Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Maximilian Schell, Kathryn Hays, Leslie Nielsen, Anton Diffring
Release Year: 1967
Country: US
Run Time: 107 minutes
Plot
The beauty of classical music confronts the ugliness and treachery of war in this unusual drama. Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston) is the director of a well-respected symphony orchestra touring European concert halls in 1944. In the midst of one concert, the city where they are playing is attacked by German troops, and as Evans and his musicians try to escape, they are captured by Nazi soldiers led by Col. Arndt (Anton Diffring). Evans and the orchestra are taken to a castle where they are to bide their time before being executed; but it turns out that Arndt's superior, Gen. Schiller (Maximilian Schell), is a classical music buff. Schiller commands Evans and his symphony to prepare a special concert for the Nazis, but Evans realizes that the moment the concert is over, he and his musicians will be killed. The orchestra's performances, which include works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Schubert, were performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Counterpoint is a ridiculous film, and one need only look at the casting to see that it was doomed to be thus. In no world could Charlton Heston ever conceivably play an orchestra conductor. Heston's miscasting alone is not responsible for Counterpoint being the dreadful mess that it is, but it's indicative of the wrong thinking that went into the creation of the film. Heston is visibly uncomfortable at the podium, but the bigger problem is his overwrought acting style in general; in Biblical epics, it can approximate an appropriate grandeur, but here it just seems like to so much shouting and gnashing of teeth. Maximilian Schell comes off somewhat better, but his performance is still nothing to write home about. The screenplay, though, is the bigger problem, a mass of clichés and terrible dialogue that is simply unsalvageable. Ralph Nelson's direction is dull, never a good thing but especially detrimental in this case. The only good things about the movie are Russell Metty's cinematography and the beautiful music supplied by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, Carl Anderson - Art Director, Burton Miller - Costume Designer, Ralph Nelson - Director, Howard G. Epstein - Editor, Bronislau Kaper - Composer (Music Score), Russell Metty - Cinematographer, Dick Berg - Producer, David Bloomberg - Producer, George Milo - Set Designer, John McCarthy - Set Designer, James Lee - Screenwriter, Joel Oliansky - Screenwriter, Edgar Sarton - Screenwriter, Ludwig van Beethoven - Featured Music, Johannes Brahms - Featured Music, Franz Schubert - Featured Music, Pyotr Tchaikovsky - Featured Music, Richard Wagner - Featured Music, Alan Sillitoe - Book Author
Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston) is the director of a well-respected symphony orchestra touring European concert halls around 1944 in WW2. In the midst of one concert, the city where they are playing is attacked by German troops, and when Evans and his musicians try to escape, they are captured by Nazi soldiers led by Col. Arndt (Anton Diffring). Evans and the orchestra are taken to a castle where they are to bide their time before being executed; but it turns out that Arndt's superior, Gen. Schiller (Maximilian Schell), is a big classical music fan. Schiller commands Evans and his symphony to prepare a special concert for the Nazis, but Evans realizes that the moment the concert is over, he and his musicians will be killed.
The orchestra's performances, which include works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Schubert, were performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.[1]
West Germany : Der Befehl
Sweden : I krigets järngrepp
Denmark : Krigens symfoni
Greece : Nyhtes kolaseos
Finland : Sankareitten sinfonia
Italy : Sinfonia di guerra
France : La Symphonie des héros
USA (working title) : The Battle Horns
USA (working title) : The General
Spain : Una Tumba al amanecer
