C'est arrivé le 20 juillet

With major losses on the Russian front, and British and American forces threatening to break out of the hedgerow country in Normandy, a disparate assortment of Germans, civilian and military, try to assassinate Hitler and bring peace.

Pabst's late movie praises the motives of the people who oppose Hitler on the grounds of G*d, civilization, and compassion for the millions who would otherwise die. In actual fact, they were mostly a conservative bunch, and motives like loss of rights of military officers and "We're losing the war! We better stop before I get hurt!" were likely in the mix of motives. It's also interesting to note that the vaunted ruthless German efficiency that still filled war movies of the period are absent, both from the folks busy trying to track down any traitors to the Third Reich, and those who tried to plant a bomb and got it wrong. Perhaps we need a black comedy like THE DEATH OF STALIN to make the point.

Regardless of the actual motives of the people involved, Pabst and his writers decided on a series of events shown with a more dispassionate camera under Kurt Hasse as appropriate; given that everyone could figure out the attempt failed, this was a good choice.

The total number of attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler has never been truly established but the fact that Hitler escaped them all is absolutely mind-boggling. He sustained minor injuries in what is undoubtedly the most renowned of these plots, that of July 1944. Had not the suitcase containing the bomb been moved behind a thick table leg seconds before the blast.....pure supposition of course. Following the failed attempt the gruesome fates of the well-intentioned conspirators and the subsequent purge of thousands have been well-documented. G.W.Pabst has chosen to depict the events in a clinical, matter-of-fact manner and although it cannot be faulted as a factual account, judged purely as a film it is regrettably rather dull. We are at least spared the spectacle of a ranting Hitler and just see the back of an actor's head. The film is of value as an historical document but could not a director of Pabst's ability have made it slightly more 'entertaining'?

This first version(1955) about the historic events results to be a detailed adaptation about the ¨July 20 plot ¨ with magnificent actors and acceptable direction . This is a fine movie about the July 20 plot of 1944 made with good German actors and passable production values. The picture contains brief remarks about Claus Graf Von Stauffenberg (1907-1944), but focusing mainly the July Plot. The film packs a dark white/black cinematography and atmospheric musical score .This story about Stauffenberg and the famous event from how was orchestrated the dangerous plot has been well directed by G.W. Pabst with Bernhard Wicki as Stauffemberg. Wicki, who was clown before he became a soldier, stole food for and entertained his French prisoners while they waited to find out if they would be executed. Wickie was a famous actor and filmmaker , he directed ¨Morituri, The visitor , The longest day¨ and the prestigious ¨The bridge¨. Other versions about this fateful tale are : an American TV movie starred by Brad Davies and German adaptation titled 'Stauffemberg(2004)' with Sebastian Koch, Christopher Buchold and directed by Jo Baier who bears special remembrance to 'Valkyrie' by Brian Singer with Tom Cruise , Tom Wilkinson and Kenneth Branagh.

Adding more details over the widely described on the movie, the deeds happened of the following manner: In the early part WWII Stauffenberg(Bernhard Wickie) served with distinction as an officer in a Bavarian cavalry regiment in Poland, France and North Africa where in 1943 he was deeply wounded. He was saved by the expert supervision of Dr. Ferdinand, Germany's most famous physician. Reporting back for service, he was appointed chief of staff of the Army Department. During his convalescence he revised his attitude . He made no secret of his utter contempt for Hitler and Nazism. He resented any form of totalitarianism, especially National Socialism, and criticized Hitler as the Antichrist.The meticulous Stauffenberg then decided to join the conspirators against Hitler with the goal of liquidating the Nazi regime and replacing it with a new social state that would maintain the good name of fatherland. Always impelled by Christian morality and angered by the excesses of Nazism, Stauffenberg became the leader of the conspiracy. At the center of the plot were such senior officers as Gen. Von Tresckow, chief of staff in Army Group Center on the Russian front, Col.Gen Friedrich Olbricht, head of supply Section of the Reserve Army , Major Gen. Erwin Van Witzleber(Ernst Fritz) and General Beck(Diehl). Added to these senior members were a number of younger officers who believed who Third Reich was a catastrophe for Germany and were willing to gamble their lives on the outcome of the plot. Others knew of the plot but did not take an active role in it. Among them were Field Marshal Erwin Rommel,popular war hero, General Canaris and Field Marshal Hans Von Kluge, army group commander in France. In March 1943 General Tresckow decided that the time had come for action. A British-made bomb time , disguised as a bottle of brandy, was placed on the Fuehrer's plane , but the bomb failed to explode and it was never discovered. Then General Von Tresckow agreed with Stauffenberg that the assassination attempt must be made at all costs: 'We must prove to the world and to future generations that the men of the German Resistance movement dared to take the decisive step and wager their lives on it'. When Hitler called a conference of his close military advisers at the headquarter at Rastenburg, Staufffenberg arrived and in his briefcase along with papers and reports, was a British time bomb. He set the timer on the bomb and brought it into the conference room. After greeting the Fuehrer , he placed the briefcase on the floor beside Hitler and the excused himself: 'I must make a telephone call'. And the bomb exploded......

This is one of famed director Pabst's final films and is available under the title "Jackboot Mutiny" although it is actually titled "It Happened on July 20th." Anyway, as a film it is more or less a docudrama, with little characterization or style. It looks like it could've been directed by any hack, much less the renown G.W. Pabst. Expect nothing stylish or atmospheric, cinematically, but do expect an expert re-telling of the events that unfolded on that day that a cabal of German officers attempted to kill Hitler and end the war. I've checked the details the film includes and they are right on the money. Much of the dialogue is lifted straight from historical records and there are no fictional characters added. The actor playing Goebbels looks much like him and the film intelligently dispenses with presenting an on-camera Hitler, therefore eliminating the obvious distraction. Wicki plays the true-life hero Stauffenberg and is excellent. An interesting opportunity to see one of Germany's most capable post-WW2 directors acting for a change (Wicki directed the outstanding film 'The Bridge' and also helmed the German sections of 'The Longest Day.') The weaknesses of this film include the lack of suspense and hysteria inherent in the enterprise of killing Hitler and trying to take over the German state. That's a heck of a story and it is told honestly, but without any dramatic oomph. It is also confusing, and with a running time of only 74 minutes, it certainly could have spent a little extra time sorting some things out. As it is, you can't make out at times who is who and doing what. That may be historically accurate but it is unhelpful to a viewer walking in on this story. Still, as a piece of history it is educational and, as I mentioned before it is a rather short film, so it moves very fast without a single slow moment.