AllMovie

Though his services as a director were no longer required in the 1950s, Erich Von Stroheim kept busy as an actor, especially in the French film industry. Alerte au Sud (Alert in the South) top-bills Von Stroheim as a demented German general who refuses to concede that WW II is over and who continues to conduct his field-marshal tactics at a remote desert outpost. Here he clashes with young lieutenant Jean (Jean-Claude Pascal), who up until now has been the real star of the picture. Long before Von Stroheim makes his entrance, Pascal has kept busy trying to solve the murder of his best friend, bringing him in contact with all sorts of disreputable types. Also weaving in and out of the story is Giana Maria Canale as a sensuous dancer who isn't quite as dishonest or immoral as she seems. The main distinction of Alerte au Sud is that it represents Erich Von Stroheim's first appearance in color, discounting the brief Technicolor sequence in 1928's The Wedding March.