Stukas (1941)

 

„The National-Socialist spirit and ethos of the young Luftwaffe eagles of the sky!“

 

„Terrifically good with magical aerial photography! „– Joseph Goebbels

 

Directed by: Karl Ritter

Screenplay by: Karl Ritter and Felix Lützkendorf

Edited by: Conrad von Molo

Music by: Herbert Windt

Production company: UFA

Release date: 27 June 1941

Running time: 99 mins

Country: German Reich

Language: German

Budget: 1,961,000 RM

Box office: 3.18 million RM

 

Starring:

 

Carl Raddatz: Captain Heinz Bork

Hannes Stelzer: First Lieutenant Hans Wilde

Ernst von Klipstein: First Lieutenant “Patzer” von Bomberg

Albert Hehn: First Lieutenant Hesse

Herbert Wilk: First Lieutenant Günter Schwarz

O.E. Hasse: Senior physician Dr. Gregorius

Karl John: First Lieutenant Lothar Loos

Else Knott: Nurse Ursula

Marina von Ditmar: Young Frenchwoman

Egon Müller-Franken: First Lieutenant Jordan

Günther Markert: First Lieutenant Hellmers

Josef Dahmen: Sergeant Traugott

Erich Stelmecke: Sergeant Rochus

Georg Thomalla: Sergeant Matz

Heinz Wemper: Sergeant Heinze

Lutz Götz: Staff Sergeant Niederegger

Beppo Brem: Sergeant Major Putzenlechner

Fritz Wagner: Sergeant Franz

Karl Münch: Radio operator

Adolf Fischer: Sergeant Fritz

Johannes Schütz: Lieutenant “Küken” Prack

Lili Schoenborn-Anspach: Old Frenchwoman (as Lilli Schönborn)

Ethel Reschke: Room girl

 

Plot:

 

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 National Socialist 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.

 

Buy the original DVD with bonus materials: http://ihffilm.com/22990.html