Top Ten Films featuring Libraries, Librarians and the Book Arts
Compiled by Steven J. Schmidt
IUPUI University Library

Sophie's Choice (Universal, 1982) Rated: R

Director: Alan J. Pakula.
Screenplay: Alan J. Pakula, based on the novel by William Styron.
Cast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNichol, Stephen D. Newman, John Rothman, Josef Sommer.

Storyline: The poignant story of Sophie (Streep), a Polish immigrant in post-war America. An aspiring writer (MacNichol) befriends Sophie and bit-by-bit gets to know the awful truth about her life in the Nazi concentration camps.

Library focus: Sophie visits the library to find a book by her favorite American poet, Emily Dickinson, but in her heavy accent the request comes out "Emil Dickins". The librarian (Rothman) directs her to the card catalog, but tells her that she will find no such entry. "Everyone knows," he sneers, "that Charles Dickens was an English writer. There is no American poet by the name of Dickens." Like Donna Reed’s frightened spinster in It’s a Wonderful Life, John Rothman’s portrayal of the haughty librarian in this film is doomed to last forever. Sophie’s reaction to his scathing comments on her ignorance is perfect. I believe that this segment should be shown in every reference class as an example of the worst reference interview of all time. Streep won an Academy Award for her role, and John Rothman went on to play the library administrator who hired the Ghostbusters.

Image copyright of Internet Movie Database.

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