The Blue Max
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Blue Max is a 1966 war film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Karl Michael Vogler, and Jeremy Kemp. The film was made in DeLuxe Color and filmed in CinemaScope. The plot is about a German fighter pilot on the Western Front during World War I. The screenplay was written by David Pursall, Jack Seddon, and Gerald Hanley, based on the novel of the same name by Jack D. Hunter as adapted by Ben Barzman and Basilio Franchina.
In contrast to films that romanticize the flying aces of the Great War, The Blue Max depicts the protagonist as a man who appears to have no regard for anyone but himself. Set against the realities of modern warfare, the film also explores the decline of chivalry and the advent of total war.
Plot
German Corporal Bruno Stachel leaves the fighting in the trenches to become a fighter pilot in the German Army Air Service. In spring 1918, he sets his sights on winning Germany's highest medal for valour, the Blue Max, for which he must shoot down 20 aircraft.
Of humble origins (his father ran a small hotel), Lieutenant Bruno Stachel sets out to prove himself. Willi von Klugemann resents having a commoner as his rival. Their commanding officer, Hauptmann Otto Heidemann, is an aristocratic officer whose belief in chivalry and the laws and customs of war conflict with Stachel's disregard for them.
On his first mission, Stachel shoots down a British S.E.5, but does not receive credit for it because there were no witnesses (Stachel's wingman was shot down). Stachel searches the countryside for the wreckage, which gives the impression that he cares more about himself than the death of his wingman.
Soon afterward, he attacks an Allied two-man observation aircraft and incapacitates the rear gunner. Instead of downing the defenseless aircraft, he signals the pilot to fly to the German base. As they near the airfield, the rear gunner revives and reaches for his machine-gun, unseen by the observers on the ground. Stachel is forced to shoot the aircraft down. A disgusted Heidemann later believes that Stachel has committed a war crime just for a confirmed kill.
The incident brings Stachel to the attention of General Count von Klugemann, Willi's uncle. When the general visits the base, he meets Stachel. As Stachel is a commoner, the general sees great propaganda value in him. Meanwhile, Kaeti, the general's wife, is carrying on a discreet affair with her husband's nephew.
Soon afterward, Stachel is shot down after rescuing a red Fokker Dr.I from two British fighters. When he returns to the airfield, he is stunned when he is introduced to the man he saved, Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. Richthofen offers Stachel a place in his squadron. Stachel declines by explaining his desire to "prove himself" with his current squadron.
With Stachel temporarily grounded by a minor injury, General von Klugemann orders him to Berlin to help shore up the crumbling public morale. The general invites him to dinner. Later, Stachel and Kaeti have sex.
Soon afterward, Stachel and Willi volunteer to escort a reconnaissance aircraft. When British fighters attack, Stachel's guns jam, but Willi downs three enemy planes. While returning to base, Willi challenges Stachel to a flying contest. Willi clips the top of a tower and crashes. When Stachel reports his death, Heidemann assumes that te verified victories were Willi's. Stachel impulsively claims them even though he fired only 40 bullets before his guns jammed. Outraged, Heidemann officially accuses him of lying, but the Air Service backs Stachel.
During a strafing mission covering the retreat of the Imperial German Army, Stachel disobeys orders and engages enemy fighters. The rest of the squadron follows him. Later, Heidemann confronts him because half his pilots were killed in the ensuing dogfight. Stachel does not care. He has shot down enough aircraft, even without Willi's kills, to qualify for the Blue Max. Enraged, Heidemann submits a report recommending a court-martial.
Both men are ordered to Berlin. There, von Klugemann tells Heidemann that Stachel is to receive the Blue Max because the people need a hero. The general orders Heidemann to withdraw his report. Heidemann resigns his command and accepts a desk job.
Later that evening, Keati visits Stachel and suggests for both to flee to neutral Switzerland since defeat is inevitable. Stachel refuses.
The next day, Stachel is awarded the Blue Max by the Crown Prince in a well-publicised ceremony. Field Marshal von Lenndorf telephones von Klugermann to order him to stop the ceremony since an investigation has been opened into Stachel's claim. The general asks how the field marshal knew about that. He turns to his wife and realises that she is responsible.
When Heidemann reports that the new monoplane that he has just test-flown is a "death trap" with weak struts, von Klugemann sees a way out and tells Stachel, "Let's see some real flying". The stress of Stachel's aerobatics causes the aircraft to break up and crash.
Cast
- George Peppard as Leutnant Bruno Stachel
- James Mason as Generalleutnant Graf von Klugemann
- Ursula Andress as Grafin Kaeti von Klugemmann
- Jeremy Kemp as Leutnant Ritter Willi von Klugemmann
- Karl Michael Vogler as Hauptmann Ritter Otto von Heidemann
- Anton Diffring as Major Holbach
- Harry Towb as Kettering
- Peter Woodthorpe as Rupp
- Derek Newark as Ziegel
- Derren Nesbitt as Fabian
- Loni von Friedl as Elfi Heidemann
- Friedrich von Ledebur as The Field Marshal
- Carl Schell as Manfred von Richthofen
- Hugo Schuster as Hans, Elderly Servant
- Alex Scott as The Orator
- Roger Ostime as The Crown Prince
