Written by / 3/09/2020 / No comments / , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PETER O'TOOLE 'THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS' TOM COURTENAY

Title: THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS Year: 1967 Rating: ****

The fact that a movie from the producer of and two main leads from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and another David Lean-directed actor, Tom Courtenay, from the epic followup that also starred Omar Sharif, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, was just a pretty-good and not a really-great motion picture is probably why "all the hate" has been given for THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS throughout the years...

And while spending far too much of that hefty run-time making for too long a movie in general, it's still a neat cinematic experience, especially the narrowed last half as a reluctant Courtenay's put in passive charge of driving/escorting bloodthirsty Nazi general Peter O'Toole around occupied yet art-inspired Paris: He's one of three German Generals that could be the murderer of a female German spy, unseen in the movie's expository prologue...

Véronique Vendell (also with O'Toole in Beckett) from THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS

Presenting an extremely farfetched premise, being that a Polish citizen who witnessed "a man in General's clothing" exiting the apartment/crime scene would be taken seriously enough for any of these very high-ranking Nazis... also including a timid, cautious Donald Pleasence and classy, confident Charles Gray (whose anti-war daughter Joanna Pettet winds up in bed with Courtenay early on)... to have anything to worry about in the first, second or third place...

Yet our central investigator, a German officer played by mild-mannered yet task-driven Omar Sharif, is so in love with old school law and order, that that alone makes the primary plot more bearable — albeit one that quickly detours into an overkill of flashbacks and flash-forwards during and after the Second World War, making it hard for the casual viewer to keep score, which this NIGHT OF obviously isn't catered to or made for...

Titular Generals Donald Pleasence, Peter O'Toole and Charles Gray in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS

It's a film buff's film... a movie's movie... hence the unpopularity being "no David Lean masterpiece" despite ARABIA producer Sam Spiegel hiring a capable enough director in Anatole Litvak to juggle various characters throughout random backroom dealings...

And of course the dream cast that, as mentioned, once dwindled down to bogus war hero Courtenay and quietly-twisted O'Toole (and featuring Peter's voluptuous BECKET babe Véronique Vendell, again as a whore), the suspense is heightened while everything becomes more contained and clear...

Omar Sharif spends deathly wartime with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS

Leaving all the distractions (like an irritating subplot into the failed assassination attempt of Hitler featuring "special guest star" Christopher Plummer as Rommel) to pale to O'Toole and Courtenay, making for one of... or actually, two of... the greatest odd couples to ever grace the screen...

So perhaps THREE DAYS OF THE CORPORAL AND GENERAL would be a more suitable title: After all, they collectively sum up what really works here, generally speaking.

Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Tom Courtenay in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Véronique Vendell with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Véronique Vendell with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Véronique Vendell with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Tom Courtenay with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Tom Courtenay with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Omar Sharif with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Omar Sharif investigates THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Omar Sharif with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Tom Courtenay and Donald Pleasence in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Tom Courtenay with Peter O'Toole in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
The beautiful Joanna Pettet sexes up in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Tom Courtenay and Joanna Pettet in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Robert Brownjohn opening credit sequence for NIGHT OF THE GENERALS
Peter O'Toole leads Tom Courtenay to a conclusion in THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS

Share This Post :
Tags : , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

All Time Popular

Featured Post

ROBERT BEATTY WITH TERRY MOORE IN 'POSTMARK FOR DANGER'

Title: POSTMARK FOR DANGER Year: 1955 Rating: ** Twenty years before Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, involving a first-act wher...

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM
Movie Reviews, Interviews, Articles and Pop Culture from White Heat to Blue City

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE
RANDOM QUOTE: "The Love Generation... Vicious little creeps!" Peter Strauss, Rich Man Poor Man

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)CHARLES BRONSON1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

FOR HORROR MOVIE REVIEWS

Most Popular Last Year

RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE