Filmed on location in Paris, Dieppe, the Leningrad front, in North Africa and in Rome between July and December 1942, Besatzung Dora (Air Crew Dora) is the story of a survey plane in 1942 and its air crew. Considered a sequel to Stukas, with many of the same young actors cast. Led by Lt. Cranes (Hannes Stelzer), the Air Crew "Dora" suffers a crash landing, and after rescue its four crew travel to Berlin to take charge of their replacement aircraft. But the new plane will not be ready for eight days and in the meantime the men have official leave in Berlin with their girlfriends. Director Karl Ritter, who also wrote the script, wanted through frontline combat footage and a human interest story, to bind the war front and the home front together towards final victory. Filmed on location in Paris, Dieppe, the Leningrad front, in North Africa and in Rome between July and December 1942, Besatzung Dora was never seen by Third Reich audiences. Despite Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels finding the film "very attractive," the defeat of Nazi Germany at Battle of Stalingrad in late January 1943 meant Besatzung Dora could not fulfil its propaganda purpose. The Russian front, North Africa and the western front were by then no longer places of continuing German victory. Besatzung Dora was only shown to an invited Luftwaffe audience on 2 February 1945, shortly before the war's end. This IHF DVD marks the first commercial release of this highly sought after film. Directed by Karl Ritter, Music by Herbert Windt. Starring Hannes Stelzer, Hubert Kiurina, Ernst v. Klipstein, Georg Thomalla, Carsta Löck, Susi Graf, Charlotte Daudert. Germany, 1943, B&W, 91 Minutes, German dialogue with English subtitles. Digitally remastered from 35mm print. About the director: Directed by Karl Ritter who's contemporary WWII propaganda feature filmmaking employed stunning actual battlefront footage and brought to Third Reich cinemas fast paced, action filled storylines championing ideological themes and military successes against all enemies of the Reich. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: Historical Background Slide Show:The Fate of Karl Ritter s Besatzung Dora (1942/43) Original Promotional Materials with English Translations Interactive Scene Selections English Subtitles
O**O
AIRMAN PRIVATE LIVES.
GREAT FILM FOR THE VETERAN WHO UNDERSTANDS THE PRIVATE LIFE AS AN INDIVIUAL ON THE FRONT AS WELL AS A LITTTLE R&R. THIS IS NOT A BLOOD AND GUTS AIR TO AIR COMBAT FILM . THE NICE FEATURES ARE THE REAL FILMS OF ACTUAL WAR TIME FOOTAGE OF THE JU 88. UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS THE LIFE STYLE OF THE CLOSE QUARTER LIVING OF A CREW. MANY PERSONAL THINGS HAPPEN IN WAR THAT THE AVERAGE CIVILIAN DOES NOT UNDERSTAND. A LITTLE COMFORT RELIEF WITH SOME COMMICAL AND SERIOUS LIFE ISSUES. IF YOU HAVE BEEN A SQUAD LEADER , PLATOON SGT , TRACK OR TANK COMMANDER OR AIR SQUADRON CREW COMMANDER YOU WILL UNDERSTAND AND MAYBE RELATE TO SOME OF THE ISSUES. ITS A GOOD MOVIE , MADE ME SMILE AT TIMES.
A**N
Interesting, Realistic, Worth the Cost!
The DVD is enjoyable and extremely well produced. It depicts Luftwaffe airmen in much the same light as the Memphis Belle might show the airman of the U.S. They are comrades, they chase girls, the become angry with each other, but in the end--they remain together. I found it very interesting that the locales shown in the film had been lost to Germany by the time the film was to be released, and thus prevented its release at all publicly. This was after a whirlwind of publicity on the upcoming film and its widespread anticipation by the public.
S**.
Besatzung Dora
I have been watching a handful of Third Reich movies recently thanks to IHF's excellent DVD releases. It's interesting to see movies made in such a controlled society regarding how much propaganda and the worldview of the regime is injected into the product. While all was interesting to watch for these historical reasons the pure entertainment value have varied somewhat.Besatzung Dora however is a very watchable movie in a more modern sense. While the story exists in a world where the men are at war and the women work at home, this is just shown as the reality of the time and not dwelled on unnecessarily. The story moves on at a fairly quick pace and is a nice mix of drama, romance, action and comedy. The locations are also interesting: The love stories takes place in Berlin while the crew gets around to France, Russia and North Africa. This was obviously made to provide 90 minutes of entertainment rather than to hammer home a heavy dose of propaganda.For the WWII buff the movie contains some good footage of the Ju 88 plane. I found the picture quality pretty good for a film of the era. My only minor gripe about the DVD is that the English subtitles are not removeable. While my German is limited, it would have been nice to be able to see the movie without them distracting.
C**.
ITS A DVD, FAIRLY WELL MADE FROM ORIGINAL MOVIE FILM.
A GERMAN PROPAGANDA FILM DEPICTING A GROUP OF PILOTS WHO FLY MISSIONS, SING AND PLAY A PIANO, AND HUSTLE THE GIRLS, YOU SEE THE PLANES STARTING UP AND TAKING OFF BUT NOT SO MUCH IN THE AIR.
R**Y
Aircrew of "Dora".
Enjoyable little movie. several attractive women.
B**.
Review
Product as advertised, Prompt delivery, Thanks!
C**L
Excellent
Excellent
W**D
Unusual film for abnormal library
Well done film that is essential for any WWII German library.
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