A Nazi general captures an orchestra and demands a concert. The maestro has exactly one move left.
In December of 1944, Lionel Evans, an internationally renowned American conductor, is on a USO tour with his 70-piece symphony orchestra in newly-liberated Belgium. While fleeing from a German counterattack, Evans and his orchestra members are captured by a Panzer division and taken to an old chateau in Luxembourg. Despite orders to execute every prisoner, General Schiller, an avid music lover, commands Evans to give a private concert for him.
Acting
Heston and Schell's verbal fencing matches.
Direction
Nelson squeezes unbearable tension from polite conversation.
Writing
Every line of dialogue is a hidden threat.
Director
Ralph Nelson
Charlton Heston
Lionel Evans
Maximilian Schell
Gen. Schiller
Kathryn Hays
Annabelle Rice
Leslie Nielsen
Victor Rice
Anton Diffring
Col. Arndt
Peter Masterson
Sgt. Calloway
Curt Lowens
Capt. Klingerman
Neva Patterson
Dorothy
Cyril Delevanti
Tartzoff
Gregory Morton
Jordon
Parley Baer
Hook
Dan Frazer
Chaminant
Ed Peck
Prescott
Paul Birch
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Maximilian Schell, who plays the music-loving Nazi general, was actually a piano prodigy who studied at the University of Zurich and Zurich Academy of Arts before becoming an actor.
The film parallels real WWII incidents where Jewish musicians were forced to perform for Nazi officials, most famously the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz.
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