''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 t ...

. 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 Gene ...

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 Viktor de Kowa (also spelled Victor de Kowa, born Victor Paul Karl Kowalczyk; 8 March 1904 – 8 April 1973) was a German stage and film actor, chanson singer, director, narrator, and comic poet. Life He was born the son of a farmer and engineer ...

, Karl John,

Eva Ingeborg Scholz Eva Ingeborg Scholz (16 February 1928 – 21 March 2022) was a German film and television actress. Biography Eva Ingeborg Scholz made her debut in the title role of the 1948 film ''1-2-3 Corona'' and appeared regularly in films over the follow ...

, and

Harry Meyen Harry Meyen (born Harald Haubenstock; 31 August 1924 – 15 April 1979) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films and television productions between 1948 and 1975. In the 1960s he also worked as a theatre director in West Ge ...

. It was shot at the

Wandsbek Studios The Wandsbek Studios are film production and television studios located in Wandsbek, a district of the German city of Hamburg. The complex was established in 1948 when Real Film, set up the previous year, acquired a site in Wandsbek for constr ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Albrecht Becker Albrecht Becker (14 November 1906 – 22 April 2002) was a German production designer, photographer, and actor who was imprisoned by the Nazi regime for the charge of homosexuality. Personal life Born in Thale, Germany, Becker trained as a ...

and

Herbert Kirchhoff Herbert Kirchhoff (1911–1988) was a German art director. Selected filmography * ''Nora's Ark'' (1948) * '' My Wife's Friends'' (1949) * '' The Last Night'' (1949) * ''Second Hand Destiny'' (1949) * ''Third from the Right'' (1950) * ''Harbour ...

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-Fliegerabtei ...

'' 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 organi ...

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 A deal with the Devil (also called a Faustian bargain or Mephistophelian bargain) is a cultural motif exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christian traditions. According to t ...

. 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 identitie ...

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 Ernst Udet (26 April 1896 – 17 November 1941) was a German pilot during World War I and a ''Luftwaffe'' Colonel-General (''Generaloberst'') during World War II. Udet joined the Imperial German Air Service at the age of 19, and eventually ...

*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 Actre ...

as ''Korrianke'', Harras's chauffeur. *

Albert Lieven Albert Lieven (born Albert Fritz Liévin; 22 June 1906 – 22 December 1971) was a German actor. Early life Lieven was born in Hohenstein, East Prussia (Olszynek, Poland). His father was the head physician of the Tuberculosis sanatorium H ...

as ''Friedrich Eilers'', Colonel & squadron leader. *

as ''Hartmann'', Luftwaffe officer. *Hans Daniel as ''Hastenteuffel'', Luftwaffe officer. * Beppo Brem as ''Pfundtmayer'', Luftwaffe officer. *

Karl Ludwig Diehl Karl Ludwig Diehl (14 August 1896 – 8 March 1958) was a German film actor. He appeared in 66 films between 1924 and 1957. His father was Karl Diehl, the German professor of Anarchism. Filmography * ''Die Tragödie der Entehrten'' (1924) ...

as ''Sigbert von Mohrungen'', President of the Raw Materials Procurement Department. *

Werner Fuetterer Werner Fuetterer (10 January 1907 in Barth, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – 7 February 1991 in Benidorm, Province of Alicante, Spain) was a German film actor. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1925 and 1967. In his early film career, Fuetterer ...

as ''Baron Pflungk'', Attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. *

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. *

as ''Waltraut von Mohrungen'', nicknamed ''Pützchen'', Anne's sister. *

Camilla Spira Camilla Spira (1 March 1906 – 25 August 1997) was a German film actress. She appeared in 68 films between 1924 and 1986. She was born in Hamburg, Germany, of Jewish ancestry on her father's side, and died in Berlin, Germany. Her father was ...

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 Ingrid van Bergen (; born 15 June 1931) is a German film actress. She has appeared in 100 films since 1954. She was born in Free City of Danzig, today Gdańsk, Poland. Career Since 1954, Ingrid van Bergen appeared in more than 170 film and tele ...

as ''Lyra Schoeppke'', named "die Tankstelle," which means "The Gas Station." *

Inge Meysel Inge Meysel (; 30 May 1910 – 10 July 2004) was a German actress. From the early 1960s until her death, Meysel was one of Germany's most popular actresses. She had a successful stage career and played more than 100 roles in film and on televisio ...

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''. H ...

as police photographer. *

Robert Meyn Robert Meyn (16 January 1896 – 2 March 1972) was a German stage, film and television actor.Fehrenbach p.103 Partial filmography * '' The Sinner'' (1951) - Von Hernsdorf - Marinas Stiefvater / Marina's Stepfather * ''Kommen Sie am Ersten'' (19 ...

as ''von Stetten'', Generalleutnant. *Werner Riepel as ''Kleinschmidt,'', Göring's chauffeur. *

Werner Schumacher Werner Schumacher (born 4 May 1921 in Berlin - died 18 April 2004 in Vienna) was a German actor. From 1971 until 1986 he starred in the Süddeutscher Rundfunk version of the popular television crime series ''Tatort''. Selected filmography * ''D ...

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

, who committed suicide in 1941. It was shot in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

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 S ...

bombers with license-built

Bristol Mercury The Bristol Mercury is a British nine-cylinder, air-cooled, single-row, piston radial engine. Designed by Roy Fedden of the Bristol Aeroplane Company it was used to power both civil and military aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. Developed from ...

engines on a local airfield including its offices with

Esselte Esselte is a manufacturer and marketer of office products and business supplies with subsidiaries in 25 countries and sales in over 120 countries. Esselte makes files, binders, folders, covers, staplers, letter trays and computer accessories unde ...

Files on the shelf. The parking lot contains a post-war

VW Bus Volkswagen Bus or Volkswagen Van is a type of vehicle produced by Volkswagen/Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. There have been a number of notable versions of it produced. Volkswagen Bus light commercial vehicles Six generations of Volkswagen Transp ...

. 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