The Night of the Generals (2-Feb-1967)
Director: Anatole Litvak Writers: Paul Dehn; Joseph Kessel From novel: Die Nacht der Generale by Hans Hellmut Kirst Keywords: Mystery, WWII
REVIEWS Review by anonymous (posted on 20-Apr-2006) The movie was very
haunting and rather bizarre. It had a great storyline and oozed
suspense. Peter O'Toole was perfectly casted in this role as was Omar
Shariff. I hope that it will soon be released on DVD. I would recommend
this movie to everyone. In today's world of serial killers, it is even
more timely.
Review by Alan Stolzer (posted on 2-Dec-2007) The movie is a relatively engaging work that has a dual center. One half being the 1944 plot against Hitler (that failed) and the other O'Toole's frightenginly masterful performance of an SS tank division commander.
I've seen this movie many times because O'Toole brings evil to a level I've never seen. He contemporarizes it. By that I mean the traditional evil performed, for example, by Olivier in "Richard III" and Jack Palance in "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" while both brilliant are in a traditional mode. What O'Toole does, in my opinion, is represent what the Nazis were in one performance. His need to murder prostitutes and dissect them is truly chilling while performing his monstrous battlefield duties and rationalizing the death that it causes. He updates the well known degeneracy that developed just before and during World War II and that haunts us today, relived in so many parts of the world.
I've known grown women who were afraid to leave their homes after seeing this film. I've also known the movie to stop noisy bars in their tracks while being shown on TV. That's how commanding O'Toole's performance is.
A friend pointed out to me how much more distorted O'Toole becomes after changing from his uniform to civilian clothes. Quite a monster, take it from me. And great actors don't need makeup to scare people.
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