The Red Baron flies again

I rented the 2008 German movie The Red Baron recently, and I have to say I enjoyed it.

However, there was something about it that bothered me.

The movie took an anti-war tone, portraying Freiherr Manfred von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighöfer) coming to realize the futility of the war through the influence of an attractive nurse (Lena Headey) who shows him the war from the point of view of wounded infantrymen in her hospital.

As the realization dawns on him that they’re losing, he tells a superior that the reason he was so successful in combat was, “Whenever I knew I couldn’t win, I ran.”

Damn good advice for anyone studying the martial arts!

The Red Baron tells the high command they’re losing the war and might as well surrender now. They send him back to his unit to get killed, which he realizes. He tells pretty nurse he’s conscience-stricken that the high command is using his image as a hero to drum up support for the war.

At one point, he meets Capt. Roy Brown RCFC (Joseph Fiennes) when they both crash in no man’s land. There’s a nice bit of humor when von Richthofen tells Brown he hopes to see him again. Brown replies he hopes not!

Brown was at one time credited with shooting down the Red Baron, though now the consensus is Von Richthofen was killed by ground fire. The movie wisely leaves the question alone. Brown shows up again to meet Pretty Nurse and arrange for her to visit the Baron’s grave.

Roll credits. The fate of all the historical characters is listed where known, and very self-consciously reminds the audience that there were highly-decorated Jewish fliers who fought for Germany in WWI. They are represented by a fictional stand-in in the flick who gets killed. Someone says, “He needs a priest.” Another replies, “No. A rabbi.” That’s it. Spear carrier.

Now I could swear some of this was lifted almost whole from a 1965 episode of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatere entitled ‘The Fliers’ with John Cassavetes and Carol Linley.

Same spiritual progression, only in this case it’s a flier who transferred after a year in the trenches with the infantry who shows a pretty nurse engaged to another flier what the war is like for the ground pounders.

The beginning scene is identical. At a funeral for an allied flier, German planes fly over and drop a wreath encribed to “A gallant enemy lost to us as well.” (Differs only in a few words in the movie.)

The plot veers from there though. On his first day as a flier John Cassavetes takes to the air and shoots down the Germans’ best ace. When asked by the CO if it was possible the ace survived the crash, he replies, “He did. I machine gunned him on the ground. He’ll be hard to replace.”

He’s subjected to scorn by his fellow-fliers. Outraged, the Germans demand an aerial duel. Asked if he’ll meet the German at the time and place appointed, Cassavetes says “Hell no!” or words to that effect.

Pretty nurse’s fiancee goes in his place for the honor of the unit, and is killed. She hates Cassavetes guts and demands he go and get himself killed as soon as possible. Then she goes to her new post in a field hospital, which opens her eyes to the fact that war is not a game for children. They meet again, and you get the idea Cassavetes just might get lucky.

The film ends with word coming down from the top to stop screwing around and win the damn war.

The fact the German movie might be highly derivative of an obscure American teleplay doesn’t bother me. What bothers me concerns the subsequent history of Von Richthofen’s Flying Circus.

After the death of Manfred Von Richthoven, command of Jagdgeschwader 1, passed to his second in command, an ace fighter pilot and recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite (“The Blue Max”).

His name was Herman Göring, and he doesn’t even appear in the movie.

Look, I do not think guilt is hereditary, and like Thomas Sowell I do not think a thousand years of German culture is represented by 12 years of National Socialism.

But damn it, this smacks too much of the “Adolph who?” attitude.