The Blue Max

The Blue Max is a 1966 war film about a ruthless German World War I fighter pilot.

Otto Heidemann

 * [suspecting his subordinate, Bruno Stachel, of lying about shooting down two planes] Two three-second bursts. Is your marksmanship that good?

General Count von Klugermann

 * [on being informed Stachel has been wounded in the arm] Good, the people like soldiers to be shot in the right places.

Dialogue

 * Otto Heidemann: What does your father do?
 * [Pause]
 * Bruno Stachel: He works in a small hotel, Herr Hauptmann...five bedrooms!"


 * Willi von Klugermann: A pretty medal, the Blue Max.
 * Bruno Stachel: It's the only one worth having. People respect it.
 * Willi von Klugermann: The medal or the man?


 * Willi von Klugermann: By the way, Stachel. There's an impression around that you care more about your unconfirmed kill than you do about Fabian's death.
 * [Pause]
 * Bruno Stachel: Perhaps it's force of habit. In the trenches, we couldn't even bury the dead; there were too many of them. I've never had the time to discuss them over a glass of champagne.


 * [Willi von Klugermann informs Stachel that their commander has ordered him to attend a ceremony honoring the men he killed]
 * Willi von Klugermann: He believes in chivalry, Stachel.
 * Bruno Stachel: Chivalry? To kill a man, then make a ritual out of saluting him. It's hypocrisy. When they kill me, I don't want anyone to salute.
 * Willi von Klugermann:They probably won't.


 * General Count von Klugermann: Otto, this is 1918. Things have changed. Unrestricted submarine warfare, bombing of civilians, poison gas. Ask your wife; she's a nurse. Ask Elfi about the mustard gas casualties.
 * Otto Heidemann: So you approve of this kind of ruthlessness!
 * von Klugermann: We fight to win, Otto.

Cast

 * George Peppard - Leutnant Bruno Stachel
 * James Mason - General Count von Klugermann
 * Ursula Andress - Countess Kaeti von Klugermann
 * Jeremy Kemp - Leutnant Willi von Klugermann
 * Karl Michael Vogler - Hauptmann Otto Heidemann
 * Anton Diffring - Holbach
 * Harry Towb - Kettering
 * Peter Woodthorpe - Rupp
 * Derek Newark - Ziegel
 * Derren Nesbitt - Fabian
 * Loni von Friedl - Elfi Heidemann
 * Friedrich von Ledebur - The Field Marshal
 * Carl Schell - Manfred von Richthofen
 * Hugo Schuster - Hans, Elderly Servant
 * Alex Scott - The Orator
 * Roger Ostime - The Crown Prince