Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam(The Devil Came at Night)
W. Germany (1957): Drama/War/Crime
Writer/director Robert Siodmak based his German-filmed The Devil Came at Night on an actual case. Set during the last months of the Hitler regime, the film concerns a series of rapes and stranglings of young women. Gestapo officer Hanns Messemer and non-party member Claus Holm investigate the trail of evidence. They discover that the criminal is a mental defective, played by Mario Adorf. An open-and-shut case -- except for the fact that Adorf is a loyal Gestapo member! The dilemma now is to stem the crime spree without publicizing the embarrassing fact that "Aryan supremacy" is capable of yielding a monster like Adorf. Originally titled Nachts, Wenn der Teufel Kam, The Devil Came at Night has also been released as Nazi Terror at Night and Nights When the Devil Came. (Devina-Film/Zenith International) (Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)
1 nomination
· Foreign Language Film Award 1957: Robert Siodmak, producer.