As real-life Nazi war criminal Aribert Heim–aka Dr. Death, who allegedly kept relics from his human experiments in his office!–is being “chased” through Chile (as much as you can chase a 94 year old), I’m sure Tom Cruise or Jerry Bruckheimer are watching CNN right now while furiously thumb-typing their lawyers on Blackberries to option the story.

But I couldn’t help reminisce about what could be argued as the genesis of torture porn, Marathon Man (1976). Dustin Hoffman plays marathon runner Babe who, like Cary Grant in North by Northwest, unknowingly has a connection that is too close for comfort with a Nazi war criminal known as–prepare to wince–The Dentist, played by Lawrence Olivier. Of course, Babe has some chronic dental problems that the Nazi dentist exploits in the anus-clenching torture scene. And Babe’s long endurance skills are important to him shedding his pacifist self in the movie’s climax. But this was action before action movies became formulaic, and it has a healthy dose of moral queasiness about the virtue of revenge. And, unfortunately, if there’s a Dr. Death released in 2010, I have a feeling we’ll be much better served by watching Marathon Man.

Although, I hope they cast Dustin Hoffman as Dr. Death to give the finger to those Nazis.