Movie Review – The Blue Max (1966)

Today we’re going to review The Blue Max, a 1966 film about a World War 1 German fighter pilot eager to shoot down 20 enemy aircraft and earn the prestigious Blue Max medal, the highest military honor in the Kingdom of Prussia.

Directed by John Guillermin, The Blue Max stars George Peppard as Bruno Stachel, a young fighter pilot who will risk it all to shoot down enemy aircraft.  His aggressive actions earn him a negative reputation amongst his fellow pilots, but his success makes him a hero in the eyes of the commanding generals.  Co-starring in the film are Jeremy Kemp as Willi von Klugermann, the squadron’s commanding officer, James Mason as General Count von Klugermann, Willi’s uncle, and Ursula Andress as Kaeti, the general’s wife and a woman who has affairs with some of the pilots.

The Blue Max begins in 1916 as German Corporal Bruno Stachel (George Peppard) is one of thousands of infantry soldiers fighting in the trenches on the Western Front.  He knows that fighting in the trenches is a losing battle.  One day he looks into the sky and sees two fighter aircraft fighting each other.  Suddenly Bruno is inspired to join the air service and become a combat pilot.

Two years later in the spring of 1918, Bruno Stachel (now a lieutenant) is a rookie pilot and the newest member of his flying squadron.  His commanding officer is Hauptmann Otto Heidemann (Karl Michael Vogler), a recipient of the Pour le Merite award, also known as the “Blue Max.”  To earn the Blue Man you must shoot down 20 enemy aircraft.

While Heidemann’s merit is motivational, Bruno’s true rival in the squadron is experienced pilot Willi von Klugermann (Jeremy Kemp).  Bruno and Willi quickly form a bond based on each other’s determination to succeed as well as proving who is the best pilot in the squadron.

It’s not long until Bruno, flying a Pflaz D.III, is sent on his first patrol mission.  He and his wingman shoot and destroy an observation balloon before they’re attacked by a pair of British S.E.5 fighters.  Bruno is able to shoot down an S.E.5, but the other aircraft shoots down Bruno’s wingman.  It’s Bruno’s first kill and he’s elated about it, but he receives depressing news back at the airfield.  None of the German troops reported seeing an S.E.5 destroyed in that sector.  If there’s no confirmation of the kill, either through wreckage or a second person witnessing the action, then it does not count in the pilot’s records.

Bruno isn’t about to let this “kill” slip away.  He scours the French countryside for hours in the pouring rain while looking for the wreckage.  Unfortunately, despite his efforts, he cannot find the crashed S.E.5.  No wreckage, therefore no “kill” in his records.  His commanding officer is concerned as Bruno seems to be more concerned about scoring kills than the recent death of his wingman, a fellow pilot in his squadron.

Shortly later Bruno is back in the sky and he attacks an Allied two-man observation aircraft.  He shoots and badly wounds the rear gunner, but the pilot is still alive.  Instead of shooting him out of the sky, Bruno forces the Allied aircraft to fly back to Bruno’s base and to land there.  Just as they’re about to land, the wounded rear gunner grabs his machine gun and starts to point the rifle at Bruno’s aircraft.  Bruno has no choice but to fire and shoot down the observation aircraft.  It crashes on the German airfield.

Nobody on the ground saw the actions of the rear gunner.  Heidemann thinks that Bruno murdered a helpless enemy pilot in order to gain a confirmed kill in front of the entire squadron.  Whether that’s true or not, Bruno now has his first confirmed kill as a fighter pilot.

The incident attracts the attention of General Count von Klugermann (James Mason), Willi’s uncle.  The general is there to award Willi the Blue Max, but when he meets Bruno he sees a great chance to use him for propaganda.  After the award ceremony Bruno meets Kaeti (Ursula Andress), the general’s wife.  It turns out that Kaeti has been having discreet affairs with the top pilots in the squadron, including Willi, her nephew by marriage.  When she learns about Bruno Stachel, she is impressed with his confidence and flying abilities, and she allows him to seduce her.

After the award ceremony and celebration, the German army launches a tremendous attack against the Allied forces.  The squadron takes to the air to help with the offensive, and the German pilots dogfight with the Allied fighters.  It’s another chance for Bruno to prove his skills and abilities, and he shoots down more aircraft.

Later, Bruno is on another mission when he witnesses two British fighters attack a red Fokker Dr.I.  The mysterious German pilot is saved, but Bruno is shot and wounded.  He’s forced to land his damaged aircraft in a field.  Fortunately, Bruno lands near friendly forces and it’s not long before he’s rescued and returned to his airfield.  Back at the airfield he meets the German pilot that he saved, Manfred von Richthofen (Carl Schell), also known as the Red Baron.  Von Richthofen is impressed with Bruno and he offers him a place in his squadron, but Bruno declines the offer.  Bruno explains that he would rather stay and “prove himself” with his current squadron.

Since Bruno is wounded and temporarily out of action, General von Klugermann reassigns Bruno to Berlin so that he can help with the propaganda and improve the public’s opinion about the war.  One of his stops is at an aircraft research facility where Bruno approves of a new monoplane aircraft under development.  The general then has Bruno pose for pictures in a military hospital.  After that is a party during which Kaeti carries out her affair with Bruno, her latest hero.

The Blue Max then breaks for an intermission.  When the film resumes Bruno Stachel has healed from his injuries and resumed to his flying duties.

Bruno and Willi are flying on a mission to escort a reconnaissance aircraft when they’re attacked by five Allied aircraft.  Bruno’s machine gun jams after he’s able to only fire a few rounds, but Willi successfully shoots down two enemy aircraft on the first pass.  Willi then shoots down a third aircraft that was on Bruno’s tail, and the other two Allied aircraft scatter and return home.

Elated by their success, Bruno and Willi celebrate by performing aerial maneuvers.  After completing a barrel roll to return to formation with Bruno, Willi spots a railroad bridge that spans a river.  He dives to the ground and easily flies underneath the wide span in the middle of the bridge.  Bruno then dives down to the same bridge and flies through a much narrower span.  He narrowly misses the top of a tower on the other side of the bridge, and he returns to formation with Willi.  When Willi flies through the same span, he clips the top of the tower and crashes his aircraft, accidentally killing himself.

Back at the airfield, when Bruno is debriefed, he claims credit for two of Willi’s kills.  Even when Willi is confronted that his machine guns only fired about 40 rounds (about two, three-second bursts of gunfire), Bruno claims that his marksmanship was good enough to destroy both aircraft.  Heidemann thinks that Bruno is lying, but his superiors insist that Bruno’s two victories will be confirmed.  Later, after Willi’s funeral and when he’s alone with Kaeti, Bruno admits that he lied about scoring those two kills.

A little while later there’s a major ground attack by the Allies, and the German army is in retreat.  Heidemann orders all of the aircraft into the air and to attack the ground forces.  He insists that there is to be no air combat, that they are to preserve their aircraft to fight another day.  This news angers the pilots, and especially Bruno, but they follow Heidemann’s orders.  The pilots successfully strafe the Allied army and buy time for the retreating German army.  The aerial attack goes well until Bruno spots enemy fighters, and he goes off to attack them.  His squadron eventually follows him into the dogfight, and nearly half of the German aircraft are shot down.

Back at the airfield, Heidemann is furious that Bruno disobeyed his orders, and his actions cost the lives of many German pilots.  Bruno only cares that they shot down seven planes, three of them were his kills.  That brings Bruno’s total kill count to twenty-two aircraft, more than enough for the prestigious Blue Max medal.  Heidemann orders Bruno to be arrested and returned to his quarters for a pending court martial trial.  However, before a trial is arranged, both Bruno and Heidemann are ordered to go to Berlin.

In Berlin, General von Klugermann tells Heidemann that Bruno will be receiving the Blue Max award.  The German people need a hero to boost their spirits.  Heidemann insists on filing a report on Bruno’s true actions, but the general orders him to withdraw his report.  Heidemann then resigns his command and accepts a desk job, just as his wife has been wanting him to do.

That evening, Kaeti secretly meets with Bruno inside of his plush hotel room.  Kaeti reveals to Bruno that she thinks that Germany’s defeat in the war is inevitable, and that she wants him to run away with her to Switzerland.  Bruno turns down her offer, claiming that he’ll never give up flying.  Devastated, Kaeti storms out of Bruno’s hotel room.

The following day, Bruno Stachel is awarded the Blue Max by the Crown Prince (Roger Ostime) in a well-publicized ceremony.  Standing proudly on display is the first flying model of the monoplane that Bruno approved back in the research facility.  Just after the ceremony, General von Klugermann receives a phone call from the Field Marshall informing him of a pending investigation into Bruno’s false claim.  When the general asks how the Field Marshall found out about the false claim, he learns that it was Kaeti who spread the news.

Before taking the phone call from the Field Marshall, General von Klugermann ordered Heidemann to take the new monoplane into the air and show it off to the reporters.  When Heidemann returns from his flight and tells the general about the structural weaknesses and how the monoplane is basically a flying “death trap,” the general then orders Bruno to take it for a flight.  He urges Bruno to show off his abilities and dazzle the reporters, telling him “Let’s see some real flying.”

Kaeti is horrified at what her husband, the general, just ordered, but there’s nothing that she can do.  She’s powerless as Bruno climbs into the monoplane and begins flying aerobatic maneuvers.  General von Klugermann sees this as an opportunity to avoid Bruno’s scandal in the air service.

The Blue Max ends with Bruno Stachel putting too much stress on the monoplane, and accidentally causing it to crash into the ground.  He’s instantly killed in the crash.  General von Klugermann signs papers that brand Bruno as a hero.

So, is 1966’s The Blue Max a good movie?

Yes, this is a very good movie when it comes to aviation, the First World War, and determination to accomplish one’s goals at no matter the cost.

Bruno Stachel is a soldier who is obsessed with being the best, even though his arrogance costs the squadron dearly when it comes to losing badly needed pilots.  To Bruno that doesn’t matter.  He’s there to destroy enemy aircraft and receive the recognition for it.  The one time Bruno does show any emotion at the loss of a fellow pilot is when Willi is killed while trying to show off and top Bruno’s skills.  As much as Willi was a competitor for being one of the best pilots in the squadron, it was Willi’s experience and own skills that kept Bruno striving to surpass him and be the best in the squadron.  It was a devastating blow to Bruno when Willi died, especially with his death resulting from playful banter and not enemy action.

In The Blue Max you’ll primarily see the Pfalz D.III, Fokker D.VII, and the Fokker Dr.I triplane.  From an amateur’s perspective, they all look great.  Of course, the experienced aviator with much more historical knowledge will easily be able to point out errors from problems with the uniforms to the insignia to the camouflage patterns to the smoke cannisters beneath the wings to the way that World War 2 trainers were repainted to look like World War 1 aircraft.

The Blue Max (1966) – movie trailer

Nevertheless, The Blue Max is still a great World War 1 film that has some fantastic aerial sequences and aircraft.  The cast is solid, the story is excellent, and the German aircraft are impressive.

Bruno Stachel – “But I saw it! It was a kill!”
Kettering – “Then you have the deep satisfaction of knowing you have served the Fatherland.”

———————–

[Funeral for an enemy pilot]
Willi von Klugermann – “Well, aren’t you coming? It’s an order.”
Bruno Stachel – “Why?”
Willi von Klugermann – “Because our commanding officer has made it one. He believes in chivalry, Stachel.”
Bruno Stachel – “Chivalry? To kill a man, then make a ritual out of saluting him – that’s hypocrisy. They kill me, I don’t want anyone to salute.”
Willi von Klugermann – “They probably won’t.”