The Plot Against Harry: A Screening and Discussion

Click here to register for this free in-person program. The Library is located at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco, with free garage parking at 1227 Pierce Street between Ellis and Eddy.  

Harry Plotnick, the unlikely protagonist of this unusual cult film that sat on the shelf for two decades after its completion, is a small-time Jewish gangster re-entering society after a stint in prison. Shifting uncomfortably between the numbers racket and a kosher catering business, he finds himself a misfit in both worlds. 

The 1969 film was written and directed by German-born filmmaker and professor Michael Roemer, who died in 2025. It will be shown in video projection, with an introduction and discussion led by Howard Freedman.

Howard Freedman has served since 2009 as director of the Jewish Community Library. He has written the Off the Shelf column on books in J. The Jewish News of Northern California since 2012.