The Ritchie Boys (2004)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Christian Bauer

Writer:

Christian Bauer (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | History | War

Plot:

During WWII, the U.S. formed an elite intelligence unit -- mostly German Jewish academics -- at Camp Ritchie...

Plot Keywords:

Intelligence | WWII | Interview | Psychological Warfare | German Accent

Cast

Michael Hanrahan	...	Narrator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Werner Angress	...	Himself
Victor Brombert	...	Himself
Philip Glaessner	...	Himself
Fred Howard	...	Himself
Si Lewen	...	Himself
Rudy Michaels	...	Himself
Morris Parloff	...	Himself
Richard Schifter	...	Himself
Hans Spear	...	Himself
Guy Stern	...	Himself
Hans Peter Hallwachs	...	Narrator (uncredited)

Directed by
Christian Bauer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Christian Bauer		writer

Produced by
Christian Bauer	....	executive producer
Dagmar Biller	....	producer
Bill Howard	....	executive producer: Discovery Wings
Patricia Phillips	....	executive producer
Donna Zuckerbrot	....	producer

Original Music by
Aaron Davis
John Lang

Cinematography by
Dietrich Mangold		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Kazala

Production Management
Jan Bullerdieck	....	production manager
Josie Crimi	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Anna Zöllner	....	assistant director (as Anna Zoellner)

Art Department
Florian Siegrist	....	graphic artist: title

Sound Department
Steph Carrier	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Stephan Carrier)
Stacy Coutts	....	sound re-recording assistant
Robert Di Gioia	....	sound recordist: narration
Joseph Doane	....	assistant sound editor
Paul Germann	....	sound editor
Ed Segeren	....	senior sound technical engineer
Harald Stuckmann	....	sound recordist
Sebastian Wagner	....	sound recordist

Editorial Department
Paul Deakin	....	on-line editor
Lorraine Grant Dipasquale	....	colorist (as Lorraine Grant-Dipasquale)
Sue Howard	....	assistant editor
Wolfgang Landgraeber	....	commissioning editor: WDR
Claudia Schreiner	....	commissioning editor: MDR
Hubert von Spreti	....	commissioning editor: BR

Other crew
Klaus Albrecht	....	production finance director
Lea Bauer	....	production office
Maria Duncan	....	production finance director
Michael Erhard	....	production office
Sonja Hachenberger	....	production office
Richard Hanet	....	business and legal affairs
Bob Hartman	....	business analyst (as Robert Hartman)
Michael Kot	....	production executive: History Television
Toby Sax	....	production accountant
Martin Sell	....	production coordinator
Helen Weiss	....	researcher
Anna Zöllner	....	researcher (as Anna Zoellner)

Production Companies

• Alliance Atlantis Communications (as Alliance Atlantis)
• Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) (in association with)
• Discovery Wings (in association with)
• History Television (in association with)
• Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) (in association with)
• Tangram Film Produktion
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) (in association with)

Distributors

• Alliance Atlantis Communications (2004) (worldwide) (theatrical) (as Alliance Atlantis)
• Menemsha Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Tangram Film Produktion (2004) (worldwide) (theatrical) (as Tangram)

Other Companies

• Casablanca  post-production facilities

Runtime:

Germany:43 min (TV version) | Hong Kong:90 min | USA:90 min (theatrical version)

Country:

Canada | Germany

Language:

German | English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Trivia:

Took three years to make and seven years to fund and research.

Hitler & his party were MORONS

Not only was it stupid to strike out militarily and try to conquer the world, not only was it moronic for the leader of a nation to cast himself in the role of messiah, not only was it idiocy of the first order to practice a religion of racial superiority, the Nazi's and their fuehrer were incredibly foolish to expel and kill the Jews! This little documentary demonstrates how effectively German Jews were able to help bring down the Third Reich during WWII by effectively interrogating German POW's the allies had captured, getting Wermacht soldiers to surrender and such. Had Hitler had the Jews on his side, had he cultivated them for the loyal citizens they were and mined their fantastic intellect, he may have built a better Germany. But, meglo- maniacs never use logic nor practice humility.

This movie was sobering in some of the vivid descriptions of combat and other realities of war, just as much as it made you realize that there are some wars that cannot be avoided if we wish to maintain civilization. More wars like that will come.

It was also great fun to see so many of these old guys enjoying life and having kept sharp mentally after all these years and all those experiences.