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Hitler: The Last Ten Days

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Hitler: The Last Ten Days
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEnnio De Concini
Written byGerhard Boldt
Ennio De Concini
Maria Pia Fusco
Ivan Moffat
Wolfgang Reinhardt
Produced byWolfgang Reinhardt
StarringAlec Guinness
Simon Ward
Adolfo Celi
Diane Cilento
Gabriele Ferzetti
CinematographyEnnio Guarnieri
Edited byKevin Connor
Music byMischa Spoliansky
Production
companies
Tomorrow Entertainment
West Film
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer[1] (through MGM-EMI in the United Kingdom[2])
Release dates
  • 20 April 1973 (1973-04-20) (West Germany)
  • 2 May 1973 (1973-05-02) (UK)
  • 9 May 1973 (1973-05-09) (US)
  • 31 August 1973 (1973-08-31) (Italy)
Running time
105 minutes[2]
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Italy
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2,250,000 (US/Canada rentals)[3]

Hitler: The Last Ten Days is a 1973 biographical drama film depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's suicide. The film stars Alec Guinness and Simon Ward, and features an introduction presented by Alistair Cooke; the original music score was composed by Mischa Spoliansky. The film is based on the book Hitler's Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account (first translated in English in 1973) by Gerhard Boldt,[4] an officer in the German Army who survived the Führerbunker.

Plot

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The film opens with Hitler's 56th birthday, on 20 April 1945, and ends 10 days later with his suicide, on 30 April after he gets angry at Heer Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (Chief of the Wehrmacht) ,General Alfred Jodl,Wilhelm Burgdolf,Hans Krebs and Party Secretary Martin Bormann when SS-General Steiner and his German Forces didn’t attack the Soviet Forces led by Georgy Zhukov that Hitler hoped it would be like the 7 Years war led by Frederick the Great against Elizabeth and Peter the Third and regarding about FDR and Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin and eventually he finds out from Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann that Wehrmacht Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring (head of the Luftwaffe and deputy commander of the Heer and ex SA-Gruppenfuhrer Commander in the Brownshirts) including Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler (Chief of the SS) and Albert Speer are escaping and betrayed him and then he executes his future brother in law SS-General Hermann Fegelein married to Eva Braun’s sister Gretl Braun just like what Benito Mussolini did to his son in law Galeazzo Ciano in Italy and then Hitler committed suicide with his wife wanting to die as a hero like Napoleon.

Cast

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Production

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Location shooting for the film included the De Laurentiis Studios in Rome and parts of England.[citation needed]

Release

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The film opened in 26 theatres in West Germany on the anniversary of Hitler's birth on 20 April 1973, which led to several groups objecting to the film. Initially, the movie was a moderate success at the box office.[5] In its first nine days at the Empire, Leicester Square in London, the film grossed £17,860 ($41,971).[6]

Home media

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The film was released on DVD on 3 June 2008,[7] and was released on Blu-ray in September 2015.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Hitler: The Last Ten Days [Gli ultimi dieci giorni di Hitler]". Archivio del Cinema Italiano. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b "HITLER – THE LAST 10 DAYS (A)". British Board of Film Classification. 16 April 1973. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1973". Variety. 9 January 1974. p. 19.
  4. ^ Boldt, Gerhard (1973). Hitler's last days: An eyewitness account. Translated by Bance, Sandra (Hardcover, First Translated ed.). Arthur Baker. ISBN 978-0-213-16429-4.
  5. ^ "Showing 'Hitler: The Last 10 Days' Stirs Beefs From W. German Orgs". Variety. 23 May 1973. p. 37. Retrieved 10 May 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ "West End Perks; 'Hitler' Wow $41,971, 'Thief' Robust $15,432, 'O Lucky Man' Zingy $18,133, 'Hide' Dim 3G, Both 2d". Variety. 23 May 1973. p. 37. Retrieved 10 May 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ Hitler: The Last Ten Days (DVD ed.). 3 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Hitler: The Last Ten Days Blu-ray".
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