In 1942, a Polish prostitute and German Agent is murdered in Warsaw. Suspicion falls on three Generals, and Major Grau of German Intelligence seeks justice which ends up taking decades.
In 1942 Warsaw, a Polish prostitute is murdered in a sadistic way. Major Grau (Omar Sharif), an Agent from German Intelligence who believes in justice, is in charge of the investigation. An eyewitness saw a German General leaving the building after a scream of the victim. A further investigation shows that three Generals do not have any alibi for that night: General Tanz (Peter O'Toole), Major General Klaus Kahlenberge (Donald Pleasence), and General von Seidlitz-Gabler (Charles Gray). The three avoid direct contact with Major Grau and become potential suspects. As Major Grau gets close to them, he is promoted and sent to Paris. In 1944 Paris, this quartet is reunited, and Major Grau continues his investigation. Meanwhile, a plan for killing Adolf Hitler is plotted by his high command, a romance between Ulrike von Seidlitz-Gabler (Joanna Pettet) and Lance Corporal Kurt Hartmann (Sir Tom Courtenay) is happening and Inspector Morand (Philippe Noiret) is helping Major Grau in his investigation. The story ends in 1965, in Hamburg, with another, similar crime.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Warsaw, December 1942. A prostitute has been murdered and the prime suspects are three German generals. The victim was a German agent, making it a military matter. On the case is the doggedly determined Major Grau who won't let the suspects' rank and the fact that there's a war on stop him from getting to the truth.—grantss
The murder of a prostitute and German Agent in Nazi occupied Warsaw draws Wehrmacht Major Grau (Omar Sharif) into an investigation where the evidence points to one of three high ranking Generals. The trail leads Grau from Warsaw to Paris and into conflict with the 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, of which two of the Generals are involved. Grau's case goes unresolved, and it is not until 1965 when the true killer is brought to justice.—Anthony Hughes <[email protected]>
In 1942 German-occupied Poland a prostitute and German agent is murdered in her Warsaw apartment and Maj. Grau, German Army Intelligence, is called in to investigate the crime. The only clue is that the murderer wore German uniform pants with a red stripe and Grau realizes that the suspect is one of three high ranking German generals. General Kahlenberg is single and focused on his position. General Von Seidlitz-Gabler is married to a Nazi supporter and is a womanizer. General Tanz is a war hero from the Russian front who is close to Hitler and has been sent to Warsaw to deal with the resistance that is tying up German forces. Tanz and his tactics prove he is merciless and violent. Corporal Hartmann, a supposed hero from Russian action recovering from being wounded, gets assistance from a relative on Kahlenberg's staff to get an administrative job and not return to action. Hartmann begins a secret affair with Ulrike Vom Seidlitz-Gabler, the general's daughter. Before Grau can complete his investigation, one of the generals take steps to have Grau promoted to Colonel and posted to Paris.Two years later, in Paris, all four officers come together again and eventually another prostitute is murdered. There are similarities in the crime to the one in 1942 and Maj. Grau again takes charge of the investigation. Two of the generals are involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler and they plot to have General Tanz, a favorite of Hitler, to spend a couple days on leave prior to the assassination attempt. Hartmann is assigned as his driver and Paris tour guide. Ulrike arrives by train to meet up with Hartmann but their reunion is hampered by Hartmann's assignment. Hartmann is used by Tanz to procure a prostitute and then incriminated as the killer and flees Paris. Grau puts the clues together and is about to apprehend the killer but in the confusion of the allied advance and failed assassination he is killed by Tanz when he attempts to arrest him.The story shifts to 1965 where a reunion of the German military division is planned In Hamburg Germany. A third prostitute is murdered in similar circumstances. A Parisian detective, Morand, involved in the second investigation in 1944 with Grau, and now a member of Interpol, who investigates realizes that the murder is similar to the two previous murders years earlier. He revisits the surviving witnesses from Maj. Grau's original investigations, including Ulrike to trace Hartmann, and finally confronts the killer at the military reunion banquet where Grau's justice is achieved.
