The Night of the Generals (1967)

The Night of the Generals is a 1967 suspense/thriller film set in World War II, adapted from the novel of the same name by Hans Hellmut Kirst. It stars Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet, Corale Browne, and Philippe Noiret.

The film was produced by Sam Spiegel and directed by Anatole Litvak, with a musical score by Maurice Jarre. The screenplay was written by Paul Dehn and Joseph Kessel. Gore Vidal also contributed to the screenplay but was uncredited.

The murder of a prostitute in Nazi-occupied Warsaw in 1942 draws Abwehr Major Grau (Omar Sharif) into an investigation where the evidence 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 is cut short by his summary transfer to Paris at the instigation of these officers.

The case remains closed until all three officers are transferred to Paris in July 1944. Paris is a hotbed of intrigue, with senior Wehrmacht officers plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Kahlenberg is deeply involved in the plot, while von Seydlitz-Gabler, who is aware of its existence, is sitting on the fence, awaiting the outcome. Tanz, who is unaware of the plot, remains loyal to the Führer.

Tanz's orderly Kurt Hartmann (Tom Courtenay) witnesses the aftermath of his commander's butchery of a second prostitute on the night of July 19, 1944. Tanz tells Hartmann to run away; realizing that it would be his word against that of a general, Hartmann takes his advice. 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. On July 20, 1944, the assassination attempt takes place. When Grau accuses Tanz face to face, the general kills the detective and labels him as one of the plot conspirators to cover his tracks.

After the war, the murder of a third prostitute in Hamburg in 1965 draws the attention of Interpol Inspector Morand (Philippe Noiret). Morand owes a debt of gratitude to Grau for not revealing his connection to the French Resistance during the war. 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 film includes three cameos appearances by actors portraying historical figures. The first is Christopher Plummer, who makes a brief appearance as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The second is Harry Andrews, who makes an appearance as General Karl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, the German Military Governor of Occupied France in 1944. Finally, Gerhard Buhr appears as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the officer who carried the bomb into Hitler’s headquarters in East Prussia on the morning of July 20, 1944.

This was the second film in which Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole appeared together, the first being Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
It was also the second film in which Sharif and Tom Courtenay appeared together, the first being Dr. Zhivago (1965). This was the first film in which Peter O'Toole and Coral Browne worked together, they would later appear in The Ruling Class (1972), Coral Browne and Charles Grey appeared together in An Englishman Abroad. Both Charles Grey and Donald Pleasence starred in the James Bond films as the archi villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.