June 16, 1962 - The first production of an independent production team headed by Roger H. Lewis and Philip Langner will be “The Pawnbroker.” Sidney Lumet will direct the screenplay by Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin that was adapted by the novel of the same name by Edward Lewis Wallant. Rod Steiger (pictured) will portray the title role of a Polish Jew whose family has been killed in a Nazi concentration camp and who sets up shop in Harlem as a pawnbroker front for gangsters.
