Von Richthofen and Brown
| Von Richthofen and Brown | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Roger Corman |
| Produced by | Gene Corman |
| Written by |
John William Corrington Joyce Hooper Corrington |
| Starring |
John Phillip Law Don Stroud |
| Music by | Hugo Friedhofer |
| Cinematography | Michael Reed |
| Edited by | Alan Collins |
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Production
company |
The Corman Company
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | under $1 million |
| Box office | 108,851 admissions (France) |
Von Richthofen and Brown, also known as The Red Baron, is a 1971 war film directed by Roger Corman, and starring John Phillip Law and Don Stroud as the title characters. Although names of real people are used, the story by Joyce Hooper Corrington and John William Corrington makes no claim to be historically accurate, and in fact is largely fictional.
Manfred von Richthofen (John Phillip Law) is a German cavalry officer newly assigned to an air squadron under the command of Oswald Boelcke (Peter Masterson). Richthofen quickly becomes an ace; his career is presented as a series of scenes intercut with those of another pilot across the lines, a Canadian named Roy Brown (Don Stroud), who arrives at a British squadron commanded by Victoria Cross holder Lanoe Hawker (Corin Redgrave).
The two pilots are very different; Brown ruffles the feathers of his squadron mates by refusing to drink a toast to Richthofen, while the Baron awards himself silver trophies in honour of his kills, and clashes with fellow pilot Hermann Göring (Barry Primus) when Boelcke is killed after a mid-air collision and Richthofen assumes command of the squadron. Richthofen becomes outwardly energized by the war. Outraged by an order to camouflage his squadron's aircraft, he paints them in bright conspicuous colours, claiming that gentlemen should not hide from their enemies.
The toll on both squadrons is highlighted when Richthofen is wounded during an aerial battle and Lanoe Hawker is killed. The war becomes personal for both when Brown and his squadron attack Richthofen's airfield, destroying their aircraft on the ground. Revenge comes when Richthofen, with the help of a batch of new fighters from Anthony Fokker (Hurd Hatfield) launches a counterattack on the British airfield. Back at their aerodrome, Richthofen rants at Göring for leaving the formation and strafing medical personnel. He says: "You're an assassin!" Göring defends himself by saying: "I make war to win." Richthofen tells him: "Get out of my sight!", threatening that if Göring does something similar again, he will personally go to the Kaiser to make sure Goring is shot.
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Wikipedia