Wilhelm Canaris - Popular Culture

Popular Culture

• The 1954 movie Canaris is based on his biography.
• In the 1961 novel, 'Es muss nicht immer Kaviar sein' by German author Johannes Mario Simmel Canaris is the primary benefactor of agent Thomas Lieven during his time as German Agent in World War II. The novel is claimed by the author to be authentic.
• In the 1968 Soviet film The End of Saturn, Canaris was portrayed by actor Bruno Freindlich.
• In the 1970 Colin Forbes novel The Heights of Zervos, Canaris is mentioned along with the Abwehr.
• In the 1976 film The Eagle Has Landed, Canaris was played by actor Anthony Quayle.
• In the Frederick Forsyth novel The Odessa File, set in the mid-1960s, the hero infiltrates the organisation of former SS members by claiming to have commanded, as a 19-year-old sergeant, the firing squad which executed Canaris. This is not in fact how Canaris was executed, which was by hanging.
• In the 1980 Brian Garfield novel The Paladin, Canaris is visited by an agent acting for Churchill. It is apparent that in this book, Canaris is acting as a knowing conduit for British misinformation.
• In the 1996 Daniel Silva novel The Unlikely Spy, Canaris is the head of the Abwehr who initiated the infiltration of SHAEF to discover its invasion plans of Normandy.
• In the Phillip Kerr novel Hitler's Peace, Canaris attempts to have Hitler poisoned during a secret appearance at the 1943 Tehran Conference.
• In the 2001 Mike Whicker novel Invitation to Valhalla, Canaris is the head of Abwehr who sends a female spy to America.