Roman Polanski On Escaping The Jewish Ghetto In World War II | The Dick Cavett Show 

I'm a survivor of extreme childhood abuse and let me tell you, trauma affects your view of the world and shapes your personality. It gets filed into the subconscious and one day when your all grown up you realize the damage that was done and you clearly see all the toxic patterns that have played out in your life. The trauma can manifest in all kinds of ways and even be passed down generations. All without you even being aware.

Dick Cavett was a decent guy. So much more tact and respect towards his guests than many interviewers today.

God, I never really appreciated Dick Cavett when I watched him growing up. He was just so damn rational and cool. He was a breed apart.

How good the conversation unfolds when the interviever and the guest respect each other.

A child accepts anything as reality because they haven't known anything different. Believe me, it's a lot harder if you started off with a good life and lost everything as an adult. A child doesn't know to question how things are. They just roll with it. Ignorance truly is bliss. Thankfully my own experience with loss and trauma is nothing compared to those who survive war, but they're difficult none the less. But I consider each day to be a blessing.

he just underestimates this distructive experience of his childhood. But it influences his personality unconsciously tremendously, and his life path just proves it. Too bad he didn't realize it

He's blessed by the gods in that he's a survivor of people in the past trying to kill him a number of times. He always regretted that he was away when the Manson nutballs killed his wife, unborn child, and friends. Maybe if he were there, it could've somehow been different. A fascinating man.

I will watch more of Cavett after this .I will watch more of Polanski also.This is so sad and enlightening.

Thank you for posting this. I find Polanski fascinating.

Roman Polanski is indeed a brilliant director. Chinatown is my favorite movie of all time. His accomplishments and the difficulties he endured as a child do not mitigate the fact he sexually assaulted a child, then fled the United States because he knew he would be convicted of his crime and sentenced to prison. As much as I love Chinatown, I have literally watched that movie 100 times, I do not view him as the creator of the greatest movie ever. I view him as a child abuser.

9:33 Love the mike bouncing up & down in the top of the frame.

One hell of a awesome interview!! Watch how Dick really gets Roman Pulanski to open up on the harsh childhood conditions for a young boy in WW2 Poland! One of the best Interviews I have ever seen!!👍✌!!

he made chinatown...very cool

The psychological trauma for this guy man

Doesn't it seem like there are no interviews today by real humans like Cavett? It's not that he's necessarily an "intellectual" or purely for the purpose of comedy and wit, or to entertain, but that he has, or seems to have, a human heart that drives his interests.

I never tire of listening to July's.

Not only was this man’s eight-and-a-half month pregnant wife murdered, he’s also a Holocaust survivor who lost his mother in Auschwitz. My god, the suffering and loss this man had to endure in his life.

remember when people could really think and express themselves so eloquently? and remember when people were allowed to communicate within close proximity? imagine, lock downs and quarantines--further debilitating control. it's true too.

He mastered the art of escaping authorities

Age has no meaning....wait what are you guys doing with that rope...

This is incredible.

This comment section is a shitshow.

I have a lot more sympathy for Polanski than for those attacking him

Fascinating. He probably has ptsd. His life has been tragic in some ways. Hopefully he likes France.

Read "The painted bird" by a guy who was Polanski's senior by about 10 years. It explains a lot.

Dick Cavett interviewed the most interesting people of the day. John Lennon, Roman Polanski, Mohammed Ali. Who is doing that today. Joe Rogan? I believe Dick Cavett would have a pod cast if he was active today. And, I want to see Joe Rogan moderate the next Presidential debate.

He’s one of the greatest ever film directors.

But it was real in my mind

Why there is so little gratitude for saving his life by the Poles?

It would be pretty cool if he did a lolita remake

I love his movie Chinatown 🇦🇺😃🌈💜

amazing stories..imagine how he felt after all that when he found out they were going to put him in prison for fifty yrs?

Amazing Roman, love you.

He was only 38 here. We sometimes forget how close World War II was historically to the 1960s and '70s, and how young people were as late as 1971 who remembered the war vividly.

What a fascinating interview. Compare it to the drivel you get on talk shows today

Just try to compare Fallon, Colbert, Corden with Cavett. Cavett is an adult and the others teenboppers.

"A child accepts everything." Oy, Roman.

For me personally, “The Pianist” always felt more impactful as a movie than “Schindler’s List”. One of the differences being that Polanski actually lived through the Holocaust and survived it. Spielberg told the story of those who did, but he himself did not have that direct, harrowing and horrible experience. Now, that isn’t meant as a competition in suffering, but I think that it is important because those different life experiences really influence the cinematic language of the two movies.

Good god, what he lived thru, then grew up to have his wife and baby murdered!

People, including me, wonder how Roman was able to handle the brutal death of his gorgeous wife and unborn child. This video makes it clear that he had to cope with death and loss from a very early age, which helped him deal with his latest loss.

Polanski is now 86 years old. I can’t believe it. Time for us here is beyond short.

Next up, "Roman Polanski on Sodomizing a 13 Year Old Girl".

Cavett was the interviewer of the thinking person. He was collected, asked interesting questions and made thoughtful comments. Definitely highbrow.

We have forgotten the horrors of WWII. These horrors will reappear in the 21st century.

The Fearless Vampire Killers is still a great movie 🦇

These memories of a childhood disrupted by horror are so beautifully told and unedited. His sheer acceptance of it somehow mirrors the appearance he gives of not quite understanding that others would have expected anything different. The aircraft, the fruit, the mushrooms, the mill.

The guy has a lot of baggage.

Who else came just for the comment section? 🙋‍♂️

The part where he describes seeing those American fighter planes was the most beautiful moment was very touching.

If he had not escaped little girls would have been safer.

His childhood was taken? So he thought he has the right to take others'??

I had no idea he had been through all of that and then Manson.

I am amazed how good his English is and how intelligent he is. I could listen to him for hours.

Now he's just escaping US extradition laws.

''its more frightening when you see something than what it happens to you''

Roman Polanski lost a child and his wife due to Manson, and felt pretty sorry for him, but later on he was exposed for having sex with a 13 year old girl, and ran rather than give up for what he did. He is now a wanted man for a crime against a child. He is a wonderful Director of movies and that is what is so tragic why do those with true talent do such awful things. Like Michael Jackson true legend in the music business but then he preyed on young boys so sad, again for crimes against children.

When Polanski was the hero and not the villain.

No need for my comment...you all have it covered!👍

Rosemary's Baby is an absolute masterpiece.

An intelligent interview ....how we've dumbed everything down .

The story told in "The painted bird" was made up , Kosiński was not its author. The true story was revealed in the "Czarny ptasior".

Is everyone forgetting who this guy is?

Fascinating man and stories. He went through so much, but his talent led him to so much success. I can understand how the beautiful Sharon Tate fell in love with him and wanted to have a life and family with this man.

I visited the Schindler Museum in Krakow in the summer of 2018, and on exhibit was a hand written note by a young Roman Polanski. Despite my discomfort over some of his actions as an adult, it was impossible not to be moved by the horrors that young boy endured, along with so many others. Visiting all those types of places in Poland and the Baltic States is a deeply moving experience.

The childhood of Roman's was reality for many. Even their children's are still affected by war expierience.

Loved the pianist...made on his own.experiences...

It's always amazed me peoples attraction to evil.

A friend of mine was as a three year old on the same train as Polanski, on the way to a concentration camp. They were two of a group of ten Jewish kids whose life was saved by a young Polish Catholic Priest who pulled them off the train. That priest was Karol Józef Wojtyła later Pope John Paul II. My friend and Karel remained friends for the rest of their lives.

Those of you who say you have NEVER sinned are lying... and therefore should cast NO stone!

He is a genius. You can tell by listening to him.

escape the ghetto & go straight to the hot tub

Somewhat like when the 13-year-olds escaped from you.

Watching This, I am reminded of that great line from Joseph Heller’s ‘Catch 22’ “Every culprit is a victim “

I could listen to this guy all day.

Dick Cavett was such a smart interviewer. There's a couple of times he usurped Polanski and he didn't notice (most of you probably missed it also).

He looks like the boy from the Partridge Family.

When Roman Polanski was finally captured after evading justice for 30 years or more, he snaked out of accountability once again with the help of a judge who didn't care what he did to a young child. The most disgusting part of Polanski's sickening actions are his female defenders: Debra Winger, the head of his film appreciation club (no, I kid you not), called his arrest "the most painful thing that ever happened to me in my life". Really, Debra? As painful as being raped and sodomized as a 13 year-old girl? Whoopee Goldberg, that paragon of morality and empathy, questioned whether what Polanski did was "rape-rape". As opposed to your average, every day rape. Well gee, Whoopee, he gave a 13 year-old champagne, then half a Quaalude (not a good mix with alcohol), then raped and sodomized her. If it had been Her child, would she have questioned whether it was a real rape? Meryl Streep defended him with no sense of empathy or even awareness of his 13 year-old victim, and, most creepily, his biggest defenders were Harvey Weinstein, who called it "an alleged rape" (this was a few years before his own sexual attacks on actresses came to light), and Woody Allen; yes, Woody Allen, who questioned society's morals in viewing what Polanski did as wrong. Look it up. It's far weirder than you can imagine. If a child predator like Woody Allen who took nude pictures of his children and then married his almost-adopted foster care daughter isn't a moral authority, who Is? Who knows what rock Polanski slithered off to now? I imagine he and Bill Cosby would share some good laughs together. But the most disappointing thing to me are the attitudes of the very same women who purport to stand up for women's rights; only not, when it's a pig whose films they like.....

So in short he is very good at escaping, the ghetto, justice, the USA....

Credit Dick Cavett for gently eliciting these memories from Polanski, who was initially not wanting to talk about them. And the more he did talk about them the more elaborate the memories became. Stellar interview.

As much as I despise Roman Polanski for what he’s done, I can’t deny the fact he went through the Holocaust as a kid, all the friends and relatives of his he lost and how much of that has badly scarred him for life. “The Pianist” is among my all-time personal fav Holocaust/WW2-based films that I continue to watch alongside Edward Zwick’s “Defiance”, Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie”, Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s “Downfall”, David Ayer’s “Fury”, Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”, Chris Nolan’s “Dunkirk” and “Oppenheimer”, Jack Gold’s “Escape from Sobibor”, Robert Young’s “Eichmann”, Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge”, Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbour”, Yves Simoneau’s “Nuremberg” and the list goes on.

surviving nazis , seeing his wife get murdered while being pregnant ,roman polanski is really strong to not lose his mind from all these experiences .

He is a truly messed up individual. It's amazing he could be so productive.

Did he not escape America as well?

Thank you for these uploads. It's so fascinating to watch the show how it should be done - without interruptions and constant rush. And of course very interesting celebrities. Completely different life...

a reminder this is 1971. aside from the accusations of rape, polanski has had an amazing life and is a very unique individual, his ability to tell a story has you hanging on every word. and of course you can only get this interview from dick cavett

It's refreshing to see a director talk about his childhood like that. I wasn't expecting Polanski to talk so openly about that period in his early years.

Powerful. And what an interviewer to draw out the guest.

Dick Cavett is class.. pure class. And you can't help but be amazed by Romans life story

Are you guys all judges?

3:03 Polański is honest about Poles who helped him to survive, while Kosiński in his book adviced by Polański ("Painted bird") lies about cruelty which he saw or received. Kosiński built his fame on big lie and this possibly led him ultimately to suicide.

He deserves his own biopic. It would be way much more fascinating than anyone's else!

it would be interesting to know if he has PTSD. i don't see how he couldn't have it.

He had just lost his wife, child and friends 2 years earlier. During those two years he produced Macbeth. His version of Macbeth was traditional, violent, and bloody. His portrayal of the witches was outcast, marginalized women living alone on the outskirts of society. Sound familiar? It was thus production of Macbeth that has the sky full of bombers droning overhead. As stated a memory of hope for Roman. I personally (used to) think his dalliance(s) with underage women was a struggle to regain a lost childhood or lost innocence. After this interview, and Roman Polanski’s firm and restated denial of that whole spin... well, let’s just say ‘I stand corrected!’

His trauma went on to manifest in a dark way as an adult.

Great director. Questionable life choices.

After the horror this man has been through, I think its time to let go off the crap back in the 70's with the teenager, she has forgiven him, so move on folks. He is a genius. His movie " The Pianist" is based a lot on his awful experiences as a jew in Europe who lost most his family during the war, then look what happened 30 years later with his new family!! I think he is brilliant.

I remember my parents watching this when I was a little boy. I remember being bored until the commercials came on...LOL...I appreciate these shows now and always check to see if the guests are still alive.

I think he's right that people like war and wars, especially if they can watch from the sidelines.

The victim of monstrous crimes. The perpetrator of a monstrous crime.

I really liked listening to this.