# American films with sympathetic German characters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990 "2004-03-01T23:27:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/21 "2004-03-02T17:31:11Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > “East of Eden” > > “Schinder’s List” I was wondering when someone would say Schindler’s List. Who was the German in East of Eden? I can’t remember. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/22 "2004-03-02T17:34:38Z")
I am sure anyone, including me, is only referring to one character in Schindler’s List as being a sympathetic German. Even though he starts out as just a greedy self-centered jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/23 "2004-03-02T18:08:23Z")
There was a movie on the other night (maybe on TBS). Robert Mitchum was a Destroyer Captain hunting Kurt Jurgens as a Uboat Commander. The Germans were portrayed as professional sailors and not rabid Nazis. Can’t remember the name. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/24 "2004-03-02T18:13:54Z")
Upon further reflection The Germans have had much better treatment in Hollywood than you would think. In the Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far and many other movies I remember they were portrayed as professional soldiers. The Nazi’s are actually seen as a minority. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/25 "2004-03-02T18:25:30Z")
When they captured one of the machine gunners that killed the medic he was a very sympathetic character. Marc ---
**Author:** ![mkl12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@mkl12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkl12)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/26 "2004-03-02T18:26:12Z")
I’ve got one who is not from a world war II movie: Nightcrawler in X-Men 2 ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/27 "2004-03-02T18:39:13Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There was a movie on the other night (maybe on TBS). Robert Mitchum was a Destroyer Captain hunting Kurt Jurgens as a Uboat Commander. The Germans were portrayed as professional sailors and not rabid Nazis. Can’t remember the name. _The Enemy Below_. Rutger Hauer’s character, SS-Sturmbanfueher Xavier March, in _Fatherland_ was a sympathetic character as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/28 "2004-03-02T18:42:48Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There was a movie on the other night (maybe on TBS). Robert Mitchum was a Destroyer Captain hunting Kurt Jurgens as a Uboat Commander. The Germans were portrayed as professional sailors and not rabid Nazis. Can’t remember the name. The Enemy Below. First one I thought of, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/29 "2004-03-02T19:37:35Z")
[_The Assissi Underground_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088746/) was a retelling of true story about Franciscan monks who smuggled and hid Italian Jews to protect them from the Nazis. The German regional commander, portrayed by Maximilian Schell, deliberately turned a blind eye to what was happening, and even ordered an overzealous subordinate to stop his investigations. In reality, the commander was invited by the people of Assissi to stay when the war ended. As I understand it, he accepted the invitation but died shortly after. There is a street named after him in Assissi to this day. As a war movie buff, I have to say that the majority of films I’ve seen portray Germans not as evil and nasty, but simply as the guy who happens to be on the other side. Which is pretty much how it was. The fervent Nazis were only a drop in the bucket. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/30 "2004-03-02T20:09:46Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > The individual German soldier with a heart of gold is a movie cliche, so I un-nominate Midnight Clear. And Schindler’s list was offensively “pro-German,” so I also un-nominate that. > > Raiders of the Lost Ark depicted the Nazis as cartoon buffoons, so I’d say practically any Spielberg film with Germans in it is self-loathingly sympathetic to them. You can’t unnominate things…you don’t have that power. 🙂 How was Schindler’s List “offensively pro-German”? It was pro-Schindler, but the other Germans were portrayed as evil bastards. And Raiders was an homage to the old Saturday matinee serials, and the movie’s villians, be they mad arabs or Nazi hordes, is in line with what you saw in the old serial cliffhangers. The only villians who really have lines in Raiders is Belloq, who’s not German (he’s French), and SS Colonel Toht, who’s slimy and evil. So I don’t really agree with your characterization. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/31 "2004-03-02T20:10:28Z")
No mention of [Amadeus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/combined) or [Torn Curtain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061107/combined)? ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/32 "2004-03-02T20:21:50Z")
What about _Summer of my German Soldier_, starring Bruce Davison and Kristy McNichol? I think it was a made for TV movie, where Kristy played a young jewish girl in the deep south who befriends Bruce Davison, who plays a young German prisoner of war. He seemed rather sympathetic. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/33 "2004-03-02T20:47:57Z")
[Night of the Generals](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0062038/). Set during WWII in Germany, the German generals in it are all portrayed fairly sympathetically, IIRC (well, except for the wacko one 🙂 ). Omar Sharif is especially so. There’s a sympathetic German officer in **The Pianist**. And the top Nazi of them all, Adolph Hitler, is portrayed somewhat sympathetically in [Max](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0290210/). (A movie I obviously had to see. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/34 "2004-03-02T20:58:49Z")
How about **Witness**? They’re ethnically German. I’ve never seen **The Eagle Has Landed** or **Seven Years in Tibet** , but don’t they have admirable war-era German protagonists? Wish they’d make a movie based on **Enemy Ace**. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/35 "2004-03-02T21:03:41Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > No mention of [Amadeus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/combined) or [Torn Curtain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061107/combined)? Whether Mozart counts as a German is somewhat controversial question but the short answer is no, he was Austrian. His father was from Augsburg (now Germany) but he was born and spent most of his life in Austria. At the time Austria was part of the Holy Roman Empire with the Emperors residing in Vienna but you can hardly count this as German in any modern sense since the Empire covered most of central europe. I am German and right now I can hardly think of any film that wasn’t already listed (excluding German movies for obvious reasons.) Btw. No, that doesn’t bother me much. There was a otherwise unremarkable movie, “The Red Baron” with Richthofen as a positive figure, stressing his conflict with the young Hermann Göring. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/36 "2004-03-02T21:07:14Z")
What? No mention of Peckinpah’s [Cross of Iron](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074695/)? All American cast, all in English and making out Germans soldiers as nice guys. Certainly worth your time if you can get ahold of it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/37 "2004-03-02T21:16:56Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > What? No mention of Peckinpah’s [Cross of Iron](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074695/)? All American cast, all in English and making out Germans soldiers as nice guys. > Certainly worth your time if you can get ahold of it. Ew! Sounds like they’re kissing each other full-on or something! How about **The Blue Max** with George Peppard? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/38 "2004-03-02T21:28:33Z")
> [@kellner](#): > > Whether Mozart counts as a German is somewhat controversial question but the short answer is no, he was Austrian. His father was from Augsburg (now Germany) but he was born and spent most of his life in Austria. At the time Austria was part of the Holy Roman Empire with the Emperors residing in Vienna but you can hardly count this as German in any modern sense since the Empire covered most of central europe. Had my geography off and thought Salzburg was in Germany for some reason. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/39 "2004-03-02T21:43:41Z")
Let’s not overlook Prof. [Ludwig von Drake](http://www.toonopedia.com/vondrake.htm), who made several appearance on Disney television programs. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990/40 "2004-03-02T22:15:19Z")
> [@Papermache Prince](#): > > Let’s not overlook Prof. [Ludwig von Drake](http://www.toonopedia.com/vondrake.htm), who made several appearance on Disney television programs. Walter Matthau once played a [thinly disguised version](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0110099/) of prof. von D. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-films-with-sympathetic-german-characters/231990.md?page=3)