It beggars belief that the figure of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris has been portrayed only thrice on film, so far as this viewer is aware. As played by Anthony Quayle he is a minor character in John Sturges' uneven 'The Eagle has landed', has a miniscular role in 'Voyage of the Damned', in the person of a totally miscast Denholm Elliott and here the magnificent performance by O. E. Hasse cannot alas compensate for the film's shortcomings.
It is not a bad film by any means but lacks the touch of a master as Alfred Weidenmann is no more than capable and in keeping with German cinema of the time has been reduced to a spy thriller with a bit of 'love interest' thrown in.
Needless to say the utterly monstrous Reinhard Heydrich has proved far more appealing to film makers and has been personified on numerous occasions ranging from Hans von Twardowski's grotesque caricature to the quietly sinister Siegfried Loyoda to the chillingly matter-of-fact Kenneth Branagh. His uneasy relationship with Canaris is well realised in this but Martin Held's performance, for this viewer at any rate, fails to convey the sheer evil of the man. As there is no show without Punch, also featured are the always dependable Wolfgang Preiss and the ubiquitous Charles Regnier whilst Barbara Ruetting provides the Oestrogen factor.
One never really gets the feeling of 'being there' and much of what occurs is extraneous with an eye to the commercial element. The makers have chosen to omit, amongst other things, Canaris' relationship with Polish spy Halina Szymanska whilst Frau Canaris is nowhere to be seen. The film ends with his being arrested and driven away.
Tried for alleged complicity in the July Plot he was led naked to the scaffold and hanged on a butcher's hook. It is highly unlikely that he will ever be done justice to on screen but the sensitive playing of O. E. Hasse has at least given us a glimpse of the almost unendurable moral dilemma with which Canaris had to grapple.
