Des teufels general/The Devil's General (Film 1955 - ENG & GER SUB)

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. Audio in German with subtitles in English and German (click on CC).

The film features Curd Jürgens as General Harras, Marianne Koch, Viktor de Kowa, Karl John, Eva Ingeborg Scholz, and Harry Meyen. It was one of a number of films made in Germany in the 1950s that emphasized resistance to Hitler among German generals in WW II.

The film was based on a play by Carl Zuckmayer who wrote it while in exile in the USA. In December, 1941, he read about the death of a personal friend, Ernst Udet, who was a World War One ace who later became an important figure within the Nazi-era Luftwaffe, but eventually grew disillusioned with the regime and committed suicide. Zuckmayer wrote the play after World War Two and it had its debut in Zurich in 1946 and in Frankfurt in 1947. The play was hugely popular in Germany and within a few years was the most frequently performed play in the country.

The film was shot in Hamburg and Berlin using Swedish-built Junkers Ju 86 bombers with license-built Bristol Mercury 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.

Cast & Characters:
Curd Jürgens as Harras, whose character is supposedly based upon German Luftwaffe General Ernst Udet
Bum Krüger as Lüttjohann, Harras's adjutant.
Paul Westermeier 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 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.
Marianne Koch 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 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.