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The Night of the Generals

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

The Night of the Generals is a 1967 World War II film. It stars Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Charles Gray, Philippe Noiret, Joanna Pettet, and Coral Browne.

It was produced by Sam Spiegel and directed by Anatole Litvak, with a musical score by Maurice Jarre. The screenplay was written by Paul Dehn and Joseph Kessel and was adapted from the novel of the same name by Hans Helmut Kirst. The film was shot in Technicolor and ran for 148 minutes.

This is not so much a war film but a whodunit, set against the background of World War II. The “Jack the Ripper” style murder of a prostitute in Nazi occupied Warsaw in 1942, draws Wehrmacht Intelligence Officer, Major Grau (Sharif) into an investigation where the evidence points to the killer being one of three high ranking General Officers, General von Seydlitz-Gabler (Gray), Major General Kalhenberg (Pleasence), his chief of staff and General Tanz (O'Toole).

Grau’s investigation is cut short by his summary transfer to Paris at the instigation of these officers. The case remains closed until all three officers are transferred to Paris in July 1944. Paris is a hotbed of intrigue with senior Wehrmacht officers plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Kalhenberg is deeply involved in the plot, whilst von Seydlitz-Gabler, who is aware of the plot, is sitting on the fence, awaiting the outcome. Tanz, who seems unaware of the plot, remains loyal to his Fuehrer.

The murder of a second prostitute occurs on the night of July 19 1944 and when Grau is informed, he begins to investigate the case with the zeal of an avenging angel. On July 20 1944 the assassination attempt takes places and in the turmoil of its aftermath, Grau's investigation is again cut short.

The case goes unsolved and it is not reopened until the murder of a third prostitute in Hamburg in 1965. Grau is by now dead and his mantle has fallen on the shoudlers of a French police officer, Inspector Morand (Noiret). Morand owes a debt of gratitude to Grau, for his assistance in Paris during the war years. Morand assists the West German police in their investigations and the true killer is brought to justice.

The film contains a sub-plot of an unlikely romance between Lance Cpl. Kurt Hartman (Courtenay), an orderly on Kalhenberg's staff, and von Seydlitz-Gabler’s daughter Ulrike (Pettet), but as the film develops, this sub-plot blends smoothly into the main story.

The action includes three cameos of historical figures. The first is by Christopher Plummer, who makes a brief appearance as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The second is by Harry Andrews, who makes an uncredited appearance as General Karl-Heinrich von Stulpnagel, the German Military Governor of Occupied France in 1944. Finally, Gerhard Buhr appears as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the officer who carried the bomb into Hitler’s headquarters in East Prussia on the morning of July 20 1944.