Von Richthofen and Brown

Roger Corman is usually immediately associated with exploitive movies made for B studios, but there were a few times when he worked for major Hollywood studios, "Von Richthofen and Brown" being one example. Additional interest is that this movie is one of the few times Corman made a serious movie - there's no exploitive tone to be found here. So how are the end results? Well, with a major studio bankrolling the production, the look of the movie is pretty well done. There's no signs of cost-cutting or missing details. Also, the aerial sequences are excellent, exciting and breath-taking. However, Corman was working with an inadequate script. Though the various actors in the cast do a professional job, the screenplay simply doesn't get into the heads of Von Richthofen or Brown (or anyone else for that matter.) We don't really learn what's driving them or what they are really thinking. While I wouldn't say that this is a terrible movie despite that fatal flaw, I would only recommend the movie to Roger Corman fans who are intrigued about the idea of him making a serious movie on an A-level budget.

This is not the greatest WWI movie ever made. But it's still pretty good. The special effects and the flying sequences are superb. And Roy Brown not only is identified as a Canadian --- rare for Hollywood --- but he also is presented as the prickly and difficult character he was. That's also rare for Hollywood which tends to ignore the warts on its heroes. The movie is also reasonably historically accurate.

Roger Corman leaps beyond crab monsters and biker chicks to the skies over World War1 France. The film takes right off with flying sequences, which are surprisingly good. Characters are introduced at an overwhelming rate with little or no development. Both John Philip Law and Don Stroud appear uncomfortable in their flying ace roles. In their "spaghetti westerns" they look and act like they belong, but here they seem lost and out of their element. Romantic female characters are introduced, only to never be seen again. The air battles are definitely the strong point of "Von Richthofen and Brown", but even they become redundant. - MERK

Baron Manfred Von Richthofen (John Phillip Law) was the most feared and celebrated pilot of the German air force in World War I . Manfred Von Richthofen arrives from the Cavalry, at a squadron in the German Airforce under the command of honorable Oswald Boelcke (Peter Masterson). He quickly becomes an aerial ace with several victories . To him and his companions , air combats are events of sporty nature , technical challenge and upright acting, ignoring the terrible extent of war . Manfred must decide if he is a soldier first or part of the ruling class whose father is a notorious Baron (Ferdy Mayne) . But after Manfred realizes he is only used for propaganda means , as the tactics of both sides break more rules and become more destructive . This is an exciting story based on facts about Manfred Von Richthofen, the German air ace during the World War I and his struggle with the enemy aces and some jealous German officers as the ruthless Herrmann Goering (Barry Primus) who subsequently will have a long career as Nazi leader during WWI . The allied squad has similar class divisions : its Major , an aristocrat , laments that men he considers peasants are now fliers , including a tough and Canadian named Roy Brown (Don Stroud) , the squad's main ace . Von Richthofen is wounded during an aerial battle and Brown and his squadron decide to attack Allied airfield , destroying their planes on the ground and killing his brother Lothar (Brian Foley). Then the baron seeks vengeance and attacks on the opposite British airfield . Red Baron and Brown have some strong aerial battles , trivial in the larger scheme yet fateful . Caught between his disgust for the war , and the responsibility for his fighter wing , Von Richthofen sets out to fly again . With the help of a batch of new fighters from Anthony Fokker (Hurd Hatfield), the 'Richthofen Flying Circus' launches a counter attack against English aircrafts . On April 21, 1918, the Red Baron of Germany and the Black Sheep of the R.A.F. met in the skies of France for the last time.

Spectacular dogfighting , impressive scenario , fine star cast and memorable acting . Acceptable budget extended adventures produced by Jimmi T Murakami and Gene Corman about a maverick pilot and his partners undergoing risked feats on air and bombing on earth . Very good aerial actioner plenty action , tragic drama , fantastic cloudy scenes and breathtaking dogfighting . John Philip Law and Don Stroud show professionalism as crack fighter pilots , two ambitious young men assigned to dangerous missions . Top-notch support cast gives excellent performance as Stephen McHattie , Barry Primus , Ferdy Mayne and Hurd Hartfield as Fokker . Colorful cinematography by Michael Reed and rousing musical score by Hugo Friedhofer .

The motion picture is professionally directed by Roger Corman . After his period realizing poverty-budget horror movies as ¨Swamp woman¨, ¨The beast with a million of eyes¨, ¨Attack of the crab monsters¨, ¨Undead¨, then came the cycle of tales of terror based on Poe as ¨ House of Usher¨, ¨Pit and pendulum¨, ¨The raven¨ , ¨Tales of terror¨, ¨The masque of the red death ¨ , and Corman made his undisputed masterpiece , ¨X¨ , that won the Golden Asteroid in the Trieste Festival of Science Fiction Films in 1963 . Later on , he directed films as ¨Angels of hell¨, ¨The St. Valentine's day massacre¨, ¨The trip¨, ¨Bloody mummy¨, ¨Gas or It became necessary to destroy the world in order to save it¨ and of course ¨Von Richthofen and Brown¨, and finally (1990) ¨Frankestein unbounded¨ . ¨Red Baron¨ rating : 6 , acceptable and passable , definitively wholesome watching , Corman's achievement to have bent the wartime genre with nice results. Good and entertaining fare , it's a fairly watchable and spectacular film and results to be a good treatment of WWI flying aces .

Well, only slightly worse in that although this film misses the earlier film's scope and spectacle, it slims down the narrative substantially so that it goes down a little easier. Similarly to George Peppard, John Philip Law gives us an aloof performance of a German fighter ace rising up through the ranks, hitting most of the same notes including getting a medal from The Kaiser and bedding some classy rich woman as reward for his deeds.

Don Stroud gives us another of his mopey forlorn performances so characteristic of leading men of this era. We don't really ever come to like him unfortunately but that goes for Law too. Although I'd call this one of Roger Corman's more "respectable" films in that it doesn't exude any obvious incompetence, it does feel a little light and small considering there's supposed to be a whole World War going on. For those expecting any real insight into the true story of The Red Baron, look elsewhere as this film doesn't feel particularly accurate or well-researched. Surprisingly, it does contain dozens of vintage planes and a couple cool base attack scenes. That's probably where all the money went.