Very well executed

the audience applauded

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Great acting from Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, a fascinating, if overly complex plot, and fine attention to detail make Night of the Generals a compelling film. O'Toole gives arguably the best take ever on a Nazi nut-case character.I agree with those who feel that the romance and Hitler assassination subplots weigh the movie down. The corporal's character has the necessary purpose of incriminating O'Toole's General Tanz, not to mention highlighting Tanz's borderline comically obsessive behaviors; but the girlfriend just gobbles up minutes without adding much interest. Also, as interesting as the assassination plot/attempt is, it also ends up adding extra characters and scenes irrelevant to the main murder mystery. At first it seems that General Tanz is too obvious a suspect; he's an habitual sadist. Torching whole blocks of Warsaw as an "exercise" while promising the local children candy is just the kind of Santa Claus-from-hell persona that spells out sociopath. The other two generals, depicted as more or less 'good Germans,' are not nearly so interesting as Tanz. It might've been a better mystery if either Donald Pleasance's or Charles Gray's character had been the murderer. Surely, O'Toole's Tanz could fill a whole toolshed with his personality disorders. Of course he's a murderer; killing the three women was just a side-show for him.What was an interesting match-up was Omar Sharif and Philippe Noiret; their characters understood each other. In a way, their shared interest in solving the murder(s) shows, ironically, that there's more going on than the war, more important things that involve the civilized world of the rule of law.The frame story set in contemporary (1965) times gives a bit more perspective, and actually complements the main plot. Except for Tanz, civilization has returned. It's strange that he survives twenty years imprisonment as a war criminal, but can't deal with his capture as an ordinary murderer. Perhaps he's more afraid of losing status than losing his life.There's a lot going on here; Night of the Generals is worth repeat viewings. Despite the piggy-backing of plots, great performances give us a memorable movie.

Omar Sharif is investigating the murder of a prostitute in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. He's working for the Nazis, but seems to have his own moral code. The Nazi generals under suspicion include one whose wife finds a red spot on his shirt and coolly concludes that he didn't cut himself shaving, so it must be lipstick; one who's clearly insane enough to do it, but (as Sharif points out), would hardly bother, when he can destroy an entire city in one day; and two who are plotting to kill Hitler (the prostitute was a secret agent; did she know too much?). A similar murder later occurs in occupied Paris; what connects the two besides the presence in town of the same suspects? The movie does meander somewhat, but it does explore the possibility that some evils are more evil than others, even in a world that is already thoroughly corrupt. Worth seeing if only for the performances and the biting wit of the script. Also worth seeing for Sharif and Peter O'Toole, reunited after Lawrence of Arabia, and every bit as gorgeous, both of them.

Sadly, I can not join in with the chorus of those who rhapsodize over the many merits of "Night of the Generals." It isn't that I don't want to - I would love to. You have a uniformly excellent cast (Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasance, Charles Gray, Coral Browne and many others) doing some very fine acting, solid if not inspiring direction, brilliant cinematography and a music score by Maurice Jarre that almost atones for the blood-congealing treacle that was his earlier "Dr. Zhivago." Unfortunately you also have from my perspective a tome that loses focus once the story shifts from Warsaw to Paris. I won't waste time with a story synopsis as other posters have already done that most brilliantly. Instead, I will move on to some of the thoughts with which the film left me. What is the value of one human life? Does it matter whose human life we are talking about - trained soldiers - freedom fighters - nationalists - innocents caught up in the cross-fire - prostitutes! Can killing of any sort ever be justified? If so, how? If not, what about 'the greater good' question?In one form or another, "Night of the Generals" poses all of the above questions - and a good deal more. But regretfully, the impact upon us of those very pertinent questions is diminished by a screenplay that gets bogged down, indeed becomes obsessed with the character study of one man. And further adding to the lessening of what I trust was the intended emotional impact of this film is the setting up of the investigating officer as a heroic white knight, galloping along on his white charger, pointing his lance and singing 'stronger than dirt.' Sorry folks, but it just doesn't wash!To conclude, a previous poster suggested a series of 'what if' questions one can see as encircling this picture. Absolutely - with each question being perfectly valid. However for me, one question got left out, namely, 'What if each of the three story lines in this film had been more economically presented through some very necessary (albeit judicious) editing? What if then?'

This film is certainly a bit of an oddity which somehow managed to stay under my radar for years despite my being a fan of half the cast and a devotee of axis-focused WW2 films. It's strange that in the 1960's a film would pop up with the courage to tell a story set in Nazi Germany which stays politically neutral throughout, focusing more on a whodunit style plot where an investigating sympathetic German officer (Omar Sharif in an odd bit of casting) tries to find out which German General is murdering prostitutes.The bright spot in this picture (as with most bigger budget English WW2 films) is the acting, particularly the tour-de-force performance from Peter O'Toole as the unemotional yet power-crazed high ranking and universally reviled General Tanz. He gracefully glides through the film, and even though the years of alcohol abuse had certainly begun to take their toll on his boyish looks, it fits his character perfectly. I cannot imagine anyone else pulling it off like he did, save for perhaps Helmut Berger who essentially made a career out of aping O'Toole's performance in this film.Also look out for Harry Andrews and Christopher Plummer in cameo roles. Donald Pleasence also shines as a twitchy staff officer who is among the suspects along with O'Toole and that guy who played Blofeld in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. It's funny to see the two Blofelds working together. The film has rather impressive production values for the time including a few action scenes involving partisan suppression in the streets of Warsaw (complete with some shockingly convincing Tiger Tank mock-ups) and recreation of historical events like the 20 July Plot to kill Hitler and surrounding conspiracy.What makes this film so unique is its (and Omar Sharif's) focus on a small-seeming stakes of solving a murder against the large-seeming backdrops of World War 2, the destruction of Warsaw, and the plot to kill Hitler. By and large, this disconnect actually works very well and leads to some delightfully awkward situations which Sharif handles with a smile, undeterred from his quest for justice. A truly delightful film if one can overlook the rather sloppy wrap-up.