Wall of Tyranny (Freedom Fighter) (1988) – Nostalgia Central

Based on the book The Berlin Wall by Pierre Galante, Wall of Tyranny was co-produced by HTV and Columbia Pictures and released as Freedom Fighter in the US.

The made-for-TV movie tells the story of how the lives of three families are changed by the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961.

Tony Danza, of Taxi fame, plays Vic Ross, a GI in Berlin in 1961 who returns to the city 26 years later to search for Anna Metz (Colette Stevenson), the girl he once loved who got trapped in East Germany when the wall went up.

Neil Dickinson plays Rudi Donner, a champion racing cyclist, and Geraldine James is his wife, Krista.

Sid Caesar is elderly cafe owner Max, and David McCallum and David Robb play the East German army chiefs Kemper and Pressler.

The movie cost £2 million to make and attracted 30 million viewers when it aired in the US.

Location shooting took place in Berlin, Cardiff and Bradford in Yorkshire (England), where the Germanic look of the buildings in the ‘Little Germany’ section of Bradford made them a perfect backdrop for filming.

A plastic Berlin Wall was erected across one of the main streets, replete with barbed wire made of string.

Enthusiastic local reservists from the Territorial Army were hired as extras to play gun-toting East German border guards, while fir trees and hedges were strategically placed across the ends of streets that looked out onto the city to hide the giveaway shapes of modern vehicles and double-decker buses.

Tony Danza found himself on the receiving end of some blunt tyke banter as he was taunted by a crowd of deeply unimpressed local lads from a nearby pub.

Victor Ross
Tony Danza
Rudi Donner
Neil Dickson
Krista Donner
Geraldine James
Sergeant Kemper
David McCallum
Lt. Karl Pressler
David Robb
Anna Metz
Colette Stevenson
Max
Sid Caesar
Captain Winter
Bob Sherman
Klaus
Jasper Jacob
Willy
James Conway
Striemer
Ben Daniels
Helga
Geraldine Alexander
PFC Mason
Herbert Norville
Lina
Margery Mason
Mr Mentz
James Greene
Mrs Mentz
Merelina Kendall
VOPO Officer
Robert Wesley
Undercover VOPO
Andrew Black

Director
Desmond Davis