The Good German

I watched the movie just after finishing the novel by Joseph Kanon.

The movie was a flop commercially (just over a $1m US box office despite $32m budget).

1. Black & white - Let's face it. Americans just won't turn out for a black & white movie. However, the other Clooney-Soderbergh black & white movie "Good Night, and Good Luck" grossed $31m with only a $7.5m budget and Clooney was just a supporting character, not even on the cover of the poster.

2. Not exactly a happy ending.

Anyway, let me just note some differences between the movie and the book without giving anything away (this assumes that anybody actually reads my blog, which may be optimistic).

Characters in the movie:

Jake Geismer (George Clooney) has some good action sequences in the book which I thought would be used in the movie. Jake gets away from the Russians at Adlon. Later, he has another action sequence in the parade, first on foot, then in a car. In the movie, Clooney character is a bit passive.

Tully (Tobey Maguire) - let's just say that this character has no dialogue in the book.

Lena Brandt - Lena character is almost saintly in the book, taking care of children in the hospital. In the movie, Cate Blanchett is more of a composite character, not quite saintly.

Emil Brandt is the mathematician who makes some key calculations on paper (900 calories per day). In the movie, he's just Bettman's favorite secretary.

Franz Bettmann - this one I don't quite understand. For everyone else, the movie uses the book character names. The book equivalent is von Braun who is only referred to and does not make an appearance.

Bernie Teitel is a Jew in the novel. He left Germany with his family during the 1930s and is very committed to bringing justice to the Nazi criminals.

Gunther is just a goon in the movie with no lines. In the book, he is a very important character. He was a decorated WW I veteran who became a policeman afterwards. His wife was a Jew who was fingered by the greifer. He testifies against Renate. He also helps Jake and Emil in the book, making a big sacrifice.

Congressman Breimer represents Utica, NY, home of the American Dye company which has a special relationship with a German company.

Lieutenant Schaeffer has a very substantial role in the book. I don't think he even has a line in the movie.

Danny - just a friendly bartender in the movie but in the novel, he's not exactly a boy scout.

General Sikorsky - Russian intelligence officer has several meetings with Jake and comes to a bad end in the book.

Colonel Muller signs some important pilsersigns in the book for Rosen and Erich.

Characters not in the movie:

Liz - American photographer who has an unfortunate accident. Lieutenant Schaeffer was dating her.

Renate - Greifer - a Jew who points out other Jews out to the Nazis. She has a talk with Jake right after her trial and asks for a big favor in return. She also helps Jake out with some crucial information.

Erich - Renate's son.

Dr. Rosen - business associate of Danny's, helps Lena.

Professor Brandt - Emil's father who was holding on to something.

Brian - a British reporter who helps out Jake at Adlon