"Fighting Hitler's Jets: The Extraordinary Story of the American Airmen Who Beat the Luftwaffe and Defeated Nazi Germany", by Robert F. Dorr

[John Beaman]

If I may add a comment, (BTW I like the "SS Jets", sounds like a Mel Gibson movie). Publishers have a LOT of control over things, more than most authors would like. This includes not only photos and maps, but titles and table of contents. It is not always up to the author(s).

[AndreasB]

Originally Posted by John Beaman

(BTW I like the "SS Jets", sounds like a Mel Gibson movie).

Happy to co-operate on the movie script. I am thinking of Tarantino to direct, Scarlett Johansson as the love interest, Hayden Cristensen as the SS Jet pilot, Ralph Fiennes as the Uebernazi in command of the SS Jets, and Joaquim de Almeida as the ruthless, get the job done, can't make an omelett without breaking some eggs USAAF squadron commander.

It's gonna be huge.

All the best

Andreas

[Richard T. Eger]

If you can't lick 'em, join 'em. Such short memories. It's already been done. You don't remember "Red Tails"??? Bad case of amnesia here all around.

And as long as we're in a playful mood, name the movie where the jet factories at Posenleben and Schweinhafen were attacked in 1943. It was a good movie, but had its facts juxtapositioned.

Regards,
Richard

[AndreasB]

You had me worried for a moment, until I read this review:

San Francisco Chronicle

Amy Biancolli

What's missing is any hint of realism. There's no grit to it anywhere.

Grit, that's what Tarantino will give it. And expletives, lots of expletives.

All the best

Andreas

[Paul Thompson]

Originally Posted by Richard T. Eger

And as long as we're in a playful mood, name the movie where the jet factories at Posenleben and Schweinhafen were attacked in 1943. It was a good movie, but had its facts juxtapositioned.

Hello Richard,

That was "Command Decision" with Clark Gable in the leading role, wasn't it?

Regards,

Paul Thompson

[Nick Beale]

[quote=Richard T. Eger;174941You don't remember "Red Tails"??? Bad case of amnesia here all around.
Regards,
Richard[/QUOTE]

Don't think "Red Tails" got a cinema release over here. Can't remember what you haven't seen.

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Paul, FalkeEins, and Nick,

Paul, you win for being the first to identify the movie as "Command Decision". I remembered it from a long time ago and recently purchased a copy. It was taken from a stage play and definitely had that feel to it in the movie. The movie came out in 1948. Early television drama was shown live from a studio stage and generally had that drawroom feel to it, as did this movie. William Wister Haines, who wrote the book in 1947, juxtapositioned Me 262 production into 1943 when much aircraft production was still centralized. To this, he added the real issue of daylight bombing lacking long range fighter escort and the fact that actual missions in this time frame without protection ended in unacceptable bomber losses. The Me 262, alias the Focke-Schmidt 1, was viewed as a major threat and thus a series of 3 missions to wipe out its production was laid on. Both the first mission to Posenleben and the second mission to Schweinhafen, done back to back, resulted in tremendous losses. To make matters worse, the bombers hit the wrong target and missed Schweinhafen, requiring a repeat run the next day. Enter the big brass fearful of how badly the huge losses would be received back home, with a nosey reporter added in to rub salt into the wound. The third mission, to Fendelhorst, needed to completely wipe out jet production, lay in jeopardy.

FalkeEins, I can assure you that Schabel's book is a must have. As I recall, he discusses the dichotomy of needing KZ labor for production and the stated goal of the final solution to eliminate Jews from Europe.

Nick, you didn't miss much. If you really get curious, you can probably buy it on DVD. It contained some of the poorest writing and hammiest acting I've ever seen.

Getting back to the movie, it was probably instrumental in my desire to know more about Me 262 production. As Haines presented it, it was a fascinating history. I wanted to know more. Haines played with history to dramatic effect, but the real history is just as fascinating, if not more so.

Regards,
Richard

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Richard T. Eger

Nick, you didn't miss much. If you really get curious, you can probably buy it on DVD. It contained some of the poorest writing and hammiest acting I've ever seen.
Regards,
Richard

Where does it stand on the "Flyboys" scale? I bought the dvd of that secondhand for £2 ($3) — way more than it was worth, as it turned out!

[AndreasB]

Originally Posted by Richard T. Eger

FalkeEins, I can assue you that Schabel's book is a must have. As I recall, he discusses the dichotomy of needing KZ labor for production and the stated goal of the final solution to eliminate Jews from Europe.

Nazis, can't even add 1+1 to arrive at 2. No surprises there at least. Plus ca change, ca change jamais.

All the best

Andreas

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Nick,

Actually, I liked "Flyboys", especially Jean Reno as the father figure. It was a fun yarn and one had to just view it in that light to enjoy it. It was reminiscent of the between wars aerial combat films. On the other hand, "Red Tails" was supposedly trying to tell the story of the "Tuskegee Airmen", but painted them as caricatures. Admittedly, "Flyboys" was a take on the Lafayette Escadrille, but it never really took itself as an attempt to tell the story accurately, nor did I view it that way, while "Red Tails" tried to give the impression that this was truly a tribute to the 332nd FS and made itself a laughing stock instead.

Regards,
Richard