Von Richthofen and Brown (1971)

The story of Manfred von Richthofen, the German air ace during World War I and his struggle with the enemy aces and some jealous German officers.

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington (as Joyce H. Corrington)

Stars:

John Phillip Law, Don Stroud, Barry Primus

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Phillip Law	...	Baron Manfred von Richthofen
Don Stroud	...	Roy Brown
Barry Primus	...	Hermann Goering
Corin Redgrave	...	Major Lanoe Hawker VC
Karen Ericson	...	Ilse (as Karen Huston)
Hurd Hatfield	...	Anthony Fokker
Stephen McHattie	...	Werner Voss
Brian Foley	...	Lothar von Richthofen
Robert La Tourneaux	...	Ernest Udet
Peter Masterson	...	Major Oswald Boelke
Clint Kimbrough	...	Major von Höppner
Tom Adams	...	Owen
Ferdy Mayne	...	Richthofen's father
David Weston	...	Murphy
John Flanagan	...	Thompson

Storyline

World War I: an allied squadron and a German squadron face off daily in the skies. Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, leads one, and, although one of his decisions cost the life of his predecessor, he expects his men to honor codes of conduct. The allied squad has similar class divisions: its colonel, an aristocrat, laments that men he considers peasants are now fliers, including a cynical and ruthless Canadian, Roy Brown, the squad's ace. As the tactics of both sides break more rules and become more destructive, the Baron must decide if he is a soldier first or part of the ruling class. He and Brown have two aerial battles, trivial in the larger scheme yet tragic.

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Plot Keywords:

red baron | france | funeral | burial | airplane | 

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Taglines:

On April 21, 1918 they met in the skies of France. For the last time.

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for war action violence

Details

Country:

USA Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 February 1972 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

The Red Baron

Filming Locations:

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Corman Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clint Kimbrough, who played Major von Höppner, had his voice dubbed by Henry Brandon.

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Goofs

In the film, on the day of his death, Von Richthofen was seen flying a Fokker Dr.I with Maltese Crosses (with curved edges) painted on it. In fact, at that time the Maltese Cross had been replaced by the Balkan Cross (with straight edges) as the national emblem on German planes.

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Quotes

Canadian Reporter: Lieutenant Brown, the readers of the Toronto Star want to know about Canada's newest Ace.
Roy Brown: What is there to know? I'm just a technician; I change things.
Canadian Reporter: Change things?
Roy Brown: Put a plane in front of me, with a man in it, I change them into a wreck and a corpse.
Canadian Reporter: Well... well how do you like France?
Roy Brown: It's a nice country, isn't it? Lots of my friends will be staying after the war.
Canadian Reporter: Ah... how do you like the French girls, Lieutenant?
Roy Brown: With both their arms and legs, I think.
Canadian Reporter: [coughs] ... the German planes, are...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The name of the German ace that brought Richthofen into his squadron at the beginning of the film was spelled wrongly as "Boelke" in the credits. His name was Oswald BOELCKE.

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Connections

Referenced in The Directors: The Films of Roger Corman (1999)

User Reviews

Better than expected

Given the very negative comments by others on IMDB about this film, I wasn't really expecting much, especially given that it was directed by Roger Corman, who, whilst he certainly has his talents, would not really be expected to helm a period piece with high production values. Actually I found this film not at all bad. Certainly its narrative plays fast and loose with historical details. But it is quite authentic in many respects - the planes themselves, and the nature of air combat depicted, are reasonably accurate (better, for example, than the planes in The Blue Max, which often look like very thinly disguised Tiger Moths). And fair chunks of the dialogue seem to be taken almost directly from the writings of actual WW1 flyers. Even the rather melodramatic plot does have roots in historical truths, and functions well enough to engage the viewer's attention throughout. I'd say it's definitely worth a look, and compares surprisingly well with the generally much better regarded The Blue Max.