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The Blue Max
Original movie poster
Directed by	John Guillermin
Produced by	Christian Ferry
Written by	David Pursall Jack Seddon Gerald Hanley
Starring	George Peppard Ursula Andress James Mason Jeremy Kemp
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Release date(s)	1966
IMDb profile

The Blue Max is a 1966 United Kingdom World War I film, directed by John Guillermin, filmed in Ireland, starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress and Jeremy Kemp. The screenplay was written by David Pursall, Jack Seddon and Gerald Hanley, based on the novel by Jack D. Hunter.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Features 3 Stunt flying 4 Blue Max Badges 5 The French Village 6 Berlin 7 Quote 8 External links

Lieutenant Stachel (Peppard), an ambitious pilot who transferred to the German Air Service from the trenches, is trying to win the coveted military decoration, the Pour le Mérite, better known as the Blue Max, for which he must shoot down twenty enemy aircraft. He will stop at nothing in his quest. First he must overcome the disdain of his fellow pilots, but ultimately he fails by putting them at risk for his own purposes. His commanding general, von Klugermann (James Mason), sees the propaganda value of this junior officer for the 'common people' because he is one of them. When he meets the Red Baron in mid air and helps him escape from British aeroplanes, he is shot down himself. Because this disables him from flying, von Klugermann uses the opportunity to order him to Berlin for propaganda purposes, where he gets to see a new mono-winged prototype. Finally, he is ordered to test-fly the new aircraft—considered to be too dangerous to fly in an earlier test flight—to send him to his death because his ambitious lies endangered the integrity of the military corps.

The film follows the story in the book of the same title by Jack Hunter, but deviates significantly in its portrayal of the characters. The plot of the film focuses on the role of propaganda and the exploitation of the pilots, particularly Stachel, who is enticed by the glamour of the Pour le Merite. The character of Leutnant von Kluegemann (Jeremy Kemp) is more gentle and played with a touch of gallantry in the film, in contrast to what one reads in the novel.

The planes used in the film were converted Tiger Moths. Two aircraft were given extra attention to more closely resemble the German Pfalz III and Fokker VII, flown by the main actors. In particular the work on the Pfalz III , the first plane flown by Stachel, is unique. One may observe however that in the beginning of the film the lower wings were not painted until later. The 'lozenge' German camouflage was not general to all units at the time the story takes place but in the film aircraft of all units are shown in this scheme.

The Fokker DR I triplanes are purpose-built replicas.^{[citation needed]} The Tiger Moth silhouette was more appropriate to British aircraft of the period, and presents a good general impression of actual contemporary aircraft.

This depictions of aerial combat in the film are particularly realistic as evident in the film. The aircraft ground scenes were shot at Weston airfield near Dublin.

One of the stunt pilots used in the film was Derek Piggott. Several pilots helped recreate the live dog-fights scenes for the film, but Piggott was the only pilot to agree to fly the stunt at the climax of the film in which the two rivals challenge each other to fly beneath the spans of a bridge. Taking the role of both German pilots and with multiple takes from contrasting camera angles, he ended up flying through the wide span of this bridge in Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland 15 times and 17 times through the narrower span. The two Fokker Dr.I triplane replicas had about four feet of clearance on each side when passing through the narrower span. He was able to fly through the arch reliably by aligning two scaffolding poles, one in the river and one on the far bank.

The director had placed a flock of sheep next to the bridge so that they would scatter as the plane approached in order to demonstrate that the stunt was real and had not used models. However, by later takes, the sheep had become accustomed to the planes, and had to be scared by the shepherd instead. In the printed take, the sheep continued to graze, creating a continuity error which can be seen in the finished film.

An uncredited pilot was later to recount his experiences some of his later books - Richard Bach.

Each of the principal people on the movie, the producers, the director, the writers and actors etc, were given a replica copy of the Blue Max badge, made in silver and smaller than the original badge.

The scenes where the Germans come into the French village were filmed on Calary Bog in County Wicklow in Ireland. For many weeks the building of the village attracted the locals to watch it coming up. Then it was bombed and made to look destroyed. It was a local tourist attraction for a long time after the film had wrapped.

The scenes supposed to be in Berlin were shot in Dublin. Christchurch Cathedral is easily recognisable in the background of many scenes and Trinity College served as the army headquarters where Von Klugerman's office is located.

When general von Klugermann, who wants Stachel to figure as a hero for the common people, asks about the condition of Stachel when he wants to get him to Berlin, and hears that he has been shot in the arm, he says "Good, the people like soldiers to be shot in the right places".

• The Blue Max at the Internet Movie Database