Portrayal of Von Richtofen
I found it interesting that George Peppard was the center of attention in this movie, rather than Von Richtofen. It seems that Von Richtofen was portrayed by the Austrian actor, Carl Schell. In the movie "Von Richtofen and Brown", Von Richtofen was portrayed by the American actor, John Phillip Law. Also the facts about Von Richtofen's death were wrong. At the time of his death Von Richthofen had amassed an amazing 80 aerial victories. It was almost certainly during the final stage in his pursuit of the Canadian pilot (Wilfred May) that Richthofen was hit by a single .303 bullet, which caused such severe damage to his heart and lungs that it must have produced a very speedy death. In the last seconds of his life, he managed to make a hasty but controlled landing in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of the village of Vaux-sur-Somme, in a sector controlled by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). One witness, Gunner George Ridgway, stated that when he and other Australian soldiers reached the aircraft, Richthofen was still alive but died moments later. Another eye witness, Sgt Ted Smout of the Australian Medical Corps, reported that Richthofen's last word was "kaputt".