The Day That Shook the World

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
No one knew when, no one knew where, no one knew how.

(00:05):
But everyone knew that the day was coming,
that would change the fate of humanity.
The fuse was lit, and the seconds ticked away.
It was the Day That Shook the World.
Christopher Plummer, Forina Bolkan and Maximilian Schell,
The Day That Shook the World.
We're not talking about actors.

(00:27):
We mean a real monster.
I brought her back.
She'll live and I'll get her another body.
I'm kow they're gonna catch me, but don't let anyone see me like that! Please, doctor, help me!
Biologically speaking, it's a primary importance that man should want to mate.
Hey, that's right!
You don't get all your kicks from surfing, do you?
We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man.

(00:49):
And we want to get loaded.
You think you're gonna make a slave of the world?
I'll see you in Hell first!
The American International Podcast.
Are you ready?
Welcome to the American International Podcast.
My name is Jeff Markin.
My name is Cheryl Lightfoot.
And this is a podcast where we strive to look at all the pictures

(01:12):
released by American International, whether we want to or not.
And that includes today's movie, The Day That Shook the World, from 1977.
The Day That Shook the World was directed by Veljko Bulajic,
written by Stephen Veljko Bulajic , Vladimir Bohr,
Paul Jericho, and Veljko Bulajic,
was produced by Vlado Brankovic and Bohumil Pokorný.
And the American version was produced by Oliver A. Unger,

(01:34):
for Evert Production Company.
The Day That Shook the World Stars, Christopher Plummer,
as Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Florinda Bolkan as Sophie,
Duchess of Hohenberg
Maximilian Schell as Đuro Šarac
Irfan Mensur as Gavrilo Princip
Radoš Bajić
as Nedeljko Čabrinović
Ivan Vyskočil
as Mehmed Mehmedbašić
Libuše Šafránková as Yelena

(01:56):
Otomar Korbelář as Franz Joseph I of Austria,
Wilhelm Koch-Hooge as Franz Conrad
Jiří Holý as Erich von Merizzi,
Nelly Gaierová as Countess Langus
Jiří Kodet as Morsley
Branko Djuric as Danilo Ilic
Jan Hrusinský as Trifko
Dredenko Zeretski, as Sava,

(02:18):
and Gustav Junkowski, as Vodja,
not easy for anyone to say.
We don't know who a lot of these characters are.
The film isn't really clear.
They never introduced characters from the most part,
and it's probably safe to say we're not pronouncing
any of these names correctly.
Unless by accident.
Aside from the first names of the main characters,
no names are even spoken in this.

(02:40):
So the data shook the world open with the AIP logo,
and then the movie proper starts with a bang.
Target practice to be exact.
Đuro Šarac is holding a training exercise for three men.
They are shooting at pictures of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
played by Christopher Plummer.
These men are Gavrilo, Nedeljko, and Trifko.

(03:01):
Then Đuro Šarac lights a small bomb and blows this into the credits.
As the credits play, we now find ourselves
at the Royal Reserve in Austria,
where Archduke Ferdinand is hunting,
and many, many animals are shot.
Animals were harmed in the making of this picture.
There are deer, ducks, boar, pheasants,
and they're all dying grizzly deaths on camera.

(03:24):
It's kind of awful.
Along with the Archduke is his wife, Sophie, and many of their friends.
Once they finish this slaughter, they pose with some of their prey,
and stand still as a film camera films them.
Then there are more credits.
And now we get a history lesson.
In 1914, five countries were in control of Europe.

(03:46):
Great Britain, France, Russia, the German Empire, and Austria-Hungary,
which, as you remember, used to be one country.
Bosnia was a province of Austria-Hungary,
recently annexed from Turkey.
adjacent to Bosnia was the independent Kingdom of Serbia,
whose capital is Belgrade.
On St. Joseph I had been Emperor of Austria-Hungary for 66 years,

(04:08):
and his successor was the aforementioned Archduke France Ferdinand.
Now we are in Vienna-Austria,
and we are with the Emperor of France Joseph I, as he's being dressed.
And he's receiving an report which appears to be a letter read back to him,
that he's recited from Baron Conrad.
And we get the only nudity in this film, a butt shot, and a scrotum shot.

(04:32):
Unfortunately, one of this extremely elderly old man.
The report that's being read is about a plan invasion of the Kingdom of Serbia.
But Emperor Franz is having a coughing fit.
And not really listening, because he knows what it says,
because he's the one who said it.
The gist of it is there's been a bit of enough rising,
so to quell that, they are preparing for an invasion of Serbia.

(04:53):
But there is always the possibility that Russia will come to Serbia's aid.
That's bad news.
But France Joseph feels that the German Empire will come to their aid.
He doesn't seem like he's totally on board with this plan though.
And then France, of course, will come to Russia's aid,
and this could start a World War,
which at the time there hadn't ever been one before.

(05:14):
If France Joseph wonders where will it all end?
Now we cut to France Ferdinand,
who is sitting at a desk awaiting his uncle.
Who doesn't want him there, apparently?
But his aid Baron Conrad reminds him that it wouldn't look right to have the air to the throne
and be absent for these upcoming ceremonies.
And anyway, for some reason, Germany has confidence in France Ferdinand.

(05:35):
So Emperor Franz pulls Baron Conrad aside
and confesses to him that the Emperor knows that he can't live forever
as he's getting older that this is becoming a welcome prospect.
But the thought of his nephew replacing Miss Emperor makes dying worth staving off.
The end of the room where Archduke Franz Ferdinand is waiting.
And he stands at attention and pleasantries are exchanged.

(05:57):
Taking a seat at a desk, the Emperor asks,
the Archduke, why do we like this about this trip to Sarajevo?
What it comes down to is the Archduke would like his wife to come along on the trip,
and he would like her not to be brought to the location separately,
but to accompany him throughout the voyage and be included in his itinerary,
including the banquet and the motiver session at Sarajevo.
France Joseph reminds Franz Ferdinand that he opposed the wedding

(06:20):
and only agreed to it on the conditions that his wife not get the honors
due to members of the Imperial household.
Franz Ferdinand just once had to not be treated like a servant
just because she's of lower birth than he is.
Franz Joseph almost explodes here.
He tells Franz Ferdinand that if Franz goes to Bosnia, and it's his choice,
he goes as Inspector General and she goes as his wife, not as royalty.

(06:43):
Now we're back in Belgrade and Gavrilo is packing.
Nedeljko is doing stretches and Trifko is there too, just hanging out.
When Šarac enters, Šarac has brought with him a suitcase full of handguns.
The arms of three men buy first stuffing guns down their pants,
and then he wraps another two each of their sides with bandages.
Then Šarac pulls on a map and explains the rot they'll be taking.

(07:05):
From Belgrade, I'd vote to hear, wherever “here" is on the map, then train to Zvërnec.
Then on the Sarajevo, don't talk too much he tells them no wine, no women.
He tells them they can expect just as much trouble on this side of the border as on the other side.
Now we're with Franz Ferdinand again and he's replaying his conversation
with Franz Joseph for his wife Sophie's benefit.

(07:27):
He's indignant but she tries to calm him down. She doesn't want the royal honors.
She's just happy to go with him so why make an issue of it?
He threatens not to go at all but she convinces him that he's only hurting himself by that
and that she will accept the program, the itinerary, and go merely as his wife.
Franz Ferdinand who clearly loves his wife very much is surprised but delighted that she has agreed to go under these circumstances.

(07:52):
Now we're back in Belgrade where Gavrilo, Nedeljko, Trifko and Šarac are making their pledge to their country and to each other.
Gavrilo leads his compadres in a little pep rally before they leave though.
He repeats his mantra and we'll hear this again later in the movie.
He who wants to die will live forever.
Then they all hug, put on their hats and leave the apartment ever to return.

(08:16):
The next morning Šarac sees the three men off as they're both departs for wherever he was on that map.
And now we're at the border between Serbia and Bosnia.
The three men stroll through town and stop at a restaurant.
Nedeljkoflirts with the waitress and tells her that the other two men are revolutionaries.
He's just here for the food and to see her.
Then he goes on to say that they're on their way to Sarajevo to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

(08:40):
She laughs and tussles his hair as Gavrilo and Trifko stare at him in disbelief.
Gavrilo is shocked.
He asks Nedeljko if he's out of his mind.
Gavrilo declares that he's irresponsible and his joke will see them all dead.
And he's made up his mind to leave him there.
Gavrilo declares that Ian Trifko are going to travel on their own, leaving Nedeljko to get to the meeting place and two slot on his own.
Then Gavrilo strips Nedeljko of his weapons and Trifko looks sorry at this turn of events.

(09:04):
But says he agrees with Gavrilo.
And we cut away to a battle of the bands on one side of the river.
An imperial band is playing a somber tune.
So on the other side, another band gets together and they play something more upbeat to combat the sounds coming from across the river.
It is a true battle of the bands.
Then we see that Gavrilo and Trifko are traveling by canoe, happened by Jakoff Milović.

(09:27):
The three of them trudge through a swamp on their way to meet a man who will guide them over the mountains.
Through the fields, the mist, the rain.
And then they reach a village in the back of a cart pulled by horses.
This cart is subsequently stopped by police.
So Gavrilo andTrifko make a run for it.
They dart through the village looking for a place to hide and then duck into a house in the nick of time, evading capture.

(09:48):
They go to Tussla where they take their case of weapons to a shop and try to convince the owner, Mishko Yovanovich to hold the weapons for them.
Mishko is reluctant even though he had agreed to it as part of the plan earlier.
Gavrilo and Trifko need to leave the stuff there because they've been spotted and they don't dare get on the train with weapons now.
Mishko offers them a change of clothes instead and complains that bringing the guns to Sarajevo is out of the question.

(10:13):
Gavrilo says, "Then keep them here. We'll send someone for them with a password."
Mishko agrees and lets them stash the guns there.
Next we catch up with Nedeljko who is wandering through the village when he sees Gavrilo and Trifko already in line to board the train to Sarajevo.
He runs out to them and compliments their new clothes. They just ignore him though.
It's still risky for them to be associating with each other and they're still a little angry about the events that took place earlier.

(10:39):
After boarding the train, they all take seats in the same car but in different rows.
Nedeljko pulls on his guitar and starts serenading the woman sitting next to him.
She seems appreciative of the attention. It's hard to get a read on what the other passengers think of his performance.
It's also in another language and not subtitled so we have no idea what this song is about.
Nedeljko asks the woman whose name we never know why is a nice girl like her going to Sarajevo.

(11:04):
She says, "Who says I'm nice?" and they flirt some more and he resumes singing.
Then someone official enters the car and starts asking for papers.
"I'm in a music plays."
Gavrilo presents his and the inspector looks at his shoes for some reason.
They're very dirty and this obviously indicates something.
He starts questioning Gavrilo intently. "Did you spend the night in Tussla? Where? Why can't you answer?"

(11:29):
Because he doesn't answer. He asks if they're the man that ran from the police this morning.
Gavrilo says, "No way, but it's not looking good for him."
Nedeljko sees this transaction taking place and whispers to the woman next to him that he needs a favor and a life is at stake.
The official still talking to Gavrilo says that he knows that he only just arrived in town

(11:50):
and they were stopped for an inspection that morning but they fled.
Then Nedeljko's friend comes over and accuses Gavrilo of moving in with her then up and leaving.
Then she tells the official that she wants him arrested.
Now my department, he says, handing Gavrilo back his papers.
Also, she kisses him. The train ride continues in real time.

(12:11):
In the cattle car, the sickly looking troops are also singing a song.
Back in the car, Gavrilo says they are singing on their way to their graves.
Trifko thinks that he's being dramatic. They're on their way to the maneuvers.
Gavrilo says that this is a rehearsal for the war that's coming.
Elsewhere, Nedeljko and that woman are making out.
Now we're going to catch up with the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie.

(12:35):
They're sneaking into a classroom to see their children before they leave for Sarajevo.
Ferdinand is appalled at the question on the board, what is the first year of the 20th century?
He tells the instructor to teach them whatever he'd like, just don't teach them nonsense.
And then, after bidding their children a formal goodbye with a bow and a curtsy,
Ferdinand and his wife leave for Sarajevo.

(12:57):
And now we are finally in Sarajevo, where we will spend the rest of the movie.
Here we meet two new players in the revolution, Danilo Ilic and Mehmed Mehmedbašić.
They are meeting the men coming off the train, which just arrived.
The woman who is with Nedeljko says that she has to go find a room.

(13:21):
Nedeljko jokes that Trifko is here to go home to his father, who's a rabbi, and says that he could do their marriage service.
Mehmed takes charge of Trifko and Danilo takes charge of Gavrilo as they exit the station.
Nedeljko bids the woman goodbye and walks off alone.
Now Gavrilo and Danilo are walking through a cemetery as Gavrilo complains of the number of people

(13:42):
involved in this operation.
They have been handed around and with Nedeljko shooting off his mouth,
please chasing them, it's all been very risky.
Danilo tells Gavrilo that he's talked three men into joining forces with them.
So now it's even more people involved.
Danilo is having second thoughts now about the assassination.
Gavrilo is outraged.
Danilo is the one who started all this.

(14:04):
But Danilo thinks that the fact that the weapons came from Serbia will be used against them.
Gavrilo says no, the movement is 100% about Bosnia and Independence.
Danilo is not convinced that violence will bring the change they're looking for.
The workers, the union organizers, the socialists, I'll think one act of violence won't change anything for the better.
Gavrilo says what crap?

(14:25):
They have a plan.
Danilo says the plan, killing one arch duke.
Gavrilo sees the maneuvers in Bosnia as a sign that their freedoms will be further curtailed
and that the assassination will be a signal to start the revolution.
Danilo wonders how it'll all end.
And Gavrilo says that depends on the ones who come after they are gone.
Next we get a brief travelogue as Franz Ferdinand and his wife are on their royal tour of Eastern Europe.

(14:50):
We see a few headlines telling us what cities they're visiting.
Then things slow down and we see FranzFerdinand and his wife Sophie are in bed together.
Sophie says it's good to be a part.
It makes coming together all the more sweeter.
Franz questions this and she says, well, for 10 minutes at a time.
Awww. Franz steps out of bed and Sophie asks how things are going.
And Franz is concerned about the cultural differences between the Austrians and the Slavs.

(15:14):
Sophie explains to him that they have their own culture.
And he shouldn't expect them to easily assimilate into theirs.
Then she gets serious.
She asks him about some difficulty he has had on the train earlier.
The lights have gone out and they had to bring in some candles.
And as he sat there surrounded by candlelight, he said it was like sitting in a grave.
And is there something he'd like to tell her?

(15:35):
He says it was just a feeling he had in the moment.
But now he wants to spend time with her.
There's nothing on the itinerary for today so the two of them can go shopping.
Oh, fun.
And now a map of the procession route is being nailed to a building.
Our assassins are taking it in.
Gather the one, Trifko are chatting.
They hope they don't have to shoot Sophie, the Archduke's wife.

(15:56):
But they would like to kill the governor. So hopefully they'll ride together.
Later, Gavrilo, Trifko, Nedeljko, and Mehmed are eating in a crowded restaurant
when a group of giggling girls comes in.
Gavrilo recognizes one in particular. This is Yelena.
So he tells Mehmed to pay while Gavrilo, Trifko, and Nedeljko sneak out.
Yelena notices them though and follows them outside.

(16:18):
She watches them go around the corner, not sure she saw who she thought she saw.
She then returns inside to question Mehmed.
Yelena wants to know when Gavrilo got there and if he's avoiding her.
Mehmed caves and says they are all in danger.
And that Gavrilo is in Sarajevo illegally.
Yelena begs to be told everything. Hopefully she isn't.
And now it's shopping time. The Archduke and Sophie's motorcade is greeted with cheers in the street.

(16:42):
They go and look at rugs handmade on the premises of a rug shop.
Sophie picks one out immediately after entering the store.
No, it's not immediately. She looks at like four and then she picks one out.
Outside the assassin squad assembles to fake cheer Franz Ferdinand and Sophie as they leave.
Sophie immediately hops in the car, smiling at the still-applauding crowd,

(17:05):
at least until her eyes meet Nedeljko's, who is not applauding or smiling.
Then the smile fades from Sophie's face as well.
As friends comes around the front to the other side of the car,
he's basking in the applause and admiration.
But he stops when he sees Gavrilo shooting him a look of contempt.
But Franz is able to shrug this off and he too gets into the car.
And they drive off.

(17:26):
In an alley, Mehmed tells the others that they'll finish off the Archduke with Allah's help.
Hot-headed Nedeljko gripes that they could have finished them there and then.
Why are the weapons in Tussla not here?
Gavrilo and Trifko have no answer for this.
Now we're going to go back to Belgrade, where Šarac, when going into his house,
is accosted by two men.
Šarac pulls on a gun and then tells them to calm down.

(17:49):
The head office just wants a word.
Then Šarac is brought to a military office and is being questioned by a colonel.
The plan to assassinate the Archduke has come to their attention
and the colonel would like Šarac to call it off.
He doesn't want this to create an international incident.
But Šarac refuses.
He says he's fought for Bosnia his entire life and he's certainly not going to stop now.

(18:10):
The science Šarac doesn't believe they can prove he has anything to do with this.
The colonel tells Šarac that they appreciate the revolutionaries' help in getting rid of the Turks.
And in return, they've treated the Bosnians well.
But the country won't stand to be dragged into a war.
The colonel says that they're not prepared for war.
A third of their soldiers are invalids. How does that work?
We don't want a war, says Šarac.

(18:31):
The Hapsburgs want the war.
The colonel pleads with Šarac to travel to the Sarajevo and call it off.
But again, Šarac declines.
He doesn't want to call it off and he sees no reason to do so.
And now it's time for maneuvers.
Horses and wagons are tearing up the turf.
Soldiers are shooting guns and even cannons as the brass stands still for photo ops.
Franz Ferdinand observes the fake war games with interest.

(18:53):
He's pleased and tells General Butcher, I think that's his name, that he is.
But Baron Conrad, Kiljoy, is there to tell Franz Ferdinand that in the two days they've spent there,
they could have completed the operation, the invasion of Sarajevo.
Franz Ferdinand scoffs at the idea.
Two days to capture Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.
Conrad explains further, one day to cross the river and one more to overpower Belgrade.

(19:19):
The rest of Serbia would collapse automatically.
Ferdinand tells Baron Conrad that the Baron has too much faith that Russia wouldn't intervene.
Elsewhere, Danilo is going over the plan with Gavrilo, Trifko, Nedeljko and Mehmed.
They have a map of the procession route and they're going over the positions each of them will be taking during the parade.
They all have a shot at firing and should they fail, it's on to the next one.

(19:42):
Danilo will be moving around amongst them and there will be two other men who will be at the corner.
Nedeljko wants to know who they are but Danilo doesn't want to tell him.
Trifko reminds Nedeljko that in a conspiracy, the fewer people you know, the better.
There's an eye on the door and a woman announces that a man is there to see Danilo.
He's well dressed and speaks with a different accent.
Danilo goes to see who it is while Gavrilo goes to the suitcase artillery and hides a gun on this person while the others hide incriminating items under the floorboards.

(20:10):
The door is answered, it's Šarac.
Gavrilo asks what he's doing here and Šarac says he was lonesome.
Šarac sits down at the table and tells them that the operation is off.
Gavrilo demands to know why because they know about everything and everyone involved.
Gavrilo doesn't know what that has to do with them.
Gavrilo tells Šarac he's just being a chicken but Šarac says he is afraid--of a war.

(20:33):
He's been fighting for Bosnia since before Gavrilo was born.
He's been in more jails than Gavrilo has been in classrooms.
And at the moment there are just too many lives at stake.
Danilo agrees with Šarac.
Gacrilo says they can do what they want but tomorrow he's going to kill Ferdinand and he storms out.
Šarac asks how many guns could Gavrilo have with them and the others tell him they have every gun but the one that Gavrilo took.

(20:55):
They all go out looking separately.
We're with Šarac who's walking around a square while in all the sudden he's spotted by two policemen.
He asks him for his papers.
Šarac tells him he's a music teacher and late for his lesson then he runs.
The police chase after him through flocks of pigeons.
And then he's captured.
Now we're at a banquet.
A band plays and courses of food are served to the Habsburgs and their guests.

(21:19):
The Archduke gives a toast of gratitude to the people of Sarajevo.
He mentions the mayor in particular but flubs his name.
Sophie has to take a very long time coaching him on how to say it right.
It's extremely awkward.
Then he thinks the general and congratulates him on his excellent maneuvers.
And then everyone drinks to Franz Ferdinand's boss Sophie.

(21:40):
Outside children are painting even bigger moustaches on pictures of Ferdinand.
They scatter when they see someone coming.
That's someone is a still angry Gavrilo who comes around the corner.
Then we catch up with Šarac who has been captured and it's currently being tortured.
He's trapped to a table and his head doesn't advise as are his feet and he's being whipped.

(22:01):
Someone has the whipping staff because Šarac still has some information they need.
So Šarac is brought into another room for interrogation.
First question, what's his name?
Second question.
Do you know whose skull this was?
The interrogator explains that the original owner of the skull on his desk was a man.
He gives the name but it's really not important.
This man was involved in a shootout and he ended up shooting himself.

(22:25):
And now he or at least part of him resides on his desk.
The rest is in the cemetery in the section reserved for suicides.
The man demands names and Šarac spits on him.
So it's back to the torture room for Šarac.
And now we're in a graveyard.
Yelenaa has found Gavrilo.
He's standing there in front of one grave in particular with candles lit.

(22:47):
Yelena tells Gavrilo that everyone's looking for him.
He's going to her place.
Gavrilo asks if she knows why and she says no but she can guess if he's hiding from everyone, even her.
She repeats his mantra.
“He who is ready to die will live forever."
And then they hear the crunch of footsteps approaching.
It's soldiers.
They run off together before they're seen.

(23:09):
And the soldiers go to the grave where Gavrilo was standing and they stamp out all his lit candles.
And now a very disgusting scene indeed.
We're back with Šarac and his torture is continuing.
His head is once again placed in the vise.
And a nail is inserted under one of his fingernails.
The interrogator enjoys a cup of tea as he listens to Šarac's moaning.

(23:31):
When Šarac passes out from the pain, a bucket of water is thrown on him to revive him.
Then we're back with Gravrilo and we find that he's gone back to Yelena's place and they're in bed together.
He's apparently told her about the plan.
And she tells him that something's changed about him. In his eyes, there's much danger.
Then they kiss.
Now we're back to Šarac and his torture.

(23:52):
The man in charge be raced in for staying silent when whatever is to happen tomorrow could result in the death and misery of thousands.
Šarac chooses to die rather than give away anything.
And now we're with our assassins.
Danilo, Trifko, Mehmed and Nedeljko are all catching up.
They know that someone was arrested this morning.
And they think maybe it was Šarac.

(24:13):
And Gavrilo has been impossible to find.
He doesn't drink. He doesn't womanize.
So the four of them vote on whether they should continue.
And it's a unanimous yes.
They divvy up the ammo and Danilo, now in command, hands everyone aside and I pack it to take if/when they get caught.
Now we're back at Yelena's place and she's crying as Gavrilo is getting ready to do what he feels is his duty.

(24:36):
She says he wants to die and he says no to be prepared to die is not the same as wanting to die.
Then he asks her to stay away from the procession today and he rushes on the door.
That procession is now getting started.
We hear the bands play the cars are lining up.
We see Nedeljko is putting on a suit for this event.
He appears to be talking to himself and he says he was asked why he's getting dressed up and he said he had a date with destiny.

(24:59):
And he's going to see Mr. Shri, the famous photographer.
And we see that in fact he's relaying the story to Mr. Shri who just wants him to stop babbling so he can take his picture.
Cannons are firing as Frans and Sophie get into their car together, not separate, which apparently had been the plan.
But Franz Ferdinand put a stop to that.
The cars proceed out of the palace grounds to the city.

(25:20):
So along the parade route, Mehmed takes his position and Trifko goes to Garilo's position to tell him that they're all with him.
Danilo consults with one of his other unnamed men on the street.
Nedeljko takes his position and the blonde one from the train sees him.
She waves and runs up to him, but he shows her away telling her he's waiting for someone.
Danilo finds Gavrilo gives him a packet containing cyanide for obvious reasons.

(25:44):
And this distresses Gavrilo a little bit.
The cars are rolling down the street as people holding little flags wave them.
The crowd is cheering.
Franz Ferdinand and Sophie wave back happily.
The crowd gets a little too cheery as the archducks car approaches and.
Please start pushing back the crowd and this includes pushing back Mehmed from his position.

(26:05):
He's pushed far back off the route.
Another man is in the crowd.
One of the men that Danilo had said he recruited to help.
This man has a bomb just like the one that Šarac had at the beginning of the film.
As the car containing the archduke and Sophie drives by, Nedeljko pushes to the front of the crowd.
Sophie recognizes him from the day she went shopping in town.
Nedeljko frowns too as he lobs a bomb at the car.

(26:29):
Ferdinand catches it and throws it behind him and it blows up on the car following them, injuring its occupants.
Chaos rains in the street as people try to aid the injured.
Now one would think that this incident might have cut short the parade, but no the show must go on.
Sophie is on guard, but the music starts up again and the car goes forward.
Meanwhile authorities have caught up with Nedeljko.

(26:50):
Girst he jumps in the river and he tries to take his cyanide, but he does not die in time to avoid being beaten and dragged out of the water into custody.
As he's taken into custody, he shouts “Down with Ferdinand" and “Long live freedom."
Gavrilo tells Trifko that he needs to kill Nedeljko.
The poison didn't work and they can't allow him to be taken into custody.

(27:11):
Gavrilo says that he will take care of Ferdinand.
Trifko goes out into the crowd, but as Nedeljko is dragged past him, he can't bring himself to shoot Nigelco.
The archduke and Sophie are deposited in front of the mayor, who starts to read a decree with a lot of ass-kissing in it.
But Ferdinand wants to shout about the bombs thrown at them.
Bombs? croaks the mayor

(27:32):
An aide leans close to hos ear and fills him in on the details.
Once Ferdinand has gotten that out of the system, he lets the shaken mayor resume, but the decree rings hallow now.
They listen for a bit and then they enter the government building.
Franz Ferdinand is complaining that they must get out of their ASAP.
Despite being told not to, Yelena has arrived at the procession route and she finds Trifko first.

(27:54):
She asks him what happened, he's silent and she asks if it was Gavrilo.
Trifko shakes his head. It was Nedeljko, he says, not looking up.
Yelena asks where Gavrilo is and Trifko tells her that he's where he's supposed to be and tells her not to go looking for him.
But she sobs and runs off to find him anyway.
In the governor's office, Sophie rips the governor a new one. He was supposed to end this war.

(28:16):
That's why they left him in charge of Bosnia.
He tries to pass the bomb off as the work of a madman, but she's not having it.
The governor assures her, it won't happen again.
Is that a guarantee she asks? He says nothing, but assures her that he'll be in the car with them.
Sophie is not convinced, but they resume the motorcade.
The car with Franz Ferdinand and Sophie makes a wrong turn. When they try to back up, Gavrilo comes into view.

(28:42):
Gavrilo shoots Ferdinand in the chest and when someone tries to disarm him, a second shot hits Sophie.
She has an “I told you so" look on her face.
That's what I said. She's badly wounded, but you can read "I knew this was a bad idea" in her eyes.
Gavrilo is beaten to the ground. He tries to take a cyanide, but it is knocked from his hands before he can ingest it.

(29:04):
Yelena is being restrained by Danilo and she watches as a bloody and beaten Gavrilo is dragged off.
Danilo takes her in his arms and pulls her away from the commotion.
In the car, Sophie expires and Franz Ferdinand looks like he's about to.
That's the car speeds off in search of medical attention.
And then for some reason we cut to interior room where the staff are setting the table for a banquet that will never happen.

(29:30):
And then a voiceover tells us that both Sophie and Franz Ferdinand died that day, June 28th, 1914.
And then we get anti-alcards telling us the fate of the main characters.
We learn that Danilo Ilic met his death by hanging.
Trifko Grabis died in prison.
Mishko Yubanovich, the shot keeper who had held the guns met his death by hanging.

(29:53):
And Jakov Milovich, the man who met them when they crossed the canoe and then took them through the swamp,
and then he saw him at his death by hanging.
Mehmed Mehmedbašić escaped to Montenegro. He's the lucky one.
Veljko Čubrilovič, another one of the guides, who led them through Bosnia on their route to Sarajevo, also died by hanging.

(30:14):
Nedeljko Čabrinović died in prison, as did Gavrilo Princip, the shooter.
And that's the end.
We're listening to the American International podcast, but we're discussing the day that shook the world from 1977.
The day that shook the world was filmed on location in Sarajevo and completed in 1975.

(30:40):
John Austin's Hollywood Inside column, published in early 1977, said that the film had been, quote, "completely recut, and the violent hunting scenes in which hundreds of animals were killed have been eliminated."
The SBCA insisted on it.
The column said that Oliver Unger was producing the American version, and he and Samuel Arkov are indeed both listed as uncredited producers for this movie.

(31:02):
However, we did see a lot of dead animals, so I shuddered to think what they had to cut out.
The day that shook the world appears to have been shot in English with a combination of natural sound and overdubbing on the finished production.
The day that shook the world was released to cinemas in Yugoslavia under the title, "Sarajevský atentát" or "Assassination at Sarajevo" on October 31st, 1975.
It was also released to Bulgaria, West Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the USSR, Algeria, Lebanon, India, Nepal, Albania, and China.

(31:32):
American International Pictures released it in the United States two years later, beginning in January of 1977, where it was rated PG, and it was released on DVD in the United States in 2011.
The tagline for the day that shook the world was "The Fuse is lit, the seconds tick away." The day that shook the world won one award at the 1976 Sands Sebastian International Film Festival, but only in a special mention category.

(31:58):
The film was also selected as the Yugoslav entry for the best foreign language film at the 48th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
The film also earned director Veljko Bulajić, a silver arena award at the 1976 Yugoslav National Film Awards, which today is known as the "Fool of Film Festival."
Jerry Oster in the New York Daily News wrote, "The day that shook the world gives familiar faces to the principles. Christopher Plummer's Yards Duke, Florinda Balkan as his wife, and Maximilian Shell is the chief platter, but permits them only dreary dialogue that tells them nothing about them or their world."

(32:35):
Alexander Keneas in the Suffolk News Day wrote, "Unknowingly, there is something to be said for shooting a film, especially this kind of film on locations where it all took place.
But director Velko Boulich seems to have been preoccupied with the landscape to the exclusion of too much else.
Political idealism and sloganering, which informs these Bosnians, simply doesn't carry the weight of telling what was at stake and who held the cards."

(33:01):
Barbara Klein in the news called the day that shook the world, "A movie you absolutely must miss, saying it is so badly made, it is difficult to bear."
Lavish costumes and scenic Eastern European locations offer some respite from dull murder plots and royal protocol.
These minor touches are hardly enough to make the film worth seeing. Can suspense be sustained when the end of the story is known? Yes, but not in this film.

(33:26):
The UPI review of the day that shook the world said, "The story merits a far better production than it gets in this earnest but amateurish international production.
Adding, the film is seriously marred by choppy editing, poor dubbing, and a patchwork score. The reviewer went on to declare a number of films have been made in Yugoslavia in recent years with international stars and leading roles.
This one, filmed in 1975, shows why they seldom find a distributor in this country."

(33:51):
John Crittenden in The Record wrote, "The day that shook the world can best be defined as an international production, a term that is almost a slur these days.
The stars were brought to Czechoslovia and Yugoslavia for the filming, which was a project of both countries.
Apparently, the intent was to make an authentic looking film that would do business all over the world with a minimum of bears to understanding.

(34:12):
And he concluded, "The Day That Shook the World is handsome thanks to the industry of the technicians but hollow. That best, it is simply picturesque."
Now, my opinion, one thing that really hurts this film is that I'm not familiar with the story and the film doesn't do anything to fill in any blanks.

(34:35):
No, it doesn't. We all learn in school that World War I began with the death of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
And beyond that, I don't really remember what else went with the story. And here, there is a cursory attempt to explain that it's a war for Bosnia independence.
They're a province of Austria-Hungary and the rebels want to be an independent kingdom or country at least.

(35:00):
But they don't really explain how killing the arch-Duke is going to achieve that.
And in fact, even at one point in the film, Danilo wonders how that's going to happen too. And he was the chief platter. So if even he doesn't know, how are we supposed to know?
It's possible that maybe in a Slavic school, they study the stuff with a lot more detail than we would here in America.

(35:21):
Because it's not really our history. So maybe the audience would have gotten a little more out of it.
I would have liked to know a little bit more about the background and why they felt this had to happen.
I felt like we got just the mirror sketches of who these characters are.
We don't know anything about them except that they're just the pawns in place to complete the operation.

(35:44):
Right. They don't seem to have the principles only Šarac who dies without saying anything is a man who gives his personal reasons for wanting to be in this fight.
As for Gavrilo and Trifko and Nedeljko, they're just selected to do the dirty work. But why do they want it? They never say they obviously don't have the backbone at Šarac had because at least one of them talked because Nedeljko and Gavrilo with the only two who were captured.

(36:16):
At least initially, except for my med who made his escape, everyone else was eventually captured including the people almost indirectly involved with this.
And they received the worst punishments of all. They were hanged. One guy who works as a Sherpa guiding them from place one to place two is hanged while Gavrilo Princip, who did the shooting, is allowed to die in prison, not happily, I'm sure.

(36:42):
He wasn't hanged and he's the killer. I didn't understand that part at all and they don't explain anything of what happens after the shooting.
No, we don't know if there was some angry mob who hanged these people or if it was an official government hanging or what?
I would assume a official government hanging. We can make that assumption, but we don't know.
Because someone must have spilled their names. Someone Trifko and it's probably what happened.

(37:07):
But again, we don't know because the film doesn't elaborate. It doesn't give us enough background. It doesn't give us enough foreground to let us know what is actually happening here.
No, it's a very by the book display of what happened.
And right. It does what it does what it's supposed to do. It's just such a dry telling of the story that it's hard to get really involved with it.

(37:29):
You can see a modern movie spending a lot more time with the characters and a lot less time on the shopping trips and eating in the restaurant or whatever.
All those minor details about transferred Nan and Sophie, they're not really important.
I mean, we're sad they died it, but the way they portray them in the movie is nothing like they were in real life.

(37:50):
They weren't a handsome young couple. They were older, unattractive and they're probably a lot nastier than this movie makes them out to be.
And so they have our sympathy more than Gabriella does, I think, especially Sophie. She didn't deserve to die and she wasn't even the target.
But she definitely went down with the start of the revolution.

(38:13):
Right. I think that fact that movie doesn't really take a side. As I said, it's just explanation of events. It's just it's like a textbook come to life.
It's yeah, it's it's a very cold reading of the story.
And it's too bad because it seems like there is a good story there, but it would have to not end with the death of the Archduke and Sophie.
It would have to go a little further beyond to see what impact that event actually caused.

(38:36):
How do that lead to the war? What happened next?
We can look it up, but the movie doesn't even give us a title card that lets us know.
Well, if we had learned our history the way we were supposed to, we probably would know.
Well, I would have learned it 40 years ago. I would have not remembered by now, but even so.
It would help if the script really just had a little more emphasis on what this all meant in the grand scheme of things.

(39:04):
And it doesn't. I wouldn't expect them to add in a lot of jokes and try to make it light, but they could have made it more interesting, I think.
I think they could have made it more human.
Where we care about these people on a human level, as opposed to we know it's going to happen in this nominally why.
But what are their personal reasons? What are their backgrounds?

(39:28):
I didn't even know where they were from until we got to the Sarajevo and they started mentioning well,
yeah, we're as a girlfriend here, though obviously they were there before.
We meet them in a different country. Why were they there? How they get recruited and brought to Belgrade when the whole point was to do this in Sarajevo.
We could fill in the blanks ourselves, but why doesn't the movie just go into that a little bit rather than going through all the mechanics of the maneuvers and just everything that's happening.

(39:57):
The sort of unimportant details that we do get.
Could have been spent on something that humanized the characters more, especially the revolutionaries.
This was all done for their benefit, but how does it benefit them? We don't know. Disappointing.
I mean, the movie has good points. It looks great. It's well shot.
The sound is neck-rate.

(40:18):
No, that could just be the print that we have.
And it probably looked even better when it was a brand new spanking movie.
This is kind of an odd duck in the American International catalog. How do you suppose this came to be?
I have no idea. They must have got it for nothing. I don't think it did very well at the theaters.
I can't imagine it did.
It got no good reviews. It didn't even make the foreign language part of the Academy Awards.

(40:43):
One thing we didn't mention we were doing the synopsis is the opening credits are done in this wacky almost-killigins island font.
Yeah, it's like they didn't even take it seriously. I didn't get that at all. That was so weird.
I mean, geez, give us a serifant, at least, with more gravity.
It looks like a wacky comedy is about to ensue the task.

(41:05):
And then it doesn't. Except for the next thing we see is animal slaughter and male nudity.
And not the good kind. Do you want to talk about the acting?
Does Christopher Plummer even need to be in this movie?
Not maybe he needed the paycheck.
Maybe, but his role is so superficial.
Anybody could have done it.

(41:27):
There isn't really a lot for him to do.
The only thing that concerned him was his wife's treatment.
Beyond that, he was just along for the ride. That's the only thing he stood up for.
This is wife, which was sweet, but doesn't make for a compelling movie.
Yeah, I wonder how realistic that was. There's probably some of that in there, but I think that would have been just kind of an advantage.
It's kind of an attempt to humanize the character for the movie.

(41:50):
It's possible, but I don't think that he would have dragged her along for this if he didn't want her there.
So it is possible that they were truly besotted with each other.
Because otherwise, this is sort of a non-event for a woman, especially a non-royal woman, to have to be dragged along to.
So they may have wanted to be together.

(42:11):
And that could be a little kernel of truth from history, but obviously we don't know.
But you could be just as right as I.
And I thought Maximilian Schell was the only really good performance in this movie.
And it's not even like it's that great, but he was the only one that had anything that steak here.
It appeared.
Well, that was the character in the writing.

(42:33):
We know more about his back on the anything just because he tells everybody in complains about that.
I've been doing this stuff for all my life.
Right. Right. Don't give up.
Everybody else, we don't know. They just kind of show up and say, "Okay, I'll do it."
Yeah. "I'll shoot him."
Yeah, they just, like it's a lark.
Well, it is for Nedeljko. He's joking about it.
Yeah, he's just having a good time. Well, he's not.
Even when he takes a cyanide, he seems to be having a good time.

(42:56):
And he's being dragged off when he didn't die like he was supposed to.
Nope. He's shouting his slogans and making a spectacle of himself.
Yeah, but like, why was he even in this?
He would have been much happier, meaning the pretty girl in the train
just aborting with her for the rest of the movie.
No, I think he wanted something more because remember, he did make the appointment with a photographer.

(43:17):
He was going to go down in history. He didn't expect to live,
but he was going to take that moment and he was going to be infamous.
But that's very superficial reason. That's not, that's not like, that's my homeland, my people,
I'm sacrificing myself for them.
I didn't say it was a good reason. No, that's true.
That's true. Yeah, I was just we had just gotten to know the other characters

(43:38):
and that they had put maybe some name actors there.
We didn't know who any of these people were.
Well, they're all Yugoslavian actors.
I seriously doubt we'll ever see them in anything ever again.
No, I know we won't. I don't know.
The scenes of animal cruelty were entirely unnecessary.
It was unnecessary that they were real.
They really shot up those birds and killed those deer.

(44:00):
Oh, God, it was just awful.
What we saw shot them a couple times and they like flipped over.
It showed how callous and inhumane the ruling classes,
but they could have just as easily done that with fake kills.
We didn't need to see it in graphic detail.
And it's all intercut with the credits in that.
Wacky font. Goofy font. Yeah.

(44:22):
It's so stupid.
And the torture scenes were pretty gruesome too.
I can see why that was necessary,
but the full on close-up of the nail going under the fingernail
was I couldn't even look. I didn't watch it either time.
I looked away until it was over.
It was difficult to watch.
I watched it both times. It seemed a lot longer the first time.

(44:43):
Well, we had to actually pause on it at one point
and while we were catching up with our notes, that was fun.
I don't know. Just really disappointed.
So do you want to equate that disappointment to a rating music or AIP scale
where A is awesome, I is intermediate and P is pathetic?
I'm kind of torn about this one because like I said,

(45:05):
it's a good looking movie.
I do like historical epics,
but I feel like this one just missed the mark in every important way.
It could have given us a better history lesson.
When we get the history lesson at the beginning,
it's just like a brand-magnally atlas map of the countries.
And we don't really see anything beyond that.

(45:27):
It's just pretty dry, something you would see in school.
And I guess that grief background is all we get
into this enormous intercontinental conflict
that led to a horrible war, the war to end all wars,
except it didn't.
It just deserved more than this movie gave it.
It's not American International's fault.

(45:49):
It's their fault for putting it on American screens
and making us watch it.
We have them to thank.
But the makers of the movie just took the easy way out, I think.
And I think I have to give it a P for that.
It's a good looking movie.
It has a lot of potential.
But it just didn't do what it was supposed to do for me.

(46:12):
What do you think, Jeff?
I do feel that the film did what it was supposed to do.
It just didn't do it well.
It tells the story and it goes through the actions.
It just doesn't do anything to make them interesting.
And maybe it's because they're not interesting.
But if you're making the film, you want to try and make it interesting.
Even if you have to fudge the facts a little bit.

(46:33):
It's not a bad film.
It's just not interesting.
It tells the events.
There are a lot of characters.
And as we said, there's a whole list of cast members
who we don't even know who they were.
It's not an IMDB, which means nobody knows who they are.
It's lost to history.
And I don't think it would have been that difficult

(46:55):
to make this a story worth watching.
No.
It's a true story.
So there's something in that.
But I can only really recommend this to people
who are already familiar with the events.
Because even though you see the events happening,
you're not going to really learn anything behind it.
So you might enjoy the film.
You probably won't.
Under those circumstances.

(47:16):
But if you already have the background knowledge,
you probably get a lot out of this film.
Because you can bring that knowledge into what you're seeing,
whereas the average person without that knowledge
just has to watch with their presented.
And there's not a lot presented there.
It's just a sketch of what happened, as opposed to a full portrait.

(47:38):
But even saying all that, I think that the movie is pretty well made.
And I'm going to give it an eye.
But I'm not going to recommend it unless you have a big interest
in this time period and the knowledge to go in and see this presented
as a series of pictures for you to enjoy.
Yeah, I was on the precipice of giving in an eye as well.

(48:00):
Just because, I mean, it is a movie was completed as movies should be.
But it's not engaging.
And so I had to stick with the pee.
I just like movies that give you something to feel.
And this movie, it gives you nothing.
There are no feelings here.
Even the scenes where Yelena is trying to convince her stupid boyfriend

(48:22):
not to kill the art to do or whatever.
She's crying, but I just didn't really feel anything.
Because I don't know anything about their relationship.
I don't know about her.
I don't know about him.
And he's the main instigator in this.
Yeah, I feel at the very least they could have had some background
in that relationship because she's already in Sarajevo when Gavrilo arrives.

(48:43):
So it would be nice to know what that relationship was and where.
How long?
Just the things like that could have helped.
Were they engaged or planning to marry?
Yeah, we don't know.
We never will.
We won't know. Maybe somebody knows.
Maybe Yelena's ancestors have heard the tale.
Well, this might be a good time to mention that our website, AIPpod.com

(49:06):
has a lot more information than what you can get by listening to the podcast.
You can watch the trailer for the movies that we talk about.
See the artwork, posters, lobby cards.
And you can contact us if you want to comment on how wrong we are or how right we are.
We'd love to hear from you.
So check it out AIPOD.com.
AIPpod.com.

(49:27):
And that's going to wrap up this episode of the American International podcast.
I'm Jeff Markin.
And I'm Cheryl Lightfoot.
And we'll meet you at the drive in.
Follow the American International podcast on Instagram and Letterbox at AIP_Pod and on Facebook.
at facebook.com/AmericanInternationalPodcast

(49:48):
The American International podcast is produced and edited by Jeff Markin.
A man whose mind is distorted by hatred.
And Cheryl Lightfoot.
A girl hungry for too many things.
The American International Podcast is part of the Pop Culture Entertainment Network.

(50:15):
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