The Devil Strikes at Night (1957)

A serial killer strikes again during WWII in Germany. The wrong man is arrested and a detective hunts down the real killer. But justice in Nazi Germany is not so easily administered.

Director:

Robert Siodmak

Writers:

Will Berthold (article), Werner Jörg Lüddecke

Stars:

Claus Holm, Annemarie Düringer, Mario Adorf

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claus Holm	...	Kriminalkommissar Axel Kersten
Annemarie Düringer	...	Helga Hornung
Mario Adorf	...	Bruno Luedke
Hannes Messemer	...	SS-Gruppenfuehrer Rossdorf
Carl Lange	...	Major Thomas Wollenberg
Werner Peters	...	Willi Keun
Walter Janssen	...	Kriminalrat Boehm
Peter Carsten	...	Mollwitz
Wilmut Borell	...	SS-Sturmfuehrer Heinrich, Rossdorf's aide
Monika John	...	Lucy Hansen, Kellnerin
Rose Schäfer	...	Anna Hohmann
Lukas Ammann	...	Pflichtverteidiger von Keun
Karl-Heinz Peters	...	Hauswart
Heinz Beck	...	Revierwachtmeister
Christa Nielsen	...	Schlampilein

Storyline

A serial killer strikes again during WWII in Germany. The wrong man is arrested and a detective hunts down the real killer. But justice in Nazi Germany is not so easily administered.

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Plot Keywords:

ss | hamburg germany | serial killer | newspaper article | wallpaper | 

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Taglines:

HITLER'S SECRET ORDERS choke the night...and women shriek in terror

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

19 September 1957 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Devil Strikes at Night

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Divina-Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Klangfilm Eurocord)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of West Germany for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 30th Academy Awards in 1958.

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Connections

Referenced in Armer Bruno: Mario Adorf über 'Nachts wenn der Teufel kam' (2017)

User Reviews

Geheime Reichssache

Yo, Super Mario. Though while later Eurocrime "cult" actor Mario Adorf does quite a convincing job as the retarded serial killer in Robert Siodmak's Nazi noir The Devil Strikes at Night, ex-boxing-champion Claus Holm – imagine a German Van Heflin – as the crippled police Kommissar and Hannes Messemer as his SS-Obergruppenfuehrer opponent easily steal the show from him: Their confrontations, chock-full of icy dialogue, constitute the epicentre of this sardonic high tensioner that doesn't lose its momentum for a single second, due to Siodmak's remarkably concentrated direction, aided by the unobtrusive, but perfectly effective camera work by unjustly forgotten cinematographer Georg Krause (who did Kubrick's Paths of Glory – !! – a year before), competent editing by Walter Boos (who went on to do some Schulmaedchen-Reports in the 70s), and excellent supporting performances by Werner Peters and the strikingly beautiful Annemarie Dueringer. "Belief? Where did you dig up that word?", Messemer's slick SS herrenmensch asks the crushed Kommissar. Once, they even had great screenwriters in Germany, among them Werner Joerg Lueddecke, who sets the fast-paced, bitter, cynical and sometimes darkly humorous tone of the movie. When the Kommissar is sent to war in the end – the year is 1944 –, he reassures his trembling girlfriend: "It won't take much longer. Soon, you can reach the front line by city train."