Canaris (film)

Canaris
Directed byAlfred Weidenmann
Written by
Produced byEmile J. Lustig
Starring
CinematographyFranz Weihmayr
Edited byIlse Voigt
Music bySiegfried Franz
Production
company
Fama-Film
Distributed byEuropa-Filmverleih
Release dates
  • 30 December 1954 (1954-12-30) (West Germany)
  • 28 April 1958 (1958-04-28) (New York City)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman
Budget$320,000

Canaris is a 1954 West German drama film directed by Alfred Weidenmann and starring O. E. Hasse, Barbara Rütting and Adrian Hoven. It portrays real events during the Second World War when Wilhelm Canaris, the head of German military intelligence, was arrested and executed for his involvement with the 20 July Plot to overthrow Adolf Hitler. The film was a major success at the German box office, possibly because it allowed audiences to identify with a heroic German figure disassociated from Nazism. Released in the UK as Canaris Master Spy, and in the US as Deadly Decision—it is also known by the alternative title Canaris: Master Spy.

It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin.