First of all Donald Pleasence was a great actor and here he does a remarkably good job portraying Himmler. The resemblance is striking and you instantly feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Knowing how evil and cunning Himmler was.
I have watched all known WW2/Holocaust movies and some of them have an actor playing Himmler, Ian Holm in Holocaust is almost as good but Donald is the best in my opinion.
A tribute to Pleasence's versatility when you realize he not only played Himmler he also once played an Allied POW.
"I'm not reckless . . . I'm skillful!"
I have seen most WW2 films and I think Donald Pleasence's Himmler is number one. He just nailed it looks and sound and gestures. Remarkable!
shareHe not only played an Allied POW in The Great Escape; he was one in reality during WWII, and was even tortured by the Gestapo, according to the Trivia section on that movie. That brings yet another dimension to his chilling performance as Himmler.
It seems he came to Sturges and offered advice, and was told to mind his own business, but then someone told Sturges about Pleasence's WWII-background, and he was then asked to contribute.
I remember when this movie came out, and it was pretty much universally damned by the critics (and I myself found it disappointing), but they all agreed on Pleasence's performance.
Michael Caine wrote that John Sturges told him he only accepted the Director's job (it was his last), for the money to finance his deep-sea fishing past time. Caine also said that they were so thrilled that the great director was going to do their film, making the classic European error of elevating Sturges in their estimations, because he hailed from Hollywood. This is probably true, but they would have thought they were going to turn out a Masterpiece, with the director of The Great Escape on board. Apparently, he never even bothered to do the Editing. It is up to the Cast, who do a great job, to try to save the film and Pleasence certainly lifts it up from the mundane.
I love The Great Escape, but consider it to be 98% inaccurate. I can understand someone of Pleasence's caliber objecting to the inaccuracies, as apparently he was a POW.
I asked on this board...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062038/?ref_=nv_sr_1
...for any more German officer roles Pleasence played.
The Night of the Generals is far less than the sum of its parts but if you liked him as Himmler, its well worth watching him in for his portrayal of a German general.
Night of the Generals is top drawer, and far better than this turd of a film. Pleasance excellent in both of course.
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