This photo from July 1944 seems to confirm that
Oh, and that tall (really tall) chap on the far left - that's the character played by Tom Cruise.
Posted on 12/26/2008 4:27:13 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
Say what you will about Tom Cruise’s acting in other movies; in "Valkyrie," which opened yesterday, he is awful. Amid British and European actors, Cruise stands out like a sore thumb. He doesn’t even attempt a German accent, his mannerisms are all from his "Jerry Maguire" era, and his earnestness suggests at best some kind of fictional American soldier trying to infiltrate the Luftwaffe. You knew it would be bad, and it is.
I’m more concerned that “Valkyrie” could represent a new trend in filmmaking: Nazi apologia. We know already what Valkyrie is about: a group of German soldiers who tried to assassinate Hitler in 1944 and failed. Cruise plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg—referred to in this film constantly as “Stauffenberg”—as if to make him sound less German or something.
On top of that, there is the matter of the uniforms and the set design. Suddenly, we have German officers in World War II who are not wearing arm bands. Their swastikas are now small tokens on chests of medals. They look more like airline pilots than Nazi soldiers. When they meet, it looks like they’re at a lovely retreat in the Adirondacks. Director Bryan Singer is so sparing with his Nazi flags, swastikas, etc that you’d think the Nazis hardly existed. What’s everyone so upset about anyway?
Because in “Valkyrie” Singer opens the door to a dangerous new thought: that the Holocaust and all the other atrocities could be of secondary important to the cause of German patriotism.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
whatever, the movie is a dud. And Cruise cannot act his way out of a wet paper bag.
bump...and will be back to survey more viewer comments!!!!!
Roger Friedman is a certifiable idiot. The reality is that the German Army uniforms never had "Swastika Armbands" and the SS during wartime wore fieldgrey uniforms without armbands as well. It's called accuracy Roger! He seems to be caught in the 1950's Hollywood portrayal of all-black SS Gestapo men with Lugers and trench coats... oh for goodness sake get a history book!
Apart from that, the July 1944 plotters were largely opportunists who supported Hitler until the war was obviously lost.
bump...for publicity
I saw the film yesterday and I really liked it. I also thought that Tom Cruise was great. It looks like I’m a minority of one here.
There was a t.v. movie about this same topic a few years ago. I thought it was good and that the men involved deserved to be remembered for being Germans who tried to “stop” Hitler. Hollywood fantasies are actually probably mostly dangerous due to PC.
The author’s really off the deep end on this one.
I’m planning on checking out the movie before I make a judgment. Probably will rent it when it hits DVD.
Haven’t seen the movie, and don’t plan to.
Mr. Friedman seems to think any movie that doesn’t portray all Germans as the ultimate in evil, to the point where if Stauffenberg’s group had succeeded it wouldn’t have made any real difference, looks to me like a pretty good example of ethnic bias. Once the Nazis had come to power, those who opposed them would accomplish nothing but getting themselves and their families killed. The only hope was to kill Hitler, freeing the more honorable Germans soldiers from their personal oath of fealty.
A more legitimate criticism not pursued by Friedman is that Stauffenberg’s group didn’t begin its plotting until it became obvious Hitler was losing the war. They weren’t against Nazism as much as they were against Germany being destroyed.
There were “good Germans” who opposed Hitler on ideological grounds, but these guys weren’t among them.
Exactly, most wanted surrender terms more favorable to Germany. They were mostly horrified at the prospect of losing and fearful of an increasingly erratic and insane leader.
Where’s the suspense? I bet Tom’s character doesn’t survive the movie. On the other hand, I suppose many moviegoers do not know how this affair ended up in real life.
What is it they say about success having many fathers but failure being an orphan?
Was talking with some people yesterday who had never even heard of this rather famous plot to kill Hitler.
Amazing.
“
I thought it was good and that the men involved deserved to be remembered
for being Germans who tried to “stop” Hitler.
“
Agreed.
And The White Rose participants deserve a decent presenatation that
translates to American/English (Anglosphere) audiences.
If The History Channel has talked about them...I’ve missed it.
(Which is possible as I’m not omnipresent...LOL!!!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose
It’s fine to hate Tom Cruise or Scientology, or whatever it is that Friedman really dislikes here, but it’s a sham to pretend that this was a disinterested review. Friedman was slagging Cruise’s performance before the movie was even released.
Coupling this with his neurosis about Mel Gibson’s projects, I think it’s safe to say that Friedman writes his reviews mostly with an eye to advancing his personal interests, and only secondarily to actually considering the movie on its own merits.
He’s becoming an increasing embarassment to Fox.
poorly executed?
For those lukewarm/unhappy about “Valkyrie”...
Might I suggest an “anti-Hitler” alternative that appealed to
me (well, at least personally).
Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250264/
I liked this production.
Bohhoeffer isn’t shown to be a saint; even some misgivings are opening
mentioned about his love for a very young lady.
But the film is fairly honest about Bonhoeffer and his up-sides
and his down-sides.
Definitely something a lot of people to see in considering what
they will do/not do when confronted by an adverse movement like
Nazism/Facism/Communism/Authentic Islam.
This photo from July 1944 seems to confirm that
Oh, and that tall (really tall) chap on the far left - that's the character played by Tom Cruise.
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