Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973)

Be careful around Adolph Hitler. This man with the mustache will charm you with his charisma, compassion, artistic talents and passion for opera. That's if you are 100% Aryian, don't smoke around him, or have any generational defects. He will also turn on you on a dime, accusing the Germans of inbred disloyalty (reminding us that he was actually Austrian), express his earlier desire to have dropped the European Jews off on Madagascar before realizing that it was easier to simply eradicate them. He even goes as far to praise his British enemies for their obvious loyalty while badmouthing the nationality of the men he commands. In a humorous moment, he laughs about characteristics of both Roosevelt and Churchill. In short, this is a view of a very complex man that you surely do not want to be fooled by.While dozens of biographies have been told (through books and on screen) in regards to the German fuhrer who changed the course of 20th Century history, some are better than others. On screen, Hitler has been portrayed by Bobby Watson ("The Hitler Gang"), Richard Basehart ("Hitler") and TV's "The Bunker" (Anthony Hopkins), among others, and here, it is the extraordinary Sir Alec Guennis who portrays him. Guennis adds a new twist to Hitler, focusing on the man's various personality quirks, both positive and negative, and for that reason, it is easy to see who he was outside of the world's greatest enemy. You have to remind yourself that this is not a man to like in any circumstance.Guennis takes the role seriously, as far from Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" as could possibly be. However, Guennis's voice, having brilliantly upgraded many comedies from charming con-men in "The Lavender Hill Mob" and "The Lady Killers" to a chuckling Jacob Marley in "Scrooge" and the blind butler "James Sir Bensonmum" in Neil Simon's "Murder By Death". Even with an Oscar Winning dramatic role ("The Bridge on the River Kwai"), it will be his comedy that he will be remembered for. So to see Guennis as Hitler is difficult to accept in a totally dramatic sense, and you have to keep reminding yourself of whom he is playing. It is almost like watching "Airplane's" Leslie Nielsen act serious in dramas and try not laughing.But Hitler was a serious character in modern history, so the laughs disappear as this man's characteristics are revealed. His anger at the apparent betrayal of the S.S., his own generals and eventually Eva Braun, his long-time mistress, is something to be taken seriously. His command that the bridges be guarded by "Hitler's Youth" and the brief visit by a representative of that youth, a casual conversation with other bunker residents of how they will commit suicide, and finally, the desperation he has in having to face his fate will engross you throughout. To think that this man lived less than 70 years ago and all the villains who have come since is really scary. Then, there is his interest in how he will be remembered, wanting photos to remain behind so he won't face the same fate as Jesus in supposedly being misrepresented by artists. So many individual moments of this film stand out. Actual newsreel footage, stills and newly created black and white footage (done in beautiful sepia tone) make this an attractive film to look at about an unattractive time in our history.All of these qualities make it easy to overlook my misgivings in looking at Guennis's performance in view of his comic genius. In retrospect, he is excellent. The final scene between Hitler and Eva Braun (Doris Kunstmann) is truly haunting (as the other bunker residents in the other room face their last days quite differently than Hitler) and a nice pay-off ends the film with some delicious irony.

Movie is unintentionally very funny as Sir Alec is an odd combination of Obi-Wan Kenobi & Master Gomez Addams doing a VERY British Hitler. "Spring Time" for Hitler anyone? The use of black & white archive footage inter-cut with the bunker footage is well done. The casting of Sir Alec Guinness was the first mistake. For once it would be nice to see a German actor portray a German character. The Hitler anger and rage scenes were an obvious copy of all the mannerisms Hitler used when making his public speeches. To me this great Shakespearean actor could not find the right combination of voice and gestures to bring off the explosive temper of der Fuhrer. I did see a much more refined style for the quiet, interior thought moments of Hitler by Sir Alec. The casting was all over the place. Especially glaring was Adolfo Celi (a Bond villain) as a German general with an Italian accent. The tradition of casting British actors as Nazis should have been maintained throughout this film. The handsome (amazing profile) Simon Ward was also a total waste as his character arch from Hitler worshiper to disgruntled Nazi was hollow. The military conference scenes did shed some light on how cowardly the German High Command staff was in their inability to confront Hitler about his disastrous military decisions. The only thing to remember about this long forgotten project is that England's greatest actor should never accept a role where he has to mime the world's greatest villain.

It seems only fitting that Sir Alec Guinness, the world's greatest actor, was chosen to play Adolf Hitler, the world's greatest evildoer. Although Hitler was only fifty six when he died, he managed in those 56 years to do more evil than the rest of humanity has in 200,000 years, or however long we've been on the planet. This movie has moments of absurdist black comedy worthy of Samuel Beckett--indeed, Hitler in his bunker was probably the inspiration for the mad tyrant Hamm in Beckett's "Endgame," who also lived in an underground bunker. The frequent playing of Johann Strauss's jaunty "Fledermaus" overture provides ironic comment on the on screen action. Guinness was at a low point in his career when this film was made--his glory days of the 1940s and 1950s were long gone, and his comeback role as Obi Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars" was still in the future--but he gives a commanding performance and is never less than believable as the mad dictator. The mostly Italian-British cast has a number of interesting performances, particularly Adolfo Celi (Number One in "Thunderball") as General Krebs, the one relatively sane person in the bunker, and Diane Cilento as the female aviator Hanna Reich, who is clearly in love with Hitler and jealous of Eva Braun (the lovely Doris Kunstmann). Excellent as history lesson and entertainment.

HITLER: THE LAST TEN DAYS (2 outta 5 stars)Alec Guinness does a fine job of portraying Adolph Hitler in this okay movie chronicling the final days of WW2 when the masterminds of the Third Reich were holed up in a bunker awaiting their final defeat. Interesting film has some good scenes and dialogue but it isn't always as compelling as it might be. Except for Guinness the other actors are kind of wooden and unmemorable. Even Guinness has a few off-moments when his ranting and raving seem a little too over-acted. The movie starts out well with some documentary footage that sets the stage. Unfortunately the ringleaders of the war, as portrayed in the film, come off more as banal than they do evil. Not a bad movie but a truly definitive Hitler movie still needs to be made. (Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" still comes the closest, I think.)