The Night of the Generals (1967) Columbia/Suspense-Thriller RT: 145 minutes Rated PG (violence including gunplay, suggested sex, some language) Director: Anatole Litvak Screenplay: Joseph Kessel and Paul Dehn Music: Maurice Jarre Cinematography: Henri Decae Release date: February 24, 1967 (US) Cast: Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasance, Joanna Pettet, Phillippe Noiret, Charles Gray, Coral Browne, John Gregson, Nigel Stock, Christopher Plummer, Juliette Greco, Yves Brainville, Sacha Pitoeff, Charles Millot. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ****
I never heard of The Night of the Generals until I happened across it about ten years ago. I was intrigued by the premise and a stellar cast headed by Peter O’Toole (The Lion in Winter), one of my favorite actors of all time. He plays a German general caught up in a murder investigation after a prostitute is found brutally slain. His character, General Tanz, is one of the most chilling ever committed to film. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen O’Toole play a villain and like everything else he does, he does it brilliantly.
Directed by Anatole Litvak (Anastasia), the WWII-set The Night of the Generals is a story told in three parts with the third serving as the Citizen Kane-like framing device. It begins with the discovery of the prostitute’s butchered body in a seedy Warsaw apartment building. It turns out she was also a German agent. The crime necessitates the involvement of German military intelligence. The agent in charge of the investigation, Major Grau (Sharif, Doctor Zhivago), learns from a witness that the killer wore trousers bearing the insignia of a general. With only that to go on, Grau narrows down the suspect pool to three German generals whose whereabouts on the night in question can’t be accounted for: Von Seidlitz-Gabler (Gray, Diamonds Are Forever), Kahlenberge (Pleasance, You Only Live Twice) and Tanz. When he attempts to question the powerful men, he’s quickly transferred to Paris effectively putting an end to his investigation…. for now.
Two years later, Grau gets a second shot at solving the crime when all three generals meet again in Paris. There’s a lot more at stake this time with Von Seidlitz-Gabler and Kahlenberge being actively involved in the plot to kill Hitler at his Wolf’s Lair headquarters in former East Prussia. Tanz knows nothing about it. When he arrives in Paris ahead of schedule, his colleagues arrange for young Corporal Hartmann (Courtenay, Doctor Zhivago) to show him the sights of the French city and secretly report any unusual behavior back to them. Indeed, another prostitute is murdered in the exact same fashion, but Grau’s investigation is marginalized by the attempt on Hitler’s life.
We learn of the aforementioned events by way of Interpol agent Morand’s (Noiret, Cinema Paradiso) questioning of people who were present. Twenty years later, he’s picking up where Grau left off. The murder of another prostitute, this time in Hamburg, bears the same MO as the previous killings. He’s determined to identify the killer and bring him to justice.
The Night of the Generals is a well-crafted suspense-thriller combined with a compelling account of a real-life historical event. The conspiracy to eliminate the Fuhrer was allegedly masterminded by General Rommel played here by Christopher Plummer, a long way off from The Sound of Music. Litvak successfully weaves fictional characters into the fact-based account of “Operation Valkyrie” to create one hell of a murder mystery. What’s most interesting is how it deviates from formula when it comes to revealing the identity of the killer. Instead of a big reveal at the end with the detective character explaining the who, how and why, the pieces of the mystery gradually unfold leading to the identity of the killer who could be any one of three based on their suspicious behavior. They’re all guilty of something, but what exactly? This slow build-up enhances both the story’s suspense level and the viewer’s unease as certain facts and behaviors come to light.
The top performance in The Night of the Generals comes from O’Toole as the evil, cold-hearted Nazi officer with a mile-wide cruel streak. He’s a human monster who thinks nothing of destroying an entire section of Warsaw in search of Resistance members. He doesn’t even flinch when the soldier next to him is shot dead. He’s the archetypical Aryan superman with his cool demeanor, tall physique, blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. One of the most chilling scenes is when he gazes at a Van Gogh self portrait in a hidden room with restricted access at a Paris museum. We’re never told what’s going through his head at that particular moment, but it clearly triggers something dark and disturbing deep within his troubled psyche.
Gray and Pleasance, actors I automatically associate with The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the original Halloween respectively, are both equally terrific. Grays’ character is a meticulous sort who keeps a written record of every word spoken in his office. Pleasance, his chief of staff, isn’t entirely on board with his boss’ ideology. Sharif delivers a nuanced performance as the intelligence officer with a two-fold reason for wanting to solve the case: (1) the moral implications of murder regardless of who committed it and (2) his implied disdain for the aristocratic officer class.
Courtenay delivers a fine performance as Hartmann, a classically trained pianist ordered to escort Tanz in an odyssey that turns dark when the general shows his true nature. He’s not thrilled with his assignment because it prevents him from meeting up with his lover Ulrike (Pettet, Casino Royale), the daughter of Gray’s character. He’s the epitome of humanity, a quality not encompassed by the Nazi party. Naturally, he’s the one who might have to take the fall for the murders.
Nearly every frame of The Night of the Generals is perfect including the opening credits sequence designed by Robert Brownjohn (From Russia with Love). He uses Nazi iconography, specifically that with relates to an officer’s uniform, to great effect. He uses a minimum of color which maximizes the effect of the inclusion of a red light bulb swinging on its cord until it pops. Obviously, it symbolizes the simmering blood lust that the killer can no longer contain. When it finally shatters, it’s representative of the killer giving himself over to the darkness consuming him.
What’s great about The Night of the Generals is that it’s not hard to follow, although it helps to have some knowledge of WWII and the insidiousness of the Nazis. Its narrative structure could just as easily render the whole thing convoluted, but it doesn’t thanks to a tightly written screenplay by Joseph Kessel and Paul Dehn and tighter direction by Litvak. It sets itself apart from other WWII-themed by telling its story from the perspective of the enemy rather than the “good guys”- i.e. the Americans and/or the British. It clouds the moral waters and forces the viewer to carefully consider each character’s actions. Every scene is perfectly done from members of the Resistance firing at the military vehicles arriving at the scene of the first murder to a raid on a French bar where members of the Resistance might be hiding. The illicit romance between Hartmann and Ulrike is also well-handled. Circumstances like her disapproving mother (Brown, The Ruling Cass) keep them apart for most of the movie. In an ironic twist, she wants to set her up with Tanz who has absolutely no interest in the girl. He’s as cold as they come. I know I keep coming back to O’Toole, but his character intrigues me to no end. Of course, watching an actor of his caliber at work in any movie is a treat in and of itself.
In any event, The Night of the Generals is sure to hold your interest from beginning to end. It’s a suspense-thriller with actual suspense and genuine thrills. It has an exceptional cast of actors hired for their talent rather than their looks. Litvak is less concerned with putting attractive performers in key roles than putting the right ones in the right roles. Sadly, that’s not the way it’s done today. With old movies being remade left and right these days, let’s hope they leave The Night of the Generals alone. It’s fine the way it is.
