Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

alexanderdavies-99382 I have to admit to having high hopes for "Night of the Generals." My previous viewing experience was 20 years ago when my brother rented the video. Alas, my expectations were only half met. The film suffers from a rather clumsy narrative as it keeps shifting from The Second World War to what was then modern day 1966. I found the constant shift in emphasis to be irksome as the film didn't seem to know which setting it was focusing on. In addition, the story about a German officer who investigates the murder of a prostitute in Nazi occupied Poland, took a backseat to what was really a general look at army life amongst the Nazis. Peter O' Toole doesn't really take centre stage as he should have done. He is out of the film for many minutes at a time and that disappointed me. The same applies to Omar Sharif as the officer investigating the murder. Luckily, the film does maintain my attention and interest, thanks to a brilliant supporting cast. We have Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Charles Gray, John Gregson, Harry Andrews, Christopher Plummer and others. Peter O' Toole - when he is in the film - gives an outstanding performance as the cold and ruthless killer in "Night of the Generals." His blue eyes look almost piercing. Not the classic I was expecting but still good.

Kirpianuscus a crime. a hunt. three suspects. the truth. few scenes who are not only remarkable but gives high force to admirable performances. and it is not a surprise because the cast is the basic virtue of a film about war, difficult decisions and justice. a historical film in same measure a crime movie. the manner to recreate the atmosphere of the period, the tension, the music are pieces of a fascinating film in which Peter O 'Toole is magnificent. because the image has the rare gift to become memory in a wise style. because it seems more a parable or a Medieval story about the victory of the good side against darkness of ambiguity. a film about madness in war time. and one of the films who presents a not ordinary perspective about war.

Michael A. Martinez 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.

Spikeopath The Night of the Generals is directed by Anatole Litvak and written by Paul Dehn, Joseph Kessel & Gore Vidal, based on the novel of the same name written by Hans Hellmut Kirst. It stars Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Charles Gray, Joanna Pettet & Philippe Noiret. Maurice Jarre scores the music and Henri Decae photographs it. Distributed by Columbia Pictures it's a Technicolor and Panavision production, with the primary location for the shoot being Warsaw, Poland. Plot centres around the hunt for a serial killer of prostitutes during the second World War, with the evidence pointing to it being a General in the German army. Nazi officer Major Grau (Sharif) is the man taxed with flushing out the madman.Is it comedy, drama or an in depth character study of Nazi evility? Perhaps all three? Either way, The Night of the Generals is an acquired taste and a film that's hard to recommend with any great confidence. With a big budget and an international cast of numbers, the makers intended to take the bite of Kirst's novel and blend it with grandiose characterisations: I mean the Hitler assassination plot is in the mix somewhere. What follows, dragged out over a far too long 150 minutes, is a film dotted with moments of class, punctured by moments of borderline camp comedy. Some of the dialogue is very precious, but again at times some discussions beggar belief. It's such a shame that a production with much going for it, such as the sets, location, photography, source material and cast, ultimately runs out as a collage of good intentions & bad ideas. Still, it is fun to watch, which in a film containing savagery and deprivation, probably gives you the best idea of how to approach the film.O'Toole is an absolute riot, playing it insane and pompously dandy, his performance alone is worth getting the numb backside for. But was it meant to be played that way? Rumours suggest that O'Toole was mortified about the behaviour of producer Sam Spiegel, particularly towards Litvak. So Pete, bless him, decided to totally have fun with the role, and he did, and in the process raises laughs aplenty. Sharif, Pleasence and Gray (woo hoo, Blofeld's R Us) manage to keep straight faces long enough to earn their money, while Technicolor beauty comes in the form of Pettet & Véronique Vendell. There's even some cameos to look out for, notably Christopher Plummer as Rommel. The rest either come and go without great impact, or in the case of Courtenay, just look star struck around O'Toole.If come the end you remember the nastiness within or a great action sequence? (whoosh those flamethrowers), then the film has in part done its job. If, however, you still find yourself giggling at O'Toole's hysterics? Then it most likely has not? Lest of course that was the intention.......5/10