Losey knew Bertolt Brecht’s play well, having directed the 1947 U.S. premiere staging. Here Topol stars as Galileo, the 17th-century astronomer whose discoveries and theories of the universe brought him into conflict with the Catholic Church. The constellation of actors includes Colin Blakely, Georgia Brown, Tom Conti, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Michael Gough, Margaret Leighton, Michael Lonsdale, and Patrick Magee.