''The Devil's General'' (german: Des Teufels General) is a 1955 black and white West German film based on the play of the same title by

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was ...

. The film features

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in '' Des Teufels Gen ...

as General Harras,

Marianne Koch Marianne Koch (; born 19 August 1931) is a German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in Spaghetti Westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician. Career Betwee ...

, Viktor de Kowa, Karl John, Eva Ingeborg Scholz, and Harry Meyen. It was shot at the Wandsbek Studios in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Albrecht Becker and Herbert Kirchhoff.

Plot

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1941. The title character is ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' General Harras, a highly decorated World War I veteran contemptuous of the Third Reich and the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

attempt to conquer Europe. Initially courted by '' SS'' officials, he continually mocks the Nazi leadership, which leads to friends turning into enemies and suspicion from ''SS'' and

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one or ...

of what may be treason. He is temporarily arrested by order of

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

and, after his release, is determined to break his deal with the devil. He backs the

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identiti ...

action of his flight engineer, threatens an ''SS'' officer at gunpoint and finally crashes his aircraft into the control tower of his airbase.

Cast

as ''Harras'', whose character is supposedly based upon German Luftwaffe General Ernst Udet *Bum Krüger as ''Lüttjohann'', Harras's adjutant. *

Paul Westermeier Paul Westermeier (9 July 1892 – 17 October 1972) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * ''Wedding in the Eccentric Club'' (1917) * '' Agnes Arnau and Her Three Suitors'' (1918) * '' About the Son'' (1921) * '' Memoirs of a Film Act ...

as ''Korrianke'', Harras's chauffeur. * Albert Lieven as ''Friedrich Eilers'', Colonel & squadron leader. * Harry Meyen as ''Hartmann'', Luftwaffe officer. *Hans Daniel as ''Hastenteuffel'', Luftwaffe officer. *

Beppo Brem Beppo Brem (11 March 1906 in Munich, German Empire – September 5, 1990 in Munich, West Germany) was a German film actor, who was in over 200 film and television productions between 1932 and 1990. He often played stereotypically Bavarian charac ...

as ''Pfundtmayer'', Luftwaffe officer. * Karl Ludwig Diehl as ''Sigbert von Mohrungen'', President of the Raw Materials Procurement Department. * Werner Fuetterer as ''Baron Pflungk'', Attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. * Viktor de Kowa as ''Dr. Schmidt-Lausitz'', Nazi Party official. * Karl John as ''Oderbruch'', engineer in the Ministry of Aviation. *Erica Balqué as ''Anne Eilers'', Friedrich Eilers' wife. * Eva Ingeborg Scholz as ''Waltraut von Mohrungen'', nicknamed ''Pützchen'', Anne's sister. * Camilla Spira as ''Olivia Geiss'', diva. *

as ''Diddo Geiss'', Olivia's niece; love interest of General Harras, despite how much younger than him she is. * Ingrid van Bergen as ''Lyra Schoeppke'', named "die Tankstelle," which means "The Gas Station." * Inge Meysel as ''Frau Korrianke''. *Joseph Offenbach as ''Zernick'', SS-Hauptsturmführer. *

Wolfgang Neuss Wolfgang Neuss (3 December 1923 – 5 May 1989) was a German actor and Kabarett artist. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he also became famous for his political engagement, first for the SPD, then for the extra-parliamentary opposition, ''APO''. ...

as police photographer. * Robert Meyn as ''von Stetten'', Generalleutnant. *Werner Riepel as ''Kleinschmidt,'', Göring's chauffeur. * Werner Schumacher as SS-Wachtmeister. *Wolfried Lier as ''Herr Detlev'', restaurant waiter.Zuckmayer, Carl. "Des Teufels General."

Production

The literary model by Zuckmayer was supposed to be based on the fate (and in the film nothing more) of his friend, ''Luftwaffe'' general Ernst Udet, who committed suicide in 1941. It was shot in

and

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

using Swedish-built

Junkers Ju 86 The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by various air forces on both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry ten passengers. Two were delivered to ...

bombers with license-built

Bristol Mercury The Bristol Mercury is a British nine-cylinder, air-cooled, single-row, piston radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central c ...

engines on a local airfield including its offices with Esselte Files on the shelf. The parking lot contains a post-war VW Bus. All Uniforms were of a material and tailoring standard unknown in wartime Germany. Contrary to living quarters that were very close to that of well-to-do circles in Berlin at the time. At the

German Film Awards German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

of 1955 Marianne Koch won the Film Award in Silver for Outstanding Individual Achievement: Supporting Actress for her performance in the film.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's General, The 1955 films 1955 war films German war films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Helmut Käutner Films set in Berlin German films based on plays Films based on works by Carl Zuckmayer Films about the German Resistance World War II aviation films Real Film films German World War II films German black-and-white films 1950s German films Films shot at Wandsbek Studios Films shot in Hamburg