Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? (1959) Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben (original title)

Director:

Frank Wisbar

Writers:

Frank Dimen (writer)
Heinz Schröter (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

7 April 1959 (West Germany)

Genre:

War | Drama

Plot:

In the winter of 1943, against the background of battle scenes, a young German Lieutenant who increasingly distrusts the inhuman Nazi ideology struggles with the concept of war.

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Stalingrad | Question In Title | German Soldier | Uniform

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Joachim Hansen	...	Oberleutnant Wisse
Ernst Wilhelm Borchert	...	Gen. Friedrich Paulus (as Wilhelm Borchert)
Wolfgang Preiss	...	Major Linkmann
Carl Lange	...	General von Seydlitz
Horst Frank	...	Feldwebel Böse
Peter Carsten	...	Gefreiter Krämer
Richard Münch	...	Oberstleutnant Kesselbach
Günter Pfitzmann	...	Wachtmeister Kunowski
Sonja Ziemann	...	Katja
Gunnar Möller	...	Leutnant Fuhrmann
Ernst von Klipstein	...	Ein General
Armin Dahlen	...	Major Stanescu
Paul Hoffmann	...	General Codreanu
Karl John	...	Generaloberst Hoth
Alexander Kerst	...	Kriegspfarrer Busch
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jöns Andersson	...	Stabschef
Klaus Behrendt
Wolfgang Büttner
Josef Fröhlich
Klaus Hellmold
Tatjana Iwanow
Reinhard Kolldehoff
Peter Lehmbrock
Peter Lühr
Karl Meixner
Hans Paetsch	...	Biologe
Heinz Plate
Gotthart Portloff
Joachim Rake
Friedrich Schütter	...	Hoths Befehlsempfänger
Günther Ungeheuer
Erik von Loewis
Hermann Göring	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dieter Neckritz	...	Mann (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Wisbar

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Frank Dimen		writer
Heinz Schröter		writer
Frank Wisbar		writer
Fritz Wöss		novel

Produced by
Otto Meissner	....	executive producer
Alf Teichs	....	producer

Original Music by
Herbert Windt

Cinematography by
Helmut Ashley

Film Editing by
Martha Dübber

Art Direction by
Walter Haag
Hans Kutzner
Wilhelm Vierhaus

Costume Design by
Irms Pauli

Makeup Department
Heinrich Weber	....	makeup artist
Walter Wegener	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Thomas Fantl	....	unit manager
Georg Mohr	....	unit manager
Hans Thilo Theilen	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carl Otto Bartning	....	assistant director
Alexander von Richthofen	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Rudolf Dahlke	....	props
Waldemar Hinrichs	....	props

Sound Department
Heinz Martin	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Dieter Graf	....	assistant camera
Wolfgang Hofmann	....	assistant camera
Franz Xaver Lederle	....	camera operator
Peter Michael Michaelis	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Ursula Reinfurth	....	assistant editor

Production Companies

• Deutsche Film Hansa

Distributors

• Deutsche Film Hansa (1959) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Divisa Home Video (2008) (Spain) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben" - West Germany (original title)
"Battle Inferno" - USA (TV title)
"Inferno" - USA (TV title)

Runtime:

West Germany:97 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | West Germany:12 (f) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany

Company:

Deutsche Film Hansa

Goofs:

Factual errors: German soldiers carry the Yugoslavian M56 submachine gun instead of the MP40. Yugo M56s are basic copies of the German design, but there are subtle but noticeable differences, such as the long smooth barrel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Starship Troopers (1997)

Never tells you why canines vie for immortality

This unfairly obscure early German World War II movie has a lot going for it. For one, it has a solid cast with a lot of recognizable German actors who went on to be in a lot of international productions (namely Preiss and Frank) and put in some solid performances here as soldiers trapped in a hopeless battle.

There's a solid share of action with everything on display from the Romanian units crumbling under tank assault to General Hoth's attempt at relieving the pocket to the bitter street fighting up to the end. Actually the street fighting comes off even better than in STALINGRAD and ENEMY AT THE GATES and feels quite authentic and realistic despite the low budget. Maybe it's because a good share of the actors in the film actually served in the war? I assume the producers were able to find a section of a German city still devastated from the war some 14 years later or else it's some very good set design. Either way I'm impressed. Amazingly, they even managed to round up some real hardware with at least two real T-34's and a PAK anti tank gun for the battle scenes.

The film takes the ingenious step of using authentic stock footage to supplement the battle scenes as was possible only back when films were black and white. This trick also worked well in ITALIANI BRAVA GENTE which also managed to often call into doubt whether the combat footage was original or stock.

The only main detractor is a lot of mismatched stock footage often from entirely different battles (including some now-famous shots of the retreat from Moscow) and during different times of the year (winter to summer and back again). The film tries to play it off by making it look like snow doesn't hit until after the Russians cut off Stalingrad, but anyone with a basic knowledge of WW2 history should know better. Also the tanks are off, with T34/85's appearing too early in the war as usual and a rare case where an IS2 briefly subs in for a German tank of some sort. Mostly minor nitpicks considering that the film's budget was so low. It's amazing what they were able to pull off with such scant resources.