The Devil Strikes at Night (German: Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam) is a 1957 West German crime thriller film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Claus Holm, Mario Adorf and Hannes Messemer.[1][2][3] The film noir is based on the true story of Bruno Lüdke. It was shot at the Baldham Studios. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Gottfried Will and Rolf Zehetbauer. Location shooting took place in Berlin and Munich.It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,[4] as well as winning German Film Award for Best Fiction Film in its native country.
| The Devil Strikes at Night | |
|---|---|
 Original German poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Siodmak |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Robert Siodmak Walter Traut Claus Hardt |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Georg Krause |
| Edited by | Walter Boos |
| Music by | Siegfried Franz |
Production company | Divina Film |
| Distributed by | Gloria Film |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | West Germany |
| Language | German |
Synopsis
The film is a highly fictionalized account of the hunt for a serial killer, as he murders women during the last year or two of World War II. In one of the crimes, a man is arrested who is obviously innocent. An investigator begins to unravel a thread leading to the real killer, but becomes frustrated by Nazi authorities who believe that revealing the truth will undermine people's faith in their supposedly infallible system. The detective story gradually evolves into a narrative about the evils of political propaganda and corruption.
Cast
- Claus Holm as Kriminalkommissar Axel Kersten
- Annemarie Düringer as Helga Hornung
- Mario Adorf as Bruno Lüdke
- Hannes Messemer as SS-Gruppenführer Rossdorf
- Carl Lange as Major Thomas Wollenberg
- Werner Peters as Willi Keun
- Walter Janssen as Kriminalrat Boehm
- Peter Carsten as SS-Standartenführer Mollwitz
- Wilmut Borell as SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Heinrich, Rossdorf's aide
- Ernst Fritz Fürbringer as Dr. Schleffien
- Monika John as Lucy Hansen, Kellnerin
- Rosl Schäfer as Anna Hohmann
- Lukas Ammann as Pflichtverteidiger von Keun
- Karl-Heinz Peters as Hauswart
- Helmut Brasch as SS-Truppenführer Scharf
- Georg Lehn as Kriminalassistent Brühl
- Margaret Jahnen as Frau Weinberger
- Käthe Itter as Portiersfrau
- Else Quecke as Frau Lehmann
- Christa Nielsen as Schlampilein
- Alois Maria Giani as Gefängniswärter
See also
References
Bibliography
- Fisher, Jaimey (ed.). Generic Histories of German Cinema: Genre and Its Deviations. Boydell & Brewer, 2013.
- Noack, Frank. Veit Harlan: The Life and Work of a Nazi Filmmaker. University Press of Kentucky, 2016.
- Spicer, Andrew. Historical Dictionary of Film Noir. Scarecrow Press, 2010.
