A flawless British cast, with a few distinguished Continental additions, act out the Fuhrer's last few tortured days in his underground bunker against a Berlin background of burnished browns and flickering reds, superbly captured by the Technicolor cameras of Ennio Guarnieri. Alec Guinness' portrayal in the title role is the perfection one would expect, at least on the surface, although the persuasive qualities of his performance are too often undermined by the uncertainties in the screenplay (based on Gerhardt Boldt's book The Last Days of the Chancellery) which never seems sure of its purpose. Boldt himself, one of Hitler's staff officers who escaped from the bunker in these last few days, acted as adviser on the film. He is said to have been quite shaken by some of the subtler aspects of Guinness' disturbing characterisation.

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