when the novel the night of the general ( by han helmut kirst ) be publish in the 1960s and it be a best seller . it have a very clever ( devilishly clever ) theme when be a murder consider heinous . the plot be basically three level or intertwine murder . 1 ) the organize murder ( both normal and war crime ) of world war ii a practice by the nazi german government . 2 ) the activity of a select band of german general ( lead by field marshall erwin rommel ) to assassinate adolf hitler during a conference at raustenburg and in july 1944 and seize the german government and and negotiate an end to the war with the british and american ( probably not with the communist russian ) . 3 ) a series of apparently random prostitute killing across europe ( first in warsaw ) that appear to be link to one of three leading german general represent general kallenberg ( donald pleasance ) and seydlitz gabler ( charles gray ) and and tanz ( peter otoole ) . the crime be be investigate by major grau ( omar sharif ) and who be as determine to solve this case a inspector javert be to capture jean valjean a century earlier . now and one can make a general statement ( and it have be seriously make ) that warfare be organize kill and murder and be no different from jack the ripper activity ( which resemble the activity of the prostitute murderer here ) . yet while abhor ( or supposedly abhor ) the ripper and christie and manson and etc . in our society and people do still glorify and reward the officer and soldier of armed force ( for the most part ) who serve their country . rommel and for example and by his eleventh hour switch to support the stauffenburg bomb plot and be technically commit treason and be force to commit suicide to protect his family from hitler full anger . but today and the desert fox be one of the few axis general to be regard a great by both side for his ability and and a hero by both side for his try to get rid of a really evil madman . yet that bomb plot actually kill two others in the bunker with hitler who be close to the bomb itself . doesn not that ( even if we do not want to think it ) make rommel an accessory to two murder . rommel be no more blamed for the death of allied and axis soldier in his battle in north africa than say george washington and lord cornwallis be blame for death at yorktown . yet their plan and order set thing up for such death but we tend to ignore these . if people be blame for war it be the civilian or government head who be usually blame . and what happen with crime that be government policy at the time . the issue be still crop up in the u. s. action in afghanistan and pakistan and and iraq . with the nazi and you have the holacaust and various battleground horror ( i. e. the malmedy massacre during the battle of the bulge ) that be not consider normal ( if any warfare be normal ) action in war . be the soldier involve in such activity true criminal or be they consider do their duty . the answer depend on whether the country involve be willing to cover up for them and and also successful in the war . don not forget and we live in a post nazi defeat world . have hitler won and the war criminal would have include churchill and f. d. r. and and eisenhower and not goering and hess and and von ribbentrop . survivor in nazi control europe ( no jew or slav or gypsy and or communist or enemy of the nazi ) would have barely hear of the death camp and the holacaust . here major grau be determine to find which of his three suspect be the murderer of the prostitute . he have follow them across europe . tanz be the most ideological of the general a favorite of the fuhrer . we see him destroy a section of warsaw ( presumably the ghetto ) while be question by grau . tanz look disdainfully at the major and remain in his tank during the interview ( look downward at the major ) . kallenburg be the most secretive and mysterious of the three suspect and we realize he be not as cooperative a he pretend to be . seydlitz gabler be in a loveless marriage and and seem to hide behind his aristocratic lineage . grau do get some help from a french inspector morand ( philippe noiret ) when the general turn up in paris . morand actually make some headway he find a crime be plan . but it be the bomb plot against hitler . grau hear this and laugh it off call the plotter traitor ( which again make u wonder when be a crime no longer a crime and a murder what it be suppose to be ) . seydlitz gabler daughter ulrike ( joanna pettet ) be have a love affair with corporal hartmann ( tom courtenay ) . her parent be not thrill by her romance with this untitled nobody . hartmann be assign to chauffeur tanz around paris while he be on vacation there . they go to one of the forbidden museum of impressionistic art there and and tanz discovers a somewhat kindred spirit in vincent van gogh art style . in fact tanz keep return to the museum day after day . tanz reaction to the painting be one of the most effective moment of the movie . in the end the case can not be solve in wartime it require 20 year for the solution to emerge . and ( although the audience do know who do it long before the conclusion ) the end of the film show that the sometimes a sense of disgrace can be bring about by the type of kill one get tangle with .