Movies and Films
Good morning everyone,
I've often wondered how Wolfgang Petersen came up with the character of Der Alte as depicted in the film Das Boot.
It's been a long time since I read the book but as far as I can remember Buchheim's take on the skipper is totally different to the character that ended up on screen. If memory serves Bucheim's skipper was physically unprepossessing. The image I have of him is as a no nonsense navy man. He had red hair ?, smoked cigars, in other words, nothing like Prochnow's character.
In my opinion, Petersen thought long and hard about what made a top U-Boat Commander and came up with a composite character. He must have asked himself, Did a Commander have to be successful ? popular with his men,? a disciplinarian? one of the guys? etc etc.
I could go on about this but I'm sure you know what I'm getting at. Prochnow's skipper was definitely respected by his men. He was successful tonnage-wise and consistent in his behavior towards his them and on balance I would say he was popular with the crew.
Having a handsome leading man makes good box office sense (my wife immediately fell in love with him) plus the fact that he is a truly great actor was a marvelous bonus. ( I believe Paul Newman was the original choice) Mercifully that monumental piece of miscasting never came to pass.
If you were faced with the task of creating a top ace for a movie, which commanders would you blend ? Kretchmer's cold blooded efficiency with Schepka's dashinG good looks ? Luth's paternal attitude with Prien's no nonsense approach ? You will note I haven't touched on politics. Suufice is to say that a committed nazi commander would get little sympathy from a cinema audience,
Do Chara
Barry
This is the forum for Movie and Film discussions. Again, our topic is naval warfare in WWII for the most part.
Der Alte's Character
Posted by:
Barry Scully
()
Date: January 30, 2007 11:37AM
Good morning everyone,
I've often wondered how Wolfgang Petersen came up with the character of Der Alte as depicted in the film Das Boot.
It's been a long time since I read the book but as far as I can remember Buchheim's take on the skipper is totally different to the character that ended up on screen. If memory serves Bucheim's skipper was physically unprepossessing. The image I have of him is as a no nonsense navy man. He had red hair ?, smoked cigars, in other words, nothing like Prochnow's character.
In my opinion, Petersen thought long and hard about what made a top U-Boat Commander and came up with a composite character. He must have asked himself, Did a Commander have to be successful ? popular with his men,? a disciplinarian? one of the guys? etc etc.
I could go on about this but I'm sure you know what I'm getting at. Prochnow's skipper was definitely respected by his men. He was successful tonnage-wise and consistent in his behavior towards his them and on balance I would say he was popular with the crew.
Having a handsome leading man makes good box office sense (my wife immediately fell in love with him) plus the fact that he is a truly great actor was a marvelous bonus. ( I believe Paul Newman was the original choice) Mercifully that monumental piece of miscasting never came to pass.
If you were faced with the task of creating a top ace for a movie, which commanders would you blend ? Kretchmer's cold blooded efficiency with Schepka's dashinG good looks ? Luth's paternal attitude with Prien's no nonsense approach ? You will note I haven't touched on politics. Suufice is to say that a committed nazi commander would get little sympathy from a cinema audience,
Do Chara
Barry
Der Alte's Character