The Night of the Generals ** (1967, Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Christopher Plummer, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet, Charles Gray, Coral Browne, John Gregson, Harry Andrews, Nigel Stock) – Classic Movie Review 7,109

The star-heavy, serious-minded 1967 World War Two-set whodunit film The Night of the Generals is based on a garish story in which a Polish prostitute is killed in Warsaw in 1942 by a man dressed as a Nazi general.

Director Anatole Litvak’s star-heavy, serious-minded 1967 wartime-set whodunit is loosely based on a novel by Hans Hellmut Kirst, in which a Polish prostitute is killed in Warsaw in 1942 by a man dressed as a Nazi general.

The film stars Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Christopher Plummer, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet, Philippe Noiret, Charles Gray, Coral Browne, John Gregson, Harry Andrews, Nigel Stock and Juliette Greco.

Omar Sharif stars as Major Grau of German Intelligence who investigates the three generals who are suspects: General Kahlenberge (Donald Pleasence), General von Seidlitz-Gabler (Charles Gray) and General Tanz (Peter O’Toole).

There are lots of sub-plots help to fill out the long running time of 148 minutes — including romance with Corporal Hartmann (Tom Courtenay) and Ulrike (Joanna Pettet), and the scheme to kill Adolf Hitler.

Unfortunately, this French-British-American co-production international blockbuster is uneven and only sometimes fully convincing, but some of the acting from the outstanding cast and Sam Spiegel’s production impress. All the main stars are good, and Christopher Plummer particularly enjoys himself as Field Marshal Rommel. Maurice Jarre’s score is strong and Alexander Trauner’s set designs are special.

Also in the cast are Yves Brainville, Sacha Pitoeff, Charles Millot, Raymond Gérôme, Véronique Vendell, Pierre Mondy, Elénore Hirt, Nicole Courcel, Jenny Orléans, Gérard Buhr, Michael Goodliffe, Gordon Jackson, Patrick Allen, Maurice Teynac, and Howard Vernon.

Many writers worked on the script. The screenplay by Joseph Kessel and Paul Dehn is loosely based on the beginning of the 1962 novel by German author Hans Hellmut Kirst and ‘on an incident written by James Hadley Chase’, a subplot from his 1952 novel The Wary Transgressor. Gore Vidal is also one of the many writers said to have contributed uncredited to the screenplay.

O’Toole and Sharif joined the film reluctantly feeling they owed producer Sam Spiegel for making them international stars with Lawrence of Arabia, But they were under an old contract agreement and reportedly paid less combined than Donald Pleasence alone.

Spiegel chose Anatole Litvak to direct as he owned the rights to the novel.

Rare permission was given to shoot the film’s first section behind the Iron Curtain on location in Warsaw. The final scenes were shot in Munich.

It premiered in London on 29 January 1967.

The Night of the Generals is directed by Anatole Litvak, runs 148 minutes, is made by Filmsonor and Horizon Pictures, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Joseph Kessel and Paul Dehn, based on an incident written by James Hadley Chase, and a novel by Hans Hellmut Kirst, is shot in Technicolor by Henri Decaë, is produced by Sam Spiegel and Anatole Litvak, is scored by Maurice Jarre, and is designed by Alexander Trauner.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7,109

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com