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.

SnoopyStyle It's 1942 Warsaw. A Polish prostitute is sadistically murdered. She was a German agent and German Intelligence Major Grau (Omar Sharif) investigates. A witness saw a General's uniform. He zeroes in on General von Seydlitz-Gabler (Charles Gray), his chief of staff General Kahlenberg (Donald Pleasence) and General Tanz (Peter O'Toole). Grau is promoted away to Paris by General Kahlenberg. All four are reunited in 1944 Paris as an assassination attempt takes place against Hitler. In 1965, Interpol Inspector Morand reopens the case trying to piece together the clues. The movie switches back and forth between the two periods.It's an old fashion crime mystery in the times of war. It's a little hard to get involved. Normally the story would just follow Grau and the audience can solve the case alongside him. This one follows everybody because of its structure. It meanders. I keep waiting for the story to get back to the murder mystery as the movie follows the generals in their war. I wish the movie keeps it more like a police investigation and maintain a higher level of tension. It should be constantly reminding the audience of the brutal murder. If they want to make a movie about Valkyrie, they could do the real story.

violetta1485 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.

Gord Jackson 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?'