Michael Roemer obit

Michael Roemer, Maker of Acclaimed but Little-Seen Films, Dies at 97

His “Nothing but a Man” and “The Plot Against Harry” drew critical praise but never found an audience. He said he took “a certain pride in not having been a success.” 

He was not on the list.

Filmmaker Michael Roemer died at the age of 97, his family confirmed to Vulture. Born in 1928 in Berlin to a Jewish family, as a child Roemer escaped Germany right before the outbreak of World War II in a Kindertransport, an organized rescue effort to get Jewish children out of the country and into British foster homes. “I think I was the only child who didn’t cry. I was probably quite numb,” Roemer explained to Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri in an interview earlier this year. “My mother said that many of the parents who saw us onto the train took taxis to another railroad station in Berlin through which the train was going to pass, and they waved to the train as it went through the station without stopping.” He eventually immigrated to the United States and graduated from Harvard University, where he worked on his first film, A Touch of the Times.

There was a renewed appreciation for Roemer’s body of work in his later years. Nothing but a Man, a 1964 film about a Black newlywed couple in Alabama, was re-released in the United States and added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1993. His comedy film, The Plot Against Harry, it was first screened in 1971 but not given a theatrical release until 1989, and screened out of competition at Cannes in 1990. It was eventually nominated for six Independent Film Awards, and in 2023, the film was restored in 4k.

Director

Children of Fate: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family (1993)

Children of Fate: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family

6.7

Director

1993

 

Vengeance Is Mine (1984)

Vengeance Is Mine

7.3

TV Movie

Director

1984

 

American Playhouse (1980)

American Playhouse

7.3

TV Series

Director

1980–1984

2 episodes

 

Dying (1976)

Dying

8.1

Director (directed by)

1976

 

The Plot Against Harry (1971)

The Plot Against Harry

7.0

Director (directed by)

1971

 

Abbey Lincoln in Nothing But a Man (1964)

Nothing But a Man

7.9

Director

1964

 

Cortile Cascino (1962)

Cortile Cascino

6.5

Director

1962

 

Writer

Vengeance Is Mine (1984)

Vengeance Is Mine

7.3

TV Movie

Writer

1984

 

American Playhouse (1980)

American Playhouse

7.3

TV Series

Writer

1980–1984

2 episodes

 

The Plot Against Harry (1971)

The Plot Against Harry

7.0

written by

1971

 

Abbey Lincoln in Nothing But a Man (1964)

Nothing But a Man

7.9

written by

1964

 

Cortile Cascino (1962)

Cortile Cascino

6.5

writer

1962

 

Actor

Kevin Dillon, Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly, and Jerry Ferrara in Entourage (2004)

Entourage

8.4

TV Series

Ari's LawyerBarry

2006–2009

2 episodes

 

Exorcist Chronicles (2007)

Exorcist Chronicles

3.4

Nathan Silver

2007

 

Chloe's Prayer (2006)

Chloe's Prayer

7.8

Mark

2006

 

Gen (2006)

Gen

4.2

Head Physician Dr. Metin (English version, voice)

2006

 

My Next Funeral

7.4

Reporter

2000

 

Producer

Short Change

8.6

Short

executive producer

1996

 

Dying (1976)

Dying

8.1

producer (produced by)

1976

 

The Plot Against Harry (1971)

The Plot Against Harry

7.0

producer

1971

 

Abbey Lincoln in Nothing But a Man (1964)

Nothing But a Man

7.9

producer

1964

 

Editor

Children of Fate: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family (1993)

Children of Fate: Life and Death in a Sicilian Family

6.7

Editor

1993

 

Dying (1976)

Dying

8.1

Editor (edited by)

1976

 

Thanks

Maternal Instinct

Short

special thanks

2010

 

Off the Black (2006)

Off the Black

6.5

special thanks

2006

 

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

7.7

special thanks

2000

 

Self

My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports (1996)

My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports

7.5

Self

1996