The Night of the Generals

Take away all of the successful surface elements - the amazing cast, the historical backdrop, the many tensions of flawed leaders at war, etc. - and you still have a story that has a lot of important things to say. Every character is magnificent as they try to wrangle with murder, war, justice, love, fear, heroism, brutality, family, and other matters. This seems like a lot - and it is - but the acting and the script combine to make it work.

What tends to turn people off is that admittedly the large infusion of supporting characters and subplots can make this film a little confusing and strange. Peter O'Toole's character in particular is as cold and stiff as a corpse in a Russian winter. Omar Sharif's passion for solving the crime is at times over the top. But it is precisely each strong personality that makes each character compelling and vulnerable. The other perceived drawback is that 1960s WWII dramas tend to be somewhat campy. There are parts with very poor dubbing (from primarily the foreign extras). Also, the fact that most of the characters - including nearly every Nazi - have British accents has always made me laugh. One just has to get past those oddities and pay attention to the script/story.

Probably the best compliment is that it simply doesn't matter if you know who the murderer is. All of the other intrigue still makes this a fantastic movie.


From a viewer in Pennsylvania who likes dialogue in films.   June 19, 1999
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

The object of any murder mystery is to keep the viewer or reader in suspense. The Night of the Generals succeeds. When I saw this film in the mid-sixties, I was spellbound. Yes, I was distracted with subplots and a film with a somewhat sluggish pace. But shouldn't a murder mystery work at distracting and confusing the viewer? When the murderer is finally revealed, you will feel rewarded at the final outcome. Although I enjoy Omar Sharif's acting abilities, I think someone else could have been better suited for his role as the investigator. Sadly, no one has bothered to complement Maurice Jarre for a brilliant score. His macabre waltz which is played throughout the film is chilling. View this film with the lights off and the receiver off the hook.


O'toole at his best   March 23, 2003
Christopher Sean Simon (Los Angeles, California)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

This film is a masterpiece, despite it's length. It is definately for the officianado who appreciates period dramas and the detail and perfection in which English acting brings to the genre. For instance, O'toole is amazing as a sadistic Nazi gereral. Omar Sharif is excellent, still his looks do make it hard to believe he is a German Army Major and not a concentration camp victim. The plot is excellently played out over a series of 20 years and a serial murder case which pursues three Nazi gererals from occupied Poland, to Paris just before D-Day and post war Germany.


A great but forgotten movie   March 25, 2002
Dr. Christoph Gassenschmidt (Athens, Greece)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

This movie is excellent from the beginning to the end. For once, German officers were portrayed in an acceptable way. They are not the robot machines as they are usually shown. Although, in the beginning you seem to see that typical old picture of the cold blooded Nazi-beast. But the more the film develops the more you find out that behind those "strong" characters stand people like you and me. People who have doubts. People who have weaknesses. This is exactly the strength of the movie. Why? Because the more the character unfolds the more you become intrigued by it.

Obviously, General Tanz is a little bit of a carricature. This exaggeration of his character is however used deliberately to come to a surprising end.

The cast is absolutely stunning and every single one of them deserves five stars. Especially Peter O'Toole plays it very well.

I would say, anyone who is interested in murder cases connected with a film on Nazi Germany and the Second World War should get it.

A last comment: Although produced in the 1960s it beats most of the recent productions on Nazi Germany in terms of really understanding what was going on.


Abysmally bad WW2 mystery   December 11, 2002
Cory D. Slipman (Rockville Centre, N.Y.)
7 out of 34 found this review helpful

Director Anatole Litvack, who struck gold with Sorry Wrong Number laid an ostrich sized egg with Night of the Generals despite a talented cast.

This lengthy and boring snoozer of a flick surrounds the investigation of Omar Sharif playing a Nazi intelligence officer of a brutal murder of a Polish prostitute in wartorn 1942 Warsaw. An eyewitness though unable to see the face of the murderer recognized that his uniform was that of a German general. The only generals without alibis were the psychotic warhawk Peter O'Toole, the timid Charles Gray and the devious and plotting Donald Pleasance. Lacking cooperation, Sharif has no chance of solving the crime.

The scene shifts to 1944 Paris where again a prostitute is butchered. Sharif with the help of French investigator and Resistance member Phillippe Noiret suspect O'Toole but cannot prove his guilt.

The movie fast forwards to 1965 (the present) where a reunion of the cast finally unlocks the mystery of the serial killing.

Considering the material with which to work, the director did an awful job with what could have been an intriguing plot. The backround music was suggestive of a comedy and highly inappropriate. Maybe it's just me but Nazi generals with British accents doesn't cut it. Don't waste your time like I did.