Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot to Kill Hitler | |
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Directed by | Jean-Pierre Isbouts |
Written by | Jean-Pierre Isbouts, William A. Schwartz |
Cinematography | Alicia Robbins |
Release date |
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Running time | 76 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot to Kill Hitler is a 2008 documentary film about the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, directed by Jean-Pierre Isbouts. [1]
Described as "[a] well-produced 76-minute television documentary", it has been noted as showing "the advantages offered by a film treatment of a topic" as compared to an account in print. [2] The documentary "begins with the events of July 20, 1944 and moves back to earlier phases in the life of Claus von Stauffenberg, as well as to key earlier events in German history". [2] It was further noted that "the coverage of main highlights concerning the rise of Nazism and Hitler's takeover is somewhat cursory", but that "the background of the other major plotters is done very well. The treatment of the nature of the bomb that Stauffenberg brought in his briefcase to the Wolf's Lair on July 20 is explained quite effectively, as are the construction of the bunker where the meeting was supposed to be held and the map room where it was moved because of the hot weather". [2]
Through the use of 3D modeling and rotation of "diagrams of the room itself and of the huge oak conference table, both of which were crucial to the effect of the bomb blast", Isbouts "achieve[d] a much higher level of vividness and clarity than is possible with the printed word", and "demonstrate[d] much more effectively" how "the move to the map room saved Hitler's life – because the windows allowed much of the blast's force to be dissipated outward and the oak table shielded him". [2] The documentary has been described as "more informative than the feature film", Valkyrie , released the same year. [3] The DVD version of the documentary also contains two hours of bonus features, "including Eva Braun's home movies and a rundown on the other Hitler-assassination plots". [4]
Claus von Stauffenberg was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair.
The 20 July plot was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and subsequently overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German resistance, mainly composed of Wehrmacht officers. The leader of the conspiracy, Claus von Stauffenberg, planned to kill Hitler by detonating an explosive hidden in a briefcase. However, due to the location of the bomb at the time of detonation, the blast only dealt Hitler minor injuries. The planners' subsequent coup attempt also failed and resulted in a purge of the Wehrmacht.
Berthold Alfred Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German aristocrat and lawyer who was a key conspirator in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944, alongside his younger brother, Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. After the plot failed, Berthold was tried and executed by the Nazi regime.
The Wolf's Lair served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II.
Werner Karl Otto Theodor von Haeften was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht who took part in the military-based conspiracy against Adolf Hitler known as the 20 July plot.
Operation Valkyrie was a German World War II emergency continuity of government operations plan issued to the Territorial Reserve Army of Germany to execute and implement in the event of a general breakdown in civil order of the nation. Failure of the government to maintain control of civil affairs might have been caused by the Allied bombing of German cities, or uprising of the millions of foreign forced labourers working in German factories.
Henning Hermann Karl Robert von Tresckow was a German military officer with the rank of major general in the German Army who helped organize German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassinate Hitler on 13 March 1943 and drafted the Valkyrie plan for a coup against the German government. He was described by the Gestapo as the "prime mover" behind the plot of 20 July 1944 to assassinate Hitler. He committed suicide at Królowy Most on the Eastern Front upon learning of the plot's failure.
Robert Bernardis was a German army officer and Austrian resistance fighter involved in the attempt to kill Nazi Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler in the 20 July Plot in 1944.
Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim was a German Army colonel and a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany involved in the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler.
Friedrich Karl Klausing was a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany, and one of the 20 July Plotters.
Friedrich Olbricht was a German general during World War II. He is known for being one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944.
The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße. Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy offices, it served the Ministry of the Reichswehr after World War I. Significantly enlarged under Nazi rule, it was used by several departments of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) from 1938, especially the Oberkommando des Heeres and the Abwehr intelligence agency.
Valkyrie is a 2008 thriller film directed by Bryan Singer, written by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, starring Tom Cruise. The film is set in Nazi Germany during World War II and depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. The film was released by American studio United Artists and stars Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key plotters. The supporting cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp, and Tom Wilkinson.
Stauffenberg is a 2004 German–Austrian TV film by Das Erste, about Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and the 20 July 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The film was first broadcast on 25 February 2004 on German TV (ARD).
Ernst John von Freyend was a German Oberkommando der Wehrmacht officer who served during World War II as the adjutant to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel. He is notable for unwittingly helping to place the 20 July plot bomb that was intended to kill Adolf Hitler.
The Plot to Kill Hitler is a 1990 television film based on the July 20 plot by German High Command to kill Adolf Hitler in 1944. Brad Davis stars as Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, who plants a bomb in the conference room of the Führer's headquarters in East Prussia.
Heinz Brandt was a German officer. During World War II he served as an aide to General Adolf Heusinger, the head of the operations unit of the General Staff. He may have inadvertently saved Adolf Hitler's life, at the cost of his own, by moving the bomb planted by Claus von Stauffenberg during the 20 July plot.
Konstanze von Schulthess-Rechberg is a German author. She is the daughter of World War II colonel and resistance leader Claus von Stauffenberg.
Jean-Pierre Isbouts is a professor in the Social Sciences PhD program of Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California, and an archaeologist, author, screenwriter, director, and producer of works addressing various historical periods, particularly the time period of Jesus and that of Renaissance and post-Renaissance art.