the novel by Edward Lewis Wallant, this drama focuses on former professor Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger), the survivor of a German concentration camp who now runs a pawn shop in East Harlem. Having witnessed his family's death at the hands of the Nazis, he is embittered toward humanity and pushes away anyone around him, including his young Puerto Rican employee, Jesus (Jaime Sanchez). As Nazerman contends with his internal conflicts, the harsh realities of the city affect his life as well.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

Aug 13, 2021

4/5

The result is a kind of sensory madness and torture that telegraphs perfectly the interior state of our sympathetic protagonist's mind.

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William J. Nazzaro

Arizona Republic

Sep 2, 2020

[The Pawnbroker] is a brilliant cinema achievement. Directed with sharp eye by Sidney Lumet, this is a film that holds you by the throat for its full two-hour running time, and a film you will not long forget.

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Kat Halstead

Common Sense Media

Mar 26, 2025

Steiger was nominated for an Oscar for his central performance in this impactful drama about a Jewish man in New York, haunted by his experience of the Holocaust.

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Noah Gittell

Washington City Paper

Feb 3, 2025

The Pawnbroker is a difficult film. A groundbreaking film. A controversial, important, and altogether wonderful film that has little reputation today.

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Aug 28, 2024

3.5/4

...still manages to shock the system thanks to its stark, near-subliminal editing techniques.

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Pauline Kael

McCall's

Sep 20, 2023

Juano Hernandez, as the man who wants to talk, gives the single most moving performance I saw in 1965, and Rod Steiger’s power makes our questioning of much of the action seem like quibbling.

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Ernie K

@ErnieK May 30, 2025

Rod Steiger's performance is haunting, incisive, and simply brilliant. This is a dark/stark drama that's directed to perfection by Sidney Lumet (of "12 Angry Men" among other notable achievements), and it truly is a "must see." This depiction of what can torture the human mind as it tries to cope with loss and madness is the best portrayal of Steiger's career and it's truly unbelievable that at the Academy Awards he somehow lost Best Actor to Lee Marvin. Please try this gripping film on and you'll be fixated.

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B. W

@RT69774154 Apr 17, 2025

This movie has one of the darkest endings, but getting there is worth the effort. Introspective and haunting, it's a film everyone should see once. Steiger is outstanding.

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Elaine K

@RT98503760 Feb 2, 2025

It’s a very thoughtful movie. It’s very well produced and it leaves you thinking.

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Mark B

@RT47256035 Jan 28, 2025

Steiger is spot on. The rest of the cast is also. His alienation is portrayed authentically. The gilding the lilly plot twist was that he was a front for a gangster. It wasn't needed. It felt like a distraction from what was going on in front of him. There's was a tendency in the fifties and sixties to pile on subplots. Still a great movie.

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Ryan O

@rye80 Dec 31, 2023

A quite portrait of a man who's quietly haunted by life after the concentration camps of Germany, now living a seemingly docile family life In New Jersey.

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Alec B

@Alec97 Nov 10, 2023

The legacy of the Holocaust is deeply felt here. Steiger is reined in by Lumet, which produces a pretty great performance.

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Sidney Lumet

Director

Rod Steiger

Sol Nazerman

Geraldine Fitzgerald

Marilyn Birchfield

Brock Peters

Rodriguez

Jaime Sanchez

Jesus Ortiz

Thelma Oliver

Ortiz' Girl

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The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - Subway to the Camps

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The Pawnbroker: Official Clip - Money Is the Whole Thing

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Synopsis

Based on the novel by Edward Lewis Wallant, this drama focuses on former professor Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger), the survivor of a German concentration camp who now runs a pawn shop in East Harlem. Having witnessed his family's death at the hands of the Nazis, he is embittered toward humanity and pushes away anyone around him, including his young Puerto Rican employee, Jesus (Jaime Sanchez). As Nazerman contends with his internal conflicts, the harsh realities of the city affect his life as well.

Director: Sidney Lumet
Producer: Roger H. Lewis, Philip Langner
Screenwriter: Morton S. Fine, David Friedkin
Distributor: Allied Artists Pictures
Production Co: Landau Company
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 20, 1965, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 9, 2016
Runtime: 1h 56m

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