The villain of this late-1970s action drama, shares the same last name
as one of the most celebrated conductors of the 20th century. Name the
film and the conductor.

anasta --

Your answers just have to be "Marathon Man" and "George Szell."


"Marathon Man" is an action/drama of the late 1970s (1976):

IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0074860/


The villain in the movie is Dr. Christian Szell, a fugitive Nazi
dentist (how's that for a villainous combination?):

Crazy Mofo: Movie Villains
http://www.crazymofo.com/mofos/archives/000430.shtml


George Szell was one the greatest orchestra conductors of the 20th
Century, best known as the long-time music director of the Cleveland
Orchestra:

Sony Classical: George Szell: Biography
http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/szell/bio.html


Search Strategy:

I first went through my mental list of famous conductors for
possibilities.  I then began testing them out with "Character" search
on the Internet Movie Database:

IMDb: Search
http://www.imdb.com/search

After a few misses (Solti, Mehta, Stokowski among them), my search for
characters named "Szell" paid off.


I am quite confident that this is the answer.  However, if you have
reason to reason to believe it is not, please let me know through the
clarification feature and I will continue to work with you.


markj-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by anasta-ga on 22 Feb 2005 15:50 PST

I have this answer, but I am not so sure that this is the answer,
because Marathon Man is not action drama, it is a thriller and in 1976
(Is it late '70s?) But if this is the correct answer (we'll know on
Febr.28), I'll give you a rate.

---

Clarification of Answer by markj-ga on 22 Feb 2005 16:29 PST

anasta --

Thanks for your post.  I see your point, but at least the film seems
to described as "Action" OR "Action/Adventure," for example:

Yahoo Moves: Marathon Man: Action/Adventure
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1800093269


Thanks for offering to let me share the credit if the answer is right.
 However, if it turns out to be wrong, I hope you will seek the refund
to which you would be entitled.

Good luck!


markj-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by anasta-ga on 10 Mar 2005 11:15 PST

Yes Mark, your answer is correct, should I put the same question again
and you give the answer and I'll give a new rate? You can contact me
at anasthania
@yahoo.com for a clearance.

---

Clarification of Answer by markj-ga on 10 Mar 2005 11:37 PST

anasta --

I really wasn't "fishing" for a new question.  Rather, I was just
curious, since I really couldn't imagine the answer being anything
else.  However, if you are so inclined, you can simply post a new
question to my attention (eg., for markj-ga only), with any price you
choose.  The question can be anything (e.g.,favorite color, favorite
anything or anything else -- just don't make it too hard!).  When I
post an answer, the fee you choose will be posted to my account.

markj-ga

Will know the correct answer on March 6, but I accept this answer.

anasta --

Thanks for your post.  I see your point, but at least the film seems
to described as "Action" OR "Action/Adventure," for example:

Yahoo Moves: Marathon Man: Action/Adventure
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1800093269


Thanks for offering to let me share the credit if the answer is right.
 However, if it turns out to be wrong, I hope you will seek the refund
to which you would be entitled.

Good luck!


markj-ga

I was very much hoping that you would do as you said in your previous
posting and wait until February 28 to rate the answer.  I am quite
confident that the answer is correct, so I am very disappointed in the
rating.

Oh Mark, I am so sorry. I made a mistake, the answer will be on March
6, and I thought it will be too long to close it, meanwhile I didn't
know the real answer, so I put 3 stars to close it. The other reason
that I give three stars because I already had this answer (see ask me
help desk), but for sure I put a question in Google. I gave a five
star to one of my answer and it turned out a wrong one. Is there any
way for me to correct it?
I have submitted your answer and I hope this is a correct one, but it
looks like everybody else put the same answer.
I owe you a favor, I hope I can repay you in the future. Forgive me.

I do not believe that there is a way to retract the rating, although
you can ask by emailing the Google Answers editors by email at
answer-editors@gmail.com.  However, if my answer turns out to be
wrong, you should have a right to reject it:

"What if I don't like my answer? Can I get a refund?
If you are not fully satisfied with your answer for whatever reason,
the first step is to request a clarification of your answer from the
original Researcher. If you are still dissatisfied after
clarification, you can request your question be re-posted once again.
If you receive a second answer and are still not satisfied, you may
apply for a full refund, less the non-refundable $0.50 listing fee,
using our refund request form. Finally, you can give the Researcher a
poor rating. If you want a refund, you'll be asked to explain why you
were unsatisfied with your answer, and this information, along with
the question and returned answer, will be posted on the Google Answers
website. Google grants full refunds for all reasonable requests for up
to 30 days after answers are posted."
Google Answer: FAQ
http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html#refund

Of course, the rejection option doesn't help if the answer turns out
to be right (as I think it will). However, these sorts of
misunderstandings happen from time to time, so I suggest that you
don't worry about it.

markj-ga

anasta-ga

Was Szell the correct answer?


markj-ga