MovieChat Forums > The Night of the Generals (1967) Discussion > SPOILER: 'Give me your gun.'

SPOILER: 'Give me your gun.'

posted 16 years ago by Stanley-6
26 replies | jump to latest

At the very end, as the Inspector confronts General Tanz with Corporal Hartmann, did anybody else find it ridiculous that:
(a) he is handed a gun upon request;
(b) all of the assembled police stand by nonchalantly as he takes the gun; and
(c) he is allowed to walk away with the gun?

I couldn't figure out if the man that handed him his gun was a driver, or one of the police officers accompanying the Inspector. If it was a police officer, it made no sense that he would simply hand over his gun when Tanz asked for it. Also, wouldn't the other officers tell him to put it down, or at least draw their own guns, given that he shot Omar Sharif twenty years earlier? If I were the Inspector, I would be afraid that Tanz was going to shoot me, not himself.

I have always liked this movie, despite its flaws, but the ending has always bugged me.

[–] TimothyP 16 years ago

I just watched the film for the first time, despite it being on my list for about a decade. I'm glad I did. While I agree the two Inspectors should have drawn their guns, I disagree on your bulleted points.

(a) he is handed a gun upon request;

The person handing him the gun is a member of his division...he was there as they all entered the hall, and I seem to recall him in an earlier scene of the film, in Warsaw. Of course that man will follow orders for his beloved general.

(b) all of the assembled police stand by nonchalantly as he takes the gun; and

OK, I sort of agree on this one...however, General Tanz was always very careful to never do anything dishonorable in public. He's a secret drinker and smoker, and of course there's the biggest secret of all. I think it's for that reason that the police stand by...they know he would never make a scene in front of his men. Remember, nobody was in the room when he killed Colonel Grau, and he was easily able to supply a reason for that shooting.

(c) he is allowed to walk away with the gun?

Again, the Inspectors were watching him VERY closely, and if he had opened the door to the meeting hall they might have done something. As it is, he went down a deserted corridor, and I think that they were willing to give him the chance to serve justice himself.

Anyway, that's my take on the ending. I don't know if this sheds light on anything, but that's how I took it.

[–] nixon242 16 years ago

I agree with you, I also found this very strange. I have no problem with being handed the gun, I saw that he was given the gun from one of his old army buddies, but why did no one stop him? The police officer who raised his arm was even stopped by Morand. And then they let him walk away? So a person who is about to be arrested for three rape-murders is allowed to walk away with a gun?

The only explanation I have is that Morand knew what Tanz was going to shoot himself and, for some reason, let him.

[–] dave_show 16 years ago

I thought this too. I thought at least the policemen would have had there hands on thereholsters in case. The more i think about it the more I believe they all knew that he knew his number was up and there was no point in killing any policemen. THe sad thing is i think they should have stopped him and jailled him or if West Germany still hada death penalty then show him being hanged.

A bigger problem i have is when Rommel is killed. The driver keeps driving slowly in astraight line.

Doyle:Come on in darling the doors open

Bodie:Anything you say sweetheart:)

[–] rodvince 16 years ago

^^ Rommel was not killed in that ambush by the Allied plane. He was merely wounded.

[–] dave_show 16 years ago

I stand corrected:) cheers

Doyle:Come on in darling the doors open

Bodie:Anything you say sweetheart:)

[–] SipteaHighTea 16 years ago

In the movie Desert Fox starring James Mason, they had the car being overturn in a crash after being strafed by Allied fighter planes, and Rommel was lying on his stomach a few yards from the car.

[–] BobbySimone86 16 years ago

I have another question about the ending. Where did they find cpl. Hartmann? Maybe i just missed this. After he talks with the cpl's girlfriend (the general's daughter)the movie then cut to the ending where they confront Tanz.

[–] zaraath 16 years ago

He was Ulrike's husband, the farmer Lueckner. Personally I saw that coming.

[–] DwightFry 15 years ago

Agree, the ending was contrived. It's the police's duty to deliver a prisoner alive and well to trial. A real cop would NEVER allow anyone to shot himself, no matter how horrible his crimes.

Other than that, this film is great.

There's no Santa Claus

[–] Kristoff_V 15 years ago

They did the right thing; no need to waste resources of the court and jail system.
This was one of the worst films I've ever seen, due to its dark aftertaste. Additionally, I hate when they incorporate a '20 years later' thing. They almost spoiled Doctor Zhivago that way.
A comment on your last sentence. FedEx could be a Santa Claus of sorts: if you order many things it will be a surprise what will be in each box.

[–] DwightFry 15 years ago

FedEx could be a Santa Claus of sorts: if you order many things it will be a surprise what will be in each box.

There's no Santa Claus

[–] vpilutis 14 years ago

Yes there is a SANTA as I'm one of his EXTRA Special Agents who's taking orders
for the Santa At Home visits here in NYC starting in November.

http://worldofvbphoto.blogspot.com/
http://vbphoto.biz/models.htm

[–] Apolyon 14 years ago

You have to understand that we are talking about three different murders in three different jurisdictions (Poland, France and Germany)over a span of 20 sum odd years with only one witness to any of them and that witness is also a suspect. The rest of the evidence is all circumstantial. The French inspector is now an agent for Interpol which have no powers to arrest and only gather and share information with allied police agencies.

It's my feeling that the French inspector knew a trial would be near impossible. If you remember he told Tanz that a trial would be highly embarrassing and cause a loss of face with Tanz's troops. I think he got the exact outcome he hoped for.

[–] S_Leone 13 years ago

Yes but police officers don't always do their duty

[–] rs-61 11 years ago

I guess the film needed a kind of surprise dramatic ending. Loading Tanz into a police wagon at the end would seem a bit dull.

[–] 3rdrowleft 14 years ago

Any complaints about the ending have to be directed at the book. The film was faithful to the ending. The police allowed Tanz to commit suicide because a trial would have been nationally divisive. Witness the turnout for Tanz's tribute. In addition (according to the book), that final sequence occurred in 1956 (not in the '60s, the time of both publication and filming), so the war is only 11 years over, so war feeling and jingoism is still around.

But throughout it all, my motto was "Dignity! Always dignity!".

[–] maybe730 14 years ago

Agreed. I couldn't figure out why they weren't arresting him and then that scene happened and the movie swiftly lost my interest.. just in time for the credits.

[–] mirkea 13 years ago

the entire scene was completely and utterly. The movie was great up to that abysmal ending.

[–] djrosenblatt 13 years ago

I agree that the ending made no sense in a real world context. But as ludicrous as it was, I think it's largely based on a tradition in aristocratic European society, albeit one that has probably faded a good deal over the past century.

I can't offer a lot of examples offhand, but wasn't it common in at least some European countries in earlier years to allow a man to take his own life when his only alternative was to face a scandal of some sort? One literary example that comes to mind is The Count of Monte Cristo, in which Dumas, the author, often presents suicide as the "noble" man's way out - sparing not only his own good name, but that of his family. I'm not sure if it's an accurate reproduction of what occurs in the book, but as one example, recall that after Villefort's arrest, Dantes is allowed to hand him a gun so that he may bring about his own demise. (The gun is empty, but Villefort is unaware of that fact when he puts it to his own head and pulls the trigger.)

Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers! But if you could show us something in a nice possum...

[–] denham 13 years ago

Curiously enough, this is the very choice which was presented to Rommel (not explicitly in The Night of the Generals, but in The Desert Fox, and in reality).

I too find the ending of the film unsatisfactory, for much the same reasons as given by others previously.

[–] djrosenblatt 13 years ago

I'm no expert, but I think that, in Rommel's case (the reality version), it was largely done to spare Hitler the embarrassment of Rommel's insubordination, more than to spare Rommel the ignominy.

Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers! But if you could show us something in a nice possum...

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] SipteaHighTea 12 years ago

If I recall correctly from watching the movie, the German police officer who was standing right next to Tanz when Tanz ask for the bodyguard's gun, did not put his hands on his holster. The police officer's hands were behind his back. Maybe that cop was an excellent judge of character and knew that Tanz was going to shoot himself instead of shooting it out with the police.

[–] udippel 8 years ago

This topic is the most amazing one, of course, to be noted when watching the movie. I think almost everyone stumbles across this silly ending, spoiling half of a an otherwise good movie.
I see some reasons, though. I think that the inspector knew he had quite a weak case. We don't know about the the traces from the last murder in Hamburg, but we have nothing to go on for the first two, except of Tanz being in all the locations. So it would be word against word, and Germany, in 1965, and as depicted correctly, was still very proud of their SS Panzerdivisionen. There were millions of former nazis still living their small - or not so small - lives. So, politically, it would have been difficult, too.
[And yes, I was alive in those days and can remember bunches of officially former nazis and SS people left and right, as school teachers, doctors, and so forth.]
So the best to be hoped for was the honour of the officer to understand that time was up and clear oneself off the face of the Earth. It was quite clear he would never start any shootout with police. If you know a bit of (German) officer honour, military honour, you could bet that he would do anything but starting a shoot-out. It was totally clear where this will end, once he had the gun.

Oh, by the way, there is a remarkable, and not to be missed movie on that topic, 'La Grande Illusion'. It shows precisely this. Watch the whole lot, because it is a great piece. Watch only the first minutes, and you understand this 'honour' thingy. It was a time when officers were in separate POW camps from rank and file soldiers.