When, for example, he's addressing Jewish audiences, he'll mention the hundreds of Torahs collected by the Nazis, then found and repatriated by the Monuments Men.

WSJ: He Drills for Answers | Robert M. Edsel | Cultural Conversation by Joanne Kaufman

There's the connection to the Monuments Men.

WSJ: He Drills for Answers | Robert M. Edsel | Cultural Conversation by Joanne Kaufman

Mr. Edsel is confident that the movie will give a nice lift to the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, the nonprofit he established half a dozen years ago to safeguard the legacy of his "protagonists" and to help complete their mission of returning stolen treasures to their owners.

WSJ: He Drills for Answers | Robert M. Edsel | Cultural Conversation by Joanne Kaufman

The onetime oil man has been drilling for answers ever since, first with "Rescuing Da Vinci" (2006), a book of photographs, and then with "The Monuments Men" (2009), an account of a special Allied force museum directors, curators and conservators who risked their lives to keep the world's masterpieces from falling into enemy hands.

WSJ: He Drills for Answers | Robert M. Edsel | Cultural Conversation by Joanne Kaufman