( some spoiler ) when a polish prostitute be find brutally murder in german occupy warsaw german intelligence officer major grau and omar sharif and becomes obsess in solve her murder . it that the murdered woman maria covyenska be work undercover for german intelligence in find and identify polish and jewish guerrilla fighter . what far far bad and in maj. grau mind and be that the person who murder maria be positively identify by an eye witness in him have a red stripe down his military trouser which be only worn by member of the german general staff . maj. grau narrow the killer down to three person who and besides be german army general station in warsaw and can not explain their whereabouts on the night of december 12 and 1942 which just happen to be the evening miss . covyenska be murder . the three suspect general be gen. tanz and peter otool and and general kahenberg and donald plesence and and von seiditz gabler and charles gray . even though it suppose to be a surprise we get to know who the killer be just by his unsavory action both on and off the battle field and with those he deal with and german as well a pole and russian . maj. grau run into the killer some two year later in paris who commit the very same kind of crime and have his aid lance cpl . kurt hartmann and tom courter and set up and frame for it . it during that fateful summer of 1944 that maj. grau end up get involve with the other two suspected general and guess who and in a plot to assassinate german dictator adolph hitler . maj. grau also end up make a fatal mistake and in him mistakenly feel that the assassination be successful and in jump the gun in try to arrest the psycho killer german general . now twenty two year after the war end maj. grau friend in the french resistance the former insp . morand and philipe nolret and who now work for interpol find an important link to both the warsaw and paris killing in the brutal and recent murder of a german prostitute in hamburg . there just one hitch to insp . morand uncovering just who the killer be . the only man who can identify him lance cpl . hartmann who be miss and or dead and since he be force to desert his german army unit back in 1944. that when hartmann be to face a firing squad for a murder that he do not commit but be frame for it by the person who do . the man who insp . marand be curtain be responsible in the murder of not only three prostitute but his good fiend the late maj. grau himself . even though we in the audience already know who the killer be well before he be discover by both maj. grau and insp . morand it still a big surprise when he finally expose at the end of the movie . not in who the killer be but what he do when he see that his act a a fine and upright german patriot and general and the young in the german army at the time he commit his horrific crime and be about to be expose . be out a a mad dog killer to the many admiring german soldier and in the elite thor and hammer division and who serve under him be the final straw that break the camel and or general and back . that be far bad to him then face a rampaging armored division of the red army .