The Night of the Generals
Directed by Anatole Litvak
Written by Joseph Kessel and Paul Dehn from a novel by Hans Helmut Kirst
1967/UK/France
Horizon Pictures/Filmsonor
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Inspector Morand: But, murder is the occupation of Generals.
Major Grau: Then let us say what is admirable on the large scale is monstrous on the small. Since we must give medals to mass murderers, why not give justice to the small… entrepreneur.[/box]
Solid WWII thriller benefits from a cast of great actors.
The story starts in 1942 Warsaw where Major Grau (Omar Sharif) begins his investigation of the brutal sex murder of a Polish prostitute/German agent. The only clue comes from a terrified witness who glimpsed the red stripe on the trousers of a German army officer leaving her flat. That red stripe signifies a general. The three suspects are Generals Tanz (Peter O’Toole), Kahlenberge (Donald Pleasance) and General von Seidlitz-Gabler (Charles Gray). Grau is frustrated at every turn. At the same time, we are introduced to Corporal Hartmann (Tom Courtney) who comes from the Russian front begging for a desk job, which he gets. Hartmann begins a romance with von Seidlitz-Gabler’s rebellious daughter.
Time marches on and all these characters wind up in Occupied Paris. Two of the Generals are involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Grau seeks help from Police Inspector Morand who is also in the French resistance. Hartmann is assigned to squire General Tanz around town. Another murder occurs. The story then jumps twenty years and Grau is still on the case. With Christopher Plummer in a small role as Field Marshall Rommel.
You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to guess the culprit in the first half hour. Yet Litvak and his brilliant cast kept me engaged throughout. It’s not necessarily something I will seek out again but it’s an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours.
