He'd already been making movies for ten years, but The Devil's General was Curd Jurgens's breakthrough leading role. After this tour-de-force, he rocketed to stardom and commanded top billing for nearly ten years. And it's no wonder! I always refer to him as "the man who should have played Captain Von Trapp", not only because of his strong presence and singing ability, but also because of his personal life. Had Hollywood wanted to, it could have compiled a huge ad campaign about how the man portraying Captain Von Trapp himself was targeted by the Nazis and escaped to freedom during the war.

I digress, as I usually do when discussing the great German actor. In any case, it's clear Curd's personal feelings showed through his performance in The Devil's General. His character is a general in charge of test pilots, but he hates the Nazi party and the Fuhrer himself. He's vocal in his criticism, believing that his high rank and respected reputation will protect him from punishment. However, during a dinner party, a well-placed microphone captures some dangerous conversation and makes him a target. So, while Curd often played soldiers during his film career, he also often got the opportunity to show his real-life contempt for the direction his country took during the war. There are some incredible scenes in this movie where he explodes with emotion and energy; America didn't know it yet (and arguably never did), but Germany had just produced a major movie star. If you like movies with subtitles, find a copy of this interesting drama. It has great characters, an intriguing story, and doesn't have that "old European" feeling. Next up, check out the similar story of Brainwashed, also starring Curd.