Stukas (1941) with English, Subtitles

Κα Farl Ritter was a pilot during the First World War. Once he became one of the top cinema direc- tors during the Third Reich, he made Stukas (1941), an aviation epic that reflected both its director's enthusiasm for the Luftwaffe as well as his celebra- tion of battle. A paean to comradeship, patriotism, and heroism, it relates the fortunes of a Stuka bomber squadron as it combats the British and French on the Western Front in late 1940 filmed dur- ing the Battle of France. Full of serial dogfights, special effects, and a stirring score by Herbert Windt (including the wildly popular song, "Stukalled"). Stukas was one of the most action-packed aviation pictures produced during the Second World War, using authentic airplanes, equipment, weapons, and uniforms, and employing generous amounts of actu- al combat footage. Having been a flier with an unparalleled aviation background himself-he was stationed on the Channel Coast for some months as a Luftwaffe major before making the picture-Karl Ritter was the ideal director to produce such a hymn to greatness, dedication, and self-sacrifice: "One does not think about their death, but instead about what they died for. And you'll always treasure them as gods, forever young." Germany, 1941. Produced and directed by Karl Ritter. Starring Cart Raddatz, Hannes Stelzer, Emst von Klipstein, Albert Hehn, Herbert Wilk, O. E. Hasse. 98 minutes. German dialogue, English subtitles.