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