Night Of The Generals (1966)
In Nazi-occupied Warsaw a ripper-style serial killer is murdering and sexually disfiguring prostitutes. Police chief Omar Sharif discovers that the killer is an army general, and 3 possibles are suspected. Obsessive war hero Peter O'Toole, lascivious Charles Gray, and creepy bookworm Donald Pleasence.
Sharif is murdered after identifying the killer and his identity is never known. 20 years later in post-war Paris the killings start up again, and all 3 suspects are again on the scene. Can French detective Philippe Noiret identify the killer from old case files & evidence before he strikes again?
A flawed masterpiece. Brilliant cast (including Tom Courtenay, Coral Browne, the gorgeous Joanna Pettet, and Christopher Plummer as Rommel) and a superbly creepy Maurice Jarre score. Overlength and a totally irrelevant section concerning the anti-Hitler July plot bog the film down badly in the middle, and some of the incidental casting stretches credibility a bit (Harry Andrews, Gordon Jackson & John Gregson as Nazis?) - but the film builds up quite nicely to a splendid conclusion in modern day France. O'Toole is superb as always, and sharp eyes will spot Sacha Pitoeff (Argento's Inferno) and Howard Vernon (Jess Franco regular) in small roles.
Heavily cut for an 'A certificate in 1966 (which completely altered most of the relevance of the murders!) but now uncut as a 15. Highly recommended as long as you stay through the film's slower spots.
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