Morituri | |
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![]() original movie poster | |
Directed by | Bernhard Wicki |
Screenplay by | Daniel Taradash |
Based on | Morituri (1958 novel) by Werner Jörg Lüddecke |
Produced by | Aaron Rosenberg |
Starring | Marlon Brando Yul Brynner Janet Margolin Trevor Howard Wally Cox |
Cinematography | Conrad L. Hall |
Edited by | Joseph Silver |
Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
Distributed by | Twentieth Century-Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $6,290,000[1] |
Box office | $3,000,000[2] |
Morituri (also known as The Saboteur: Code Name Morituri) is a 1965 American war thriller film directed by Bernhard Wicki and starring Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Janet Margolin and Trevor Howard. The cinematography was by Conrad L. Hall, and the film musical score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.
Based on a 1958 novel of the same title by German writer Werner Jörg Lüddecke, the film centers on a German pacificist (Brando) blackmailed by the Allied into sabotaging a Nazi-controlled merchant ship, whose captain is having his own second thoughts about the war effort. The title of the film is from the Latin phrase, Morituri te salutant (“We who are about to die, salute you”), attributed to Roman gladiators.
Wicki's first English-language film, Moritiuri received generally positive reviews but was a commercial flop. It was nominated for two Oscars in the 38th Academy Awards, for Best Black-and-White Cinematography and Best Black-and-White Costume Design.