Trivia
Carice van Houten, who plays Countess Nina Von Stauffenberg, is the longtime companion of Sebastian Koch, who played Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg in the critically acclaimed German TV movie Operation Valkyrie.
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Initially, Germany's Ministry of Defense would not allow filming on Bendler Block. They relented after appeals from Tom Cruise and screenwriter/producer Christopher McQuarrie. The entire crew started every night of filming with a moment of silence in memory of Stauffenberg.
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Eleven extras playing Wehrmacht soldiers were injured on the set when they fell out of a moving lorry (truck). One suffered a serious back injury, the rest had bruises, cuts, and head injuries. An insurance company investigation concluded that an extra closed the side panel improperly, causing it to open while the lorry was in motion.
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Some scenes had to be re-shot when the original film was destroyed after being treated with the wrong chemical during development.
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The film was originally scheduled for release on August 8, 2008, then moved up to June 27, 2008. The producer couldn't find a suitable location for the battle sequence in which Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg loses his eye and hand, halting production and moving release to October 3, 2008. Filming resumed in June 2008, and release was moved to February 13, 2009. After a successful test screening, release was finally moved to December 25, 2008.
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Tom Cruise was attracted to the role after seeing a picture of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, and noticing how similar he looked.
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Germany has strict laws against displaying the swastika, though artistic displays are specifically exempt. Filmmakers usually use incorrect swastikas to avoid causing public outrage. The producer wanted swastikas for authenticity, so the crew posted warnings around the filming locations. Still, a local resident filed an official complaint with the city, who pressed charges against the owners of some filming sites.
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Patrick Wilson was originally cast in the film but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
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Carice van Houten, Waldemar Kobus, Christian Berkel and Halina Reijn appeared in Black Book, Paul Verhoeven's movie based on World War II.
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When Adolf Hitler signs the revised Valkyrie, the fountain pen clipped to Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg's bag is a Pelikan M100, produced in Germany during World War II.
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Three actors in the movie are born on December 12: Kenneth Cranham in 1944, Tom Wilkinson in 1948 and Bill Nighy in 1949.
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Two cast members appeared in Downfall, about the last ten days of Adolf Hitler's life. Christian Berkel played Ernst-Günter Schenck, an SS Doctor. Thomas Kretschmann played SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, Heinrich Himmler's adjutant and Eva Braun's brother in law.
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Philipp von Schulthess, who plays Tresckow's aide in "Valkyrie", is the grandson of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. In the movie Countess Nina Von Stauffenberg is pregnant with the mother of Philipp von Schulthess.
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David Bamber (Adolf Hitler) is the only non-German cast member who speaks with a German accent. The filmmakers felt that audiences would be distracted by Hitler speaking in Bamber's natural British accent.
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This is the second movie in which Kenneth Branagh, Kevin McNally and Ian McNeice have appeared together. The other was Conspiracy. Both movies are based on true events from World War II and both are stories from the German side. Here they are Adolf Hitler's enemies, while in the other they are following Hitler's regime.
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Stephen Fry mentioned on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (on a night when Tom Cruise was another guest) that he was offered a role. He was also very complimentary about Tom Cruise's knowledge of World War II.
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The song played over parts of the end credits (Track #1 on the soundtrack album, "They'll Remember You") uses lyrics from Johann Wolfgang Goethe's poem "Wanderers Nachtlied" ("Wanderer's Night Song"): "Ueber allen Gipfeln / Ist Ruh, / In allen Wipfeln / Spuerest du / Kaum einen Hauch. - Die Voegelein schweigen im Walde. / Warte nur, balde / Ruhest du auch." This translates into English as, "Over all the summits / it is calm. / In all the treetops / you can feel / hardly a breeze - The birds remain silent in the woods. / Just wait, soon / You'll rest as well."
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Waldemar Kobus (Police Chief Von Helldorf) also appeared in the German film Operation Valkyrie, playing Wolf's Lair officer Lieutenant Herber.
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This movie actually has two official main titles. Firstly, the wording "Walküre" is shown. This title then dissolves into its English language equivalent, "Valkyrie". It could also be interpreted that the title is "Walküre - Valkyrie".
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The high-majority of this movie's main leading cast who played Nazis were English / British actors: Kenneth Branagh as Major-General Henning von Tresckow; Bill Nighy as General Friedrich Olbricht; Tom Wilkinson as General Friedrich Fromm; Terence Stamp as Ludwig Beck and British resident but Yemen born, Eddie Izzard as General Erich Fellgiebel.
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Tom Cruise had personally chosen Carice van Houten to appear as his wife, after seeing her in another World War II film, Black Book.
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The film's opening prologue is a quotation of a Nazi mandatory loyalty service oath for Soldiers of the German Armed Forces. It states: "I swear by God this sacred oath: That I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler[,] Führer of the German Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, And that I shall at all times be ready, as a brave soldier, to give my life for this oath . . . "
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The film grossed $200 million worldwide making it the 5th highest-grossing World War II film of all-time.
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Much of the movie takes place in the offices of Bendlerblock which served as the offices for the military operations of the Third Reich's military command. The courtyard of Bendlerblock is where Colonel von Stauffenberg and the other conspirators were executed. Some of the filming of the movie took place at the actual building. This building is now the Memorial to the German Resistance (German: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand). The statement in the final slide of the movie is from a plaque near the site of execution at the Memorial.
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