The Blue Max (1966)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Guillermin

Writers:

Jack Hunter (novel)
Ben Barzman (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

21 June 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War | Action

Tagline:

MIRACLES IN THE AIR!

Plot:

A young pilot in the German air force of 1918, disliked as lower-class and unchivalrous, tries ambitiously to earn the medal offered for 20 kills.

Plot Keywords:

Ambition | Fighter Pilot | Machine Guns | German Soldier | Color In Title

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 nominations

Cast

George Peppard	...	Lt. Bruno Stachel
James Mason	...	General Count von Klugermann
Ursula Andress	...	Countess Kaeti von Klugermann
Jeremy Kemp	...	Willi von Klugermann
Karl Michael Vogler	...	Colonel Otto Heidemann
Anton Diffring	...	Holbach
Harry Towb	...	Kettering
Peter Woodthorpe	...	Corporal Rupp
Derek Newark	...	Ziegel
Derren Nesbitt	...	Fabian
Loni von Friedl	...	Elfi Heidemann (as Loni Von Friedl)
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	The Field Marshal (as Friedrich Ledebur)
Carl Schell	...	Von Richthofen aka The Red Baron
Hugo Schuster	...	Hans. Elderly Servant
Alex Scott	...	The Orator
Roger Ostime	...	The Crown Prince
Ray Browne	...	Pilot
Timothy Parkes	...	Pilot
Ian Kingsley	...	Pilot
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Warren Crosby	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
John Guillermin

Writing credits
Jack Hunter		(novel)
Ben Barzman		(adaptation) and
Basilio Franchina		(adaptation)
David Pursall		(screenplay) &
Jack Seddon		(screenplay) and
Gerald Hanley		(screenplay)

Produced by
Christian Ferry	....	producer
Elmo Williams	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
Douglas Slocombe

Film Editing by
Max Benedict

Casting by
Stuart Lyons

Production Design by
Wilfred Shingleton		(as Wilfrid Shingleton)

Art Direction by
Fred Carter

Makeup Department
Patricia McDermott	....	hairdresser (as Pat McDermott)
John O'Gorman	....	makeup artist: Ursula Andress
Charles E. Parker	....	head makeup artist (as Charles Parker)
Tony Sforzini	....	makeup artist: George Peppard (as Tony Sfortzini)
Jay Sebring	....	hair designer: George Peppard (uncredited)

Production Management
René Dupont	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Causey	....	assistant director
Derek Cracknell	....	assistant director
Anthony Squire	....	director: aerial unit

Art Department
Joseph Musso	....	production illustrator (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Cox	....	sound
Chris Greenham	....	sound editor
Claude Hitchcock	....	sound
Bob Jones	....	sound

Special Effects by
Maurice Ayers	....	special effects
Ron Ballanger	....	special effects
Karl Baumgartner	....	special effects

Stunts
Ken Byrne	....	aerial stunts
Tim Clutterbuck	....	aerial stunts
Pat Cranfield	....	aerial stunts
Tim Healey	....	aerial stunts
Peter Hillwood	....	aerial stunts
Joan Hughes	....	aerial stunts
Darby Kennedy	....	aerial stunts
Darby Kennedy	....	stunt coordinator
Roger Kennedy	....	aerial stunts
Liam Mulligan	....	aerial stunts
Derek Piggott	....	aerial stunts
Taffy Rich	....	aerial stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Skeets Kelly	....	aerial photographer
Skeets Kelly	....	camera operator
Skeets Kelly	....	photographer: second unit
Donald C. Rogers	....	photographer: second unit
Chic Waterson	....	camera operator
Mike Fox	....	focus puller: second unit (uncredited)
Ginger Gemmel	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Elsa Fennell	....	wardrobe supervisor
John Furniss	....	wardrobe creator: Miss Andress

Editorial Department
Norman Cohen	....	assembly editor
Elizabeth Thoyts	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jerry Goldsmith	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Arthur Dunne	....	transportation captain (uncredited)

Other crew
Johnny Maher	....	air engineer
William O'Kelly	....	production liaison: Ireland
Allen Wheeler	....	air supervisor
Helen Whitson	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• Centfox (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1971) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• CBS/Fox (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Belle & Blade Studios (video)
• Magnetic Video (video)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (2004) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• People and the Government of the Republic of Ireland  20th Century-Fox express their gratitude to

Runtime:

156 min | USA:153 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

6-Track Stereo | 4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (optical prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Ireland:12 (old rating) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 (f) | Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

With the exception of the two-seater recon-plane, all the British aircraft featured in the movie, were of the "Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5" model, or "S.E.5" in short. It was introduced in early 1917 and proved to be an excellent fighter that helped the Allies regaining air superiority in the summer of 1917. It remained in production throughout the war.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In "the Blue Max" Stachel and the other pilots are seen wearing the uniform of the 1st Uhlan Lancer regiment, uniforms modeled no doubt after Manfred Von Richthofen's, as he had a lancer officer before becoming a pilot. However, there never was a "standard" uniform for the German Luftstreitskraefte during WW1. It was made up of volunteers from all branches, and they wore the uniforms they were issued at the time they entered the service. Stachel, although he had been promoted to Lieutenant when he became a pilot, should have been wearing an infantry officer's uniform, not a cavalryman's. Also, there should have been more diversity among the uniforms worn by pilots as well as ground crew. Many of them came from the Navy.

Quotes:

General Count von Klugermann: Stachel. I want him brought to Berlin immediately.
Holbach: Yes, Herr General.
General Count von Klugermann: There is some difficulty?
Holbach: Well, I don't know what you have in mind, Herr General, but, uh, with the offensive at its height, well, there'd have to be some legitimate excuse to order him to come.
General Count von Klugermann: He's wounded, isn't he?
Holbach: Yes, Herr General.
General Count von Klugermann: Hmm. A mentionable wound?
Holbach: Uh, in the arm.
General Count von Klugermann: Good. The people like soldiers who were shot in the right places. Order Stachel to Berlin for special hospital treatment. I want you to ensure that all our newspapers give full prominence to this gallant episode - photographs, everything.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Top Secret! (1984)

The Definition of Class

At the beginning of The Young Lions Marlon Brando tells Barbara Rush how difficult it is to rise in class in Europe as opposed to America. It's one of the reasons he's thinking that Adolph Hitler and the Nazis will be a good thing for Germany.

George Peppard plays a more ruthless version of the Brando character in the previous generation in The Blue Max. He's a survivor of the trenches who gets an opportunity to learn to fly and transfer in the Air Corps. What comes with it is a commission and while Peppard is now an officer he's no gentleman.

There's a whole different ethic operating in the Air Corps. The pilots see themselves as an updated version of the Teutonic Knights of old. A view by the way shared by both sides. The fliers on both sides see themselves as old fashioned chivalrous sorts who glory in single combat. They are also upper middle class and aristocratic types and Peppard doesn't quite fit in.

You can put him in a biplane and give him rank, but his outlook doesn't change. What Peppard does see is that if he makes 20 confirmed kills he gets awarded the Blue Max decoration and his future and respectability is secure.

James Mason who commands the Flying Corps takes an interest in Peppard's rise. His political instinct tells him revolution is in the body politic. Make heroes out of someone like Peppard who would be part of the proletarian masses will help give those masses a vested interest in the Wilhelmine regime and would forestall revolution. Of course wife Ursula Andress has some different ideas about Peppard.

I like The Blue Max because it is a film about more than aviation. It is about what was happening in Germany during those last days of World War I when Germany was desperately trying to break the stalemate on the western front and pull out a victory before American troops were in sufficient numbers. They almost pulled it out in fact. It's about attitudes, old, new and changing. All three of the leads suit their roles perfectly.

As a veteran of World War I if he didn't gain the respectability out of the war he craved, Peppard would have been ripe for the Nazi propaganda that filled Germany and was finally heeded during the Depression. The Nazis filled their ranks with Peppards up and down Germany.

Which is why The Blue Max should be seen and learned from because it is not just about World War I aviators as good as the aerial footage is here.