ma-cortes
Televisión version about July 20 Plot professionally shot by Lawrence Schiller . This version (1980) about the historic events results to be an adequate retelling about the ¨July 20 plot¨ in which a group of officers attempt to take control of the German government , including magnificent actors and acceptable direction . This is a fine movie about the July 20 plot of 1944 lead by Wehrmacht Colonel Count Stauffenberg ; being made with good American actors as well as British and passable production values , though in television style . The picture contains brief remarks about Claus Graf Von Stauffenberg (1907-1944) , but focusing mainly the July Plot . The film packs a colorful cinematography by Freddie Francis and atmospheric musical score by Lawrence Rosenthal . This story about Stauffenberg and the famous event from how was orchestrated the dangerous plot has been well played by Brad Davis as Stauffemberg , Madolyn Smith Osborne as his wife Countess Nina Von Stauffenberg , Kenneth Colley as Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel , Michael Byrne as Gen. Olbricht , Jonathan Hyde as Professor Joseph Goebbels , Rupert Graves as Axel Von Dem Bussche , Helmut Griem as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel , Vernon Dobtcheff as Fellgiebel and Mike Gwilym as Adolf Hitler . There are various adaptations about this famous plot and his main participant , Stauffenberg ; they are the followings : First German version about July 20 Plot professionally directed by G.W.Pabst in 1954 with Bernard Wicki ; German adaptation titled 'Stauffemberg (2004)' with Sebastian Koch, Christopher Buchold , Hardy Kruger Jr , Remo Girone and directed by Jo Baier who bears special remembrance to 'Valkyrie' (2008) by Bryan Singer with Tom Cruise , Tom Wilkinson David Scofield , Bill Nighy Christian Berkel and Kenneth Branagh.Adding more details over the widely described on the movie , the deeds happened of the following manner : In the early part WWII Stauffenberg (Brad Davis) served with distinction as an officer in a Bavarian cavalry regiment in Poland , France and North Africa where in 1943 he was deeply wounded. He was saved by the expert supervision of Dr. Ferdinand, Germany's most famous physician . Reporting back for service , he was appointed chief of staff of the Army Department. During his convalescence he revised his attitude . He made no secret of his utter contempt for Hitler and Nazism . He resented any form of totalitarianism, especially National Socialism, and criticized Hitler as the Antichrist . The meticulous Stauffenberg then decided to join the conspirators against Hitler with the goal of liquidating the Nazi regime and replacing it with a new social state that would maintain the good name of fatherland . Always impelled by Christian morality and angered by the excesses of Nazism, Stauffenberg became the leader of the conspiracy . At the center of the plot were such senior officers as Gen. Von Tresckow , chief of staff in Army Group Center on the Russian front , Col.Gen Friedrich Olbricht (Michael Byrne) , head of supply Section of the Reserve Army , Major Gen. Erwin Van Witzleber and General Beck (Ian Richardson). Added to these senior members were a number of younger officers (Rupert Graves) who believed who Third Reich was a catastrophe for Germany and were willing to gamble their lives on the outcome of the plot . Others knew of the plot but did not take an active role in it. Among them were Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (Helmut Griem) , popular war hero, General Canaris and Field Marshal Hans Von Kluge , army group commander in France . In March 1943 General Tresckow decided that the time had come for action. A British-made bomb time , disguised as a bottle of brandy, was placed on the Fuehrer's plane , but the bomb failed to explode and it was never discovered . Then General Von Tresckow agreed with Stauffenberg that the assassination attempt must be made at all costs: 'We must prove to the world and to future generations that the men of the German Resistance movement dared to take the decisive step and wager their lives on it'. When Hitler (Mike Gwylin) called a conference of his close military advisers at the headquarter at Rastenburg, Staufffenberg arrived and in his briefcase along with papers and reports, was a British time bomb. He set the timer on the bomb and brought it into the conference room. After greeting the Fuehrer , he placed the briefcase on the floor beside Hitler and the excused himself: 'I must make a telephone call'. And the bomb exploded . Meanwhile , Stauffenberg , certain that all in the hut had been killed was a plane bound for Berlin , but he learned to his amazement that Hitler had not been killed by the blast . Officers who were in the plot were dismayed and virtually paralyzed into inaction. Officers loyal to Hitler as Otto Remer had taken control of the War Ministry and arrested the conspirators . General Fromm (Helmut Lohner) hurried to cover his tracks,he had four officers shot by a firing squad in the courtyard below.Beck was killed with a coup de grace.Hitler's vengeance was terrible .The conspirators were handed over to the tortures of Gestapo,many more were killed in a a massive blood purge. Some were strangled with piano wire and their bodies hanged like animal carcasses on huge hooks General Fromm , who had been active in ordering the executions could not save himself,principal leaders met a barbaric death, among them the Adm . Wilhelm Canaris . Field Marshal Von Witzleben 's execution was typical , the old man was pushed into a cellar prison,placed under the first meat hook and stripped to the waist,a running noose was placed over the hook and wound around his neck,he was lifted and allowed to fall with the whole weight of his body ,young cadets ,forced to view the gruesome spectacle , fainted .
Matthew Kresal
The July 20, 1944 a plot to kill German dictator Adolf Hitler by a group of Germans opposed to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg has caught the attention of filmmakers over the years, the most recent being 2008's Valkyrie. The Plot To Kill Hitler is a 1990 TV movie that details that plot. So what does this dramatization of the plot have to offer? The cast is somewhat mixed. Brad Davis a good choice for the role of Colonel von Stauffenberg thanks to his bearing a good resemblance to the real life figure. Yet Davis comes across as rather flat in his performance for the most part though he has some nice moments such as early in the film when he's coming to terms with the loss of his left hand. Faring somewhat better is Madolyn Smith Osborne as his wife Nina as the movie focuses quite a bit on the relationship between the two of them. The supporting cast fairs somewhat better with Ian Richardson's spot on performance as General Beck, Helmut Griem as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and Jonathan Hyde as Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. That said some of the supporting performances don't work at all such as Rupert Graves as a would be assassin and Mike Gwilym as an over the top Hitler. The result overall is a mixed bag acting wise despite some good performances but that isn't completely the fault of the cast.The production values for The Plot To Kill Hitler are about average for a TV movie. The movie was shot in Eastern Europe and it looks like it. That isn't really a bad thing since it does bare a very good resemblance to Second World War Germany. But it becomes exceedingly obvious in places like the early scene set in Tunisia for instance. Also certain places like Hitler's eastern front headquarters the Wolf's Lair come across as less then convincing for the most part. The costumes and props come across much better in recreating the era then the sets do. Perhaps the best aspects of the production values are the cinematography of Freddie Francis and the fine score done for the film by composer Laurence Rosenthal both of which elevate the movie a bit. The overall result though is less then impressive though.That could really be said about the script by Steven Elkins. Elkins script gets across the basic facts of the July 20 plot but to be honest it really does little else. The dialogue and characterizations are one dimensional to say the least with the only purpose of getting the basic points across. The movie does takes some big liberties with events such as suggesting that the July 20th bomb plot was more or less a spur of the moment event while ignoring the aborted attempt made a few days prior, all done presumably for the sake of getting the basic points across. There's an especially glaring historical error involving Hitler consulting an astrologer about the course of the war, something that was widely rumored but later found to be untrue. The result then is that the movie becomes rather uninteresting for the most part, even for someone interested in the history more then the drama.As a movie, The Plot To Kill Hitler comes across as little more then average between its mixed cast, average production values and less then impressive scripting. As a history lesson, it gets across the basic facts of the July 20th plot even though it takes so considerable dramatic liberties with the events. In short then, it does the job it sets out to do but surprisingly does little else.
