rtw416 says > Wow...this was a total U.S. Propaganda film...not that anything is wrong with that...
1. Like you said, there's nothing wrong with that. The Germans released plenty of their own propaganda films during the war. Even afterwards, they tried to use propaganda to rewrite history. Even today, many Germans, including former Nazis, try to pretend that awful time in their history never existed. Most want to claim they were on the right side; never supporting Hitler and if they did it was done under duress.
2. An important scene in the movie is when Baumeister tried to bribe Hammond. He assumed, being an American, a Capitalist (what some consider a lover of money) he'd sell the others out to save himself and make a buck. When Hammond played along the major was so willing to believe this false characterization of Americans he fell for the gibberish Hammond was feeding him. It made no sense and he knew Hammond had been sarcastic and smart-alecky before but he still let his guard down and got knocked out as a result. Yes, it shows the Germans were idiots but it's because they underestimated everyone else. They believed their own propaganda that claimed they were far superior in all ways than the rest of us. That's one of the many things this movie showed; they could be beaten at their own game.
3. The guys on our side were different nationalities. At the end of the movie, the remaining three characters were Australian (Flynn), Canadian (Kennedy), and American (Reagan). If anything this was an allied forces, rather than an American, propaganda film. We were all in it together and working together, even though there were some disagreements, the guys did whatever it took to meet and beat the Germans. They even wore German uniforms for most of the movie. They did it to fool the other side just as the Germans were attempting to use reclaimed American planes as cover. It would allow them to swoop down, getting close enough to unsuspecting allied targets to bomb them.
Also...
4. Like his character in the movie, Flynn was actually Australian. This was the first and only time he portrayed an Australian on film. While the movie was made he was still Australian but in 1942, just one month prior to the release of the movie, he became a naturalized American citizen. Apparently, he tried to enlist in the military just after that but he was rejected due to his heart condition. He had already suffered one heart attack at that point and eventually, seventeen years later, died of a heart attack at a relatively young fifty years.
5. Kennedy, who was American by birth, played a Canadian in the movie. As it turns out, after living, and dying in the U.S. his final resting place is, meaning he was buried, in Canada. I have no idea why.
6. Reagan was, of course, an American citizen. We know this because he went on to be President of these United States. According to the Trivia for this movie, this was Reagan's last film before enlisting. Unlike his character, he did not go abroad so he didn't see combat action. Instead, his time in the service was spent stateside making training films in support of the cause.
7. The movie was American made but was released in a few other countries during the war; namely Argentina, Mexico, and Portugal. After the war the movie found new audiences in many other countries. Over the years it’s been shown in Europe and Asia; including Japan in 1952 and Germany in 1977.
8. Now that the movie is on disc and being shown on television, there’s no telling how many millions of people it has reached. It’s a good movie and well worth seeing but the fact Reagan, a former American President is in it, will, no doubt, attract some viewers who may never have considered seeing it. Reagan being in it is definitely one of the reasons I watched it.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]
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