Operation Valkyrie– Three films on the July 20, 1944 plot

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Never disturb your enemy when he is making a mistake – Napoleon

 

The above quote  aptly summarizes Hitler’s overall non-professional conduct and oversight of the German wartime effort. It could also be a description of the July 20, 1944 plotters when they tried to assassinate Hitler at his Headquarters at Rastenburg, East Prussia.

 

One of the most commonly asked questions is why did the German General Staff in Army Headquarters not act earlier but only as late as July 1944 to plot a coup and kill Hitler ? Were they opportunists who waited to see which way the wind blew and then acted accordingly? Was Hitler such a consummate politician that he rewarded the High Command staff with promotions and titles in the early years and started firing them only after the reverses of the Eastern Front from late 1942, thus leading to bitterness and resentment among the General Staff?

 

 

It is a situation that can be answered with both Yes and No. 42 assassination plots against Hitler were documented  of which the July 20th plot was the closest that actually “touched” Hitler – he escaped only with his uniform torn by the blasts and not any major injury (Pic on left – an attendant holds the torn pants). Some of the General Staff, like the  father of the Armored Corps, Heinz Guderian, was fired, brought back, fired and then brought back when defeat was staring  Germany in face. Same story with another genius soldier Gerd von Runstedt who despised Hitler personally but never joined the plotters. 

 

By July 1944, Germany was losing the war. The Allies were advancing towards Germany from the West through France, the South through Italy, and the East through Poland, where Operation Bagration on June 22, 1944 had broken the back of the German Army. Like Hitler, Stalin was just as ruthless and meticulously planned Bagration for June 22, exactly three years to the day Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in 1941.

 

 

The bunch of Valkyrie plotters emerged as buffoons or Keystone cops who stumbled from one crisis to another till they were all rounded up and summarily executed. Hitler, ever the sadist, had the executions filmed and watched them over and over. The bloodshed and subsequent inquiries decapitated diverse group of officers and their families, and even notable figures like Erwin Rommel, known as the Desert Fox. He was given the choice to either end his own life or endure a public trial that would have undoubtedly shaken German society and its people, not to speak of his family being imprisoned.  Rommel chose to take the cyanide pill and was given a  hero’s funeral. After this attempt, the security around Hitler was further tightened with SS guards and soldiers forming a ring. The Headquarters in Rastenburg was abandoned  as the Soviet Army came closer to the Eastern borders of Nazi Germany. (Above pic is  of the main bunker today.)

 

Valkyrie (2008) – Excellent and true to history

Genre – War Movie (true story)

Time : 2 Hours

Platform: Amazon Prime – rent

Language : English

Director : Bryan Singer

 

So how does the film work? Obviously, the historical results are well known. To put it in a ‘filmi” language : “The bad guys won” and “the good guys lost”. Is it possible to translate this to the screen without exaggerating the virtues of the “good guys” and the vices of the “bad guys”?

 

This is where the script remains true to the history . The “good guys” emerge as a bunch of conscientious but inept soldiers who are torn between their oath of loyalty to Hitler and loyalty to Germany. The main reason why most qualified military personnel did not attempt a coup was because it conflicted with their basic military oath – to Adolf Hitler (and not Germany). By comparison, in 1943, the Italians recognized the writing on the wall and replaced Mussolini in a military coup and declared themselves against Nazi Germany , resulting in German occupation and a lengthy slugging match on the Italian front.

 

So the script takes these factors into play and shows the Valkyrie plotters finally finding the courage to move into action, no doubt helped by Stauffenberg, who offers to place the bomb close to Hitler. The suitcase containing the bomb was shunted a few feet away by an aide who caught the full blast and died while Hitler survived. As one man said, Hitler had the Devil’s luck as he was The Devil himself.

 

The film begins with Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) being seriously injured in Africa, losing his left eye and left hand in an air attack. After his recuperation in Germany, he is assigned a staff role in the planning department. One plan is codenamed Valkyrie and deals with how the German Armed forces in Germany will respond to any kind of civil disturbance or other uprisings by slave laborers.

 

The plots are already on, when Stauffenberg joins the inner circle, led by retired General Ludwig Beck(Terence Stamp). One attempt to place a bomb in the plane carrying Hitler back from Russia , in 1943, had failed as the bomb didn’t explode and had to be retrieved by one of the plotters von Treskow (Kenneth Branagh). The Valkyrie plotters use the “paper plan” as the cover to mount a coup . Some offer their support as the circle of knowledge widens, while General Fromm(Tom Wilkinson) , a key man in the communications section, remains neutral. The do-or-die situation further speeds up as the military pressure on Germany mounts. The plotters foolishly believed that they could sue for peace with the Western Allies and thus shift all their forces to the Eastern Front, to stop the Soviet juggernaut. Stauffenberg flies to East Prussia to propose the plan, sets the bomb and moves away. Upon hearing the explosion, he mistakenly believes that Hitler has been killed, triggering a chain of disastrous events throughout the day.

 

The scene following this is one of the best in the film. A group of female Teletype operators in a room are receiving messages from everywhere. One by one, they call for the supervisor and soon some of them are weeping at the news that Hitler is dead. The man in charge of the Berlin garrison who is sent to arrest the propaganda minister Goebbels is shocked to hear Hitler on the phone from Rastenburg (pic on left) and moves into action against the people who gave him the order – the Valkyrie plotters.

 

These two scenes work remarkably well – besides the sincere but inept plotting of the officers.  The aftermath of the coup attempt is also depicted accurately in historical context. We know that the “bad guys will win” and yet the whole on-screen proceedings are engrossing and a study in how things can go wrong.  In hindsight,  it was Murphy’s Laws in action – anything that can go wrong will go wrong and the thing that goes wrong does the maximum damage.

 

Despite not being a Tom Cruise fan (for various reasons), his performance is perfect and devoid of his usual mannerisms. The supporting cast is filled with notable British actors like Terence Stamp, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, and Tom Hollander, all delivering exceptional performances. The locations, equipment, uniforms are accurate as befitting a high budget production. Eg – The opening shot shows Hitler and his Junker Ju52 arriving in Russia escorted by two fighters. (There are three surviving Ju52s in flying condition today) The production values are superb and some of the Berlin HQ scenes were shot in the surviving buildings from 1944.

 

Valkyrie is on Amazon Prime for Rent

 

Real History/ Historical Background – 4 out of 5

Script –  5 out of 5

Story – 5 out of 5

Direction – 4 out of 5

Photography – 5 out of 5

 

Total – 4.6 out of 5

 

 

Stauffenberg (2004)

 

 

A German film on the same story which is equally authentic though the production values and settings are not as huge as Valkyrie , Free on You Tube (Switch on the AutoTranslate in the You Tube settings). The superb German actor Sebastian Koch makes a convincing Stauffenberg.  Some of the more famous Field Marshals , such as Erich von Manstein, REFUSING to join the plot because of their military oath, is shown in the film 

 

 

The Plot to kill Hitler (1990)

 

 

Yet another made for TV English film that somehow got lost . No change in the plot. Free on You Tube