Thomas Tipton

“With this lavish colour production of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman, we are in more conventional, though never dull, territory. It is a handsome, well sung version which stands up well to the contemporary BBC 2 version that graced our screens a Christmas or two ago. (This, too, was a Christmas-time, prestige production). The production and adaptation is by Václav Kaslic, who has produced the opera many times on stage: here he makes imaginative use of the new medium to overcome difficulties inherent in some stories. He has a fine cast, including Jon Piso as a robust Hoffman[,] Sylvia Geszty, Thomas Tipton and Herold Kraus. The orchestra and chorus are from the Bavarian State Opera.” - Brian Baxter, for the BFI.

En 1942, Gregor Lämmle, un professeur de philosophie, se voit contraint par les nazis de démasquer une résistante, Maria von Gall, qui a le tort de connaître les codes d'accès à des comptes bancaires suisses. Cette mission est un supplice pour l'enseignant, secrètement amoureux de la jeune femme... Un téléfilm britannique en deux parties qui plonge dans les affres de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.