Music Box (film) - Plot

Plot

Defense attorney Anne Talbot learns that her father, Hungarian immigrant Michael J. Laszlo, is in danger of having his American citizenship revoked. The reasons are that he stands accused of war crimes committed during World War II. He insists that it is a case of mistaken identity. Against the advice of both the prosecutor and her former father-in-law, Harry Talbot, Anne resolves to defend her father. One of her reasons is how deeply her son, Mikey, loves and admires his grandfather.

According to prosecuting attorney Jack Burke of the Office of Special Investigations, Michael Laszlo is not, as he claims, a simple political refugee, regular churchgoer, and family man. Rather, he is "Mishka," the former commander of a death squad linked to the Hungary's Fascist and racist Arrow Cross Party. During the Siege of Budapest, Mishka and his unit tortured and murdered scores of Hungarian Jews, Gypsies, and many others with psychopathic glee. To Anne, these allegations are absurd. The affectionate single father who raised her could not possibly have committed such crimes.

In light of the accusations, the city of Chicago is divided. Laszlo's supporters, ranging from friends and family to those who deny the Holocaust, are pitted against those who believe in his guilt and seek to harass him. A photo of Laszlo shielding his grandson from protesters works in his favor. At the same time, the trial puts a great deal of stress on Anne, and she begins to quarrel more with Burke, even going so far as to imply his guilt in the recent death of his wife. Meanwhile, digging into her father's accounts reveals large payments to a fellow Hungarian immigrant named Tibor. Mike claims these were loans to help him when he entered the US, which Tibor was unable to repay before his death.

As a denaturalization hearing unfolds, the crimes of "Mishka" are described in gruesome testimony by the few who survived contact with him. As a result, the case pivots on an Arrow Cross identification card that bears Laszlo's name. An expert from the FBI initially confirms its authenticity. Laszlo on the other hand claims that this is a conspiracy by the People's Republic of Hungary and its secret police, the ÁVH. He says their reasons are retaliation for his protest against the visit of a government-run Hungarian ballet troupe several years earlier.

In rebuttal, Anne locates a KGB defector who testifies about the ability of the Soviet Union to produce similar forgeries and their use to frame anti-communists in the West. The defector further explains that such knowledge was shared with a very interested Hungarian government. This revelation, combined with Anne's throwing into question the reliability of any witness living under an oppressive Communist government, again throws the defendant's guilt into doubt.

At this impasse, Burke announces that there is a witness who can prove that Mike Laszlo and "Mishka" are the same person; due to his medical condition he is incapable of leaving Budapest. Anne, Burke, and the judge travel to Hungary, but Laszlo declines to go, claiming that the Hungarian government will murder him and make it look like an accident. Before Anne leaves, her legal assistant brings more details about the man to whom Laszlo had made payments, revealing that Tibor had died in a hit-and-run car accident and that she believes he was blackmailing Mike Laszlo. She gives Anne his sister's address in Budapest and urges Anne to seek the truth, but Anne shrugs her off.

The night she arrives in Budapest, Anne is visited by a stranger who claims to be a friend of her father. He talks with her briefly, then leaves a box with a hidden folder of documents. The next day at the hospital, after hearing some damning evidence from the witness, Anne produces these documents—signed affidavits made by the witness and stating at different times that completely different men were "Mishka." In light of this evidence, and despite protests from both Burke and the witness, the Jewish judge dismisses the matter. Anne, elated, brushes off Burke's accusations that she is living in a fantasy world and begins her trip back home. Riding back to the hotel, she suddenly directs her driver to take her out at the bridge in Budapest where the atrocities her father was alleged to have assisted in occurred, and after contemplating the scene, travels to the address she received from her assistant.

Introducing herself as someone who had known her brother, Tibor, Anne is welcomed warmly by his elderly sister. As they converse, the woman mentions that the only thing of Tibor's that she has is his wallet, sent from America. She produces from it a piece of paper that she does not understand. Anne informs her that it is a pawn shop ticket and the woman implores her to retrieve whatever Tibor pawned and to send it to her, as she has so little by which to remember her brother. As soon as she returns to America, Anne retrieves the item, which turns out to be the titular music box. Anne winds it up and watches it go, taken in by its charm. Then, Anne weeps inconsolably as the music box dispenses photos of her father enthusiastically torturing and murdering Jews.

Anne goes to Mikey's birthday party, her first thought being to get her son away from his murderous grandfather. When her father walks into the room, she confronts him. Even in the face of the overwhelming evidence, her father continues to deny his crimes, chalking it up to a conspiracy by the ÁVH, claiming they have poisoned her against him. Anne also accuses him of the hit and run which killed Tibor. Calmly, her father responds, "No. He was a friend."

Sickened, Anne calls her father a monster, says that she never wants to see him again, and that she doesn't want him anywhere near Mikey. However, her father calmly explains that his grandson would never believe such things about him. Much to Anne's distress, he then goes directly out to play with Mikey. Anne is then seen typing a letter to Jack Burke and enclosing the damning photos and negatives. Soon after, Anne picks up a newspaper from her doorstep which bears the headline, "Mike Laszlo: War Criminal! Justice Department Releases Atrocity Photos." The film fades out as Anne comforts her son.