Hitler: The Last Ten Days

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Hitler: The Last Ten Days
Hitlerthelasttendays.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Ennio De Concini
Written by Gerhard Boldt
Ennio De Concini
Maria Pia Fusco
Ivan Moffat
Wolfgang Reinhardt
Produced byWolfgang Reinhardt
Starring Alec Guinness
Simon Ward
Adolfo Celi
Diane Cilento
Gabriele Ferzetti
Cinematography Ennio Guarnieri
Edited by Kevin Connor
Music by Mischa Spoliansky
Production
companies
Tomorrow Entertainment
West Film
Distributed by MGM-EMI [1] (UK [2] )
Paramount Pictures (US)
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.

Contents

Plot

The film opens with Hitler's 56th birthday, on 20 April 1945, and ends 10 days later with his suicide, on 30 April.

Cast

Production

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

Release

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. Initial box office returns in West Germany were good in the major cities but not great. [5] In its first nine days at the Empire, Leicester Square in London, the film grossed £17,860 ($41,971). [6]

Home media

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

  1. "Hitler: The Last Ten Days [Gli ultimi dieci giorni di Hitler]". Archivio del Cinema Italiano. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 "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".