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The Night of the Generals is a 1967 Franco-BritishSecond World War crime mystery film directed byAnatole Litvak and produced by Sam Spiegel. It starsPeter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet and Philippe Noiret. The screenplay by Joseph Kessel and Paul Dehn was loosely based on the beginning of the novel of the same name by German author Hans Hellmut Kirst. The writing credits also include the line "based on an incident written by James Hadley Chase". Gore Vidalis said to have contributed to the screenplay, but wasn't credited.[citation needed]
The musical score was composed by Maurice Jarre. Much of the film was shot in Warsaw, which was exceptionally rare for a major Western film at the height of the Cold War.[c
Films directed by Anatole Litvak
Films directed by Anatole Litvak
- Sleeping Car
- Mayerling (1936)
- The Woman I Love
- Tovarich
- The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
- The Sisters
- Confessions of a Nazi Spy
- Castle on the Hudson
- All This, and Heaven Too
- City for Conquest
- Out of the Fog
- Blues in the Night
- This Above All
- The Long Night
- Sorry, Wrong Number
- The Snake Pit
- Decision Before Dawn
- Act of Love
- The Deep Blue Sea
- Anastasia
- Mayerling (1957)
- The Journey
- Goodbye Again
- Five Miles to Midnight
- The Night of the Generals
Theatrical release poster
| |
| Directed by | Anatole Litvak |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Sam Spiegel |
| Screenplay by | Joseph Kessel Paul Dehn |
| Based on |
and an incident written by James Hadley Chase |
| Starring | Peter O'Toole Omar Sharif Tom Courtenay Donald Pleasence Joanna Pettet Philippe Noiret |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
| Cinematography | Henri Decaë |
| Edited by | Alan Osbiston |
Production
company |
Horizon Pictures
Filmsonor |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates
|
|
Running time
| 145 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom France |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,400,000 (US/ Canada rentals)[1] |
The murder of a prostitute in German-occupied Warsaw in 1942 causes Abwehr Major Grau (Omar Sharif) to start an investigation, as she was also a German agent. His evidence soon points to the killer being one of three German general officers: General von Seydlitz-Gabler (Charles Gray); General Kahlenberg (Donald Pleasence), his chief of staff; and General Tanz (Peter O'Toole). Grau's investigation, however, is cut short by his summary transfer to Paris at the instigation of these officers.
Many years after the war, the murder of a prostitute in Hamburg in 1965 draws the attention ofInterpol Inspector Morand (Philippe Noiret), who owes a debt of gratitude to Grau for not revealing his connection to the French Resistance during the war. Almost certain there is a connection to Grau's 1942 case, Morand reopens the cold case and the film begins to shift between the Europe of the 1960s and the Europe of the 1940s.
The case in Warsaw remains closed until all three officers meet in Paris in July 1944. Paris is then a hotbed of intrigue, with senior Wehrmacht officers plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Kahlenberg is deeply involved in the plot, while von Seydlitz-Gabler is aware of its existence but is sitting on the fence, awaiting the outcome. Tanz is unaware of the plot and remains totally loyal to the Führer.
On the night of 19 July 1944, Tanz orders his driver, Kurt Hartmann (Tom Courtenay), to procure a prostitute; Tanz butchers her so as to implicate Hartmann, but offers Hartmann the chance to desert, which he accepts. When Grau, who is now a Lieutenant Colonel, learns of the murder, committed in the same manner as the first, he resumes his investigation and concludes that Tanz is the killer. However, his timing is unfortunate, because the very next day, the assassination attemptagainst Hitler takes place. So when Grau accuses Tanz face to face, the general kills Grau and labels him as one of the plot conspirators to cover his tracks.
Years later, Morand begins to tie up the loose ends: he finds no criminal activity from Kahlenberg or Seydlitz-Gabler, but learns of one man who knew which man is the real killer. Morand confronts Tanz at a reunion dinner for Tanz's former panzer division. When Morand produces Hartmann as his witness, Tanz goes into a vacant room and shoots himself.
·
The
Lieutenant Must Be Mad. New York: Harcourt,
Brace, 1951/London: George G. Harrap and Co., 1951.
·
The
Revolt of Gunner Asch. Boston: Little, Brown,
1955. UK title: Zero Eight Fifteen:
The Strange Mutiny of Gunner Asch: A Novel. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1955.
·
Forward,
Gunner Asch! Boston: Little, Brown,
1956. UK title: Gunner Asch Goes to
War: Zero Eight Fifteen II: A Novel. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1956.
·
The
Return of Gunner Asch. Boston: Little, Brown,
1957/London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1957. Subtitled Zero Eight Fifteen III in the UK edition.
·
The
Seventh Day. Garden City, NY:
Doubleday, 1959. UK title: No One Will Escape: A
Novel.London: Weidenfeld and
Nicolson, 1959. (online copy at archive.org)
·
Officer
Factory: A Novel. London: Collins,
1962/Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963.
·
What
Became of Gunner Asch. New York: Harper and
Row, 1964/London: Collins, 1964.
·
Brothers
in Arms: A Novel. New York: Harper and Row,
1965/London: Collins, 1965.
·
Soldiers'
Revolt. New York: Harper and
Row, 1966. UK title: The 20th of July. London: Collins, 1966 .
·
The
Last Card. New York: Pyramid
Books, 1967. UK title: Death Plays the Last
Card. London:
Fontana/Collins, 1968.
·
The
Wolves. New York:
Coward-McCann, 1968. UK title: The Fox of Maulen. London: Collins, 1968.
·
Last
Stop, Camp 7. New York:
Coward-McCann, 1969. UK title: Camp 7 Last Stop. London: Collins, 1969.
·
No
Fatherland. New York:
Coward-McCann, 1970.
·
The
Adventures of Private Faust. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1971.
·
Who's
In Charge Here? London: Collins, 1971.
·
Hero
in the Tower. New York: Coward,
McCann and Geoghegan, 1972/London: Collins, 1972.
·
A
Time for Scandal. London: Collins, 1973.
American title: Damned to Success: A
Novel of Modern Munich. New York: Coward,
McCann and Geoghegan, 1973.
·
A
Time for Truth. London: Collins,
1974/New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1974.
·
A
Time for Payment. London: Collins, 1976.
·
The
Nights of the Long Knives. New York: Coward,
McCann and Geoghegan, 1976/London: Collins, 1976.
·
Everything
Has Its Price. New York: Coward,
McCann and Geoghegan, 1976.
·
The
Affairs of the Generals. New York: Coward,
McCann and Geoghegan, 1979. UK title:Twilight of the Generals. London: Collins, 1979.
·
Party
Games. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1979/London: Collins, 1980.
·
Heroes
for Sale. London: Collins, 1982.
|
Based on
|
The Night of the Generals
1962 novel by Hans Hellmut Kirst
and an incident
written
by James Hadley Chase
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hadley_Chase
In
one of the chapters of The Wary Transgressor (1952) Chase gave a powerful
portrayal of a fanatical General and this part of the book was lifted by Hans
Hellmut Kirst in perhaps his most famous novel The
Night of the Generals (which later became a popular film
starring Peter O'Toolein the title role). Chase (who had nothing
whatsoever to do with the making of the film) threatened a lawsuit, and Kirst
subsequently acknowledged Chase's original idea in his book, as did Columbia
Pictures, who included a credit that the plot of the
film stemmed from an original Chase idea.
|
||
The murder of a prostitute in German-occupied Warsaw in
1942 causes Abwehr Major Grau (Omar Sharif) to start an investigation, as she was also a
German agent. His evidence soon points to the killer being one of three German general officers: General von Seydlitz-Gabler (Charles Gray); General
Kahlenberg (Donald Pleasence), his
chief of staff; and General Tanz (Peter O'Toole). Grau's investigation, however, is cut short by his summary
transfer to Paris at the instigation of these officers.
Many years after the war, the murder of a prostitute in Hamburg in 1965 draws the attention of Interpol Inspector Morand (Philippe Noiret), who owes a debt of gratitude to Grau for not
revealing his connection to the French Resistance during the war. Almost certain there is a connection to Grau's
1942 case, Morand reopens the cold case and the film begins to
shift between the Europe of the 1960s and the Europe of the 1940s.
The case in Warsaw remains closed until all three officers meet
in Paris in July 1944. Paris is then a hotbed of intrigue, with senior Wehrmacht officers plotting to
assassinate Adolf Hitler. Kahlenberg is deeply involved in the plot, while von Seydlitz-Gabler is aware of its existence
but is sitting on the fence, awaiting the outcome. Tanz is unaware of the plot
and remains totally loyal to the Führer.
On the night of 19 July 1944, Tanz orders his driver, Kurt
Hartmann (Tom Courtenay), to procure
a prostitute; Tanz butchers her so as to implicate Hartmann, but offers
Hartmann the chance to desert, which he accepts. When Grau, who is now a Lieutenant
Colonel, learns of the murder, committed in the same manner as the first, he
resumes his investigation and concludes that Tanz is the killer. However, his
timing is unfortunate, because the very next day, the assassination attemptagainst Hitler takes place. So when Grau
accuses Tanz face to face, the general kills Grau and labels him as one of the
plot conspirators to cover his tracks.
Years later, Morand begins to tie up the loose ends: he
finds no criminal activity from Kahlenberg or Seydlitz-Gabler, but learns of
one man who knew which man is the real killer. Morand confronts Tanz at a
reunion dinner for Tanz's former panzer division. When Morand produces
Hartmann as his witness, Tanz goes into a vacant room and shoots himself.
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