„The
National-Socialist spirit and ethos of the young Luftwaffe eagles of the sky!“
„Terrifically
good with magical aerial photography! „– Joseph Goebbels
Director Karl Ritter was one of the
most successful propaganda filmmakers of the Third Reich, and his Stukas
premiered at the height of German victories in June, 1941. The film was a huge
success, and the ‘Stuka Song’ sung by the young pilots at the end of the film
became wildly popular across Germany in its own right. Stukas, combining actual
war footage, special effects, and rousing music, portrays a squadron of young
Luftwaffe pilots fighting the British and French on the western front in late
1940. Filmed during the Battle of France, Stukas’ many combat scenes include
the British retreat at Dunkirk, alongside what Joseph Goebbels in his diaries
called ‘magical aerial photography.’ Ritter, himself a Major in the Luftwaffe,
produced in Stukas a film celebrating the love of battle, comradeship, a
boisterous enthusiasm for flying, and the self–sacrifice which epitomized the
stereotypical Nazi warrior. After the war, the Soviets demanded that Ritter be
indicted for war crimes for having ‘systematically poisoned German youth’
through films such as this one. Stukas is a quintessential Ritter film:
action–filled, episodic and fast–moving, with a first–class ensemble of German
actors.
Produced and Directed by Karl
Ritter, music by Herbert Windt, starring Carl Raddatz, O.E. Hasse, Hannes
Stelzer and Albert Hehn.
Germany, 1941, B&W,
98 Minutes, German
dialogue, English subtitles. Mastered in HD from an Original 35mm Nitrate Print
and digitally restored for superb quality.
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in high-quality:
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