Why was the designer changed from English to German?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Flight of the Phoenix
edwardholub — 14 years ago(June 27, 2011 06:58 AM)
I read on Wikipedia that the original character in the book was an Englishman. Why did they change it to a German for the movie? Anyone know?
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TooSlim — 14 years ago(July 20, 2011 11:34 AM)
As they were using an international cast for the film, I guess they may have done so because they wanted Hardy Kruger. And the idea of a German added the element of dramatic tension due to the dislike of Nazis by the British soldiers (ie, comments about what were you doing in the war, and super race, etc)
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strntz — 13 years ago(May 29, 2012 07:41 PM)
Whatever the reason, it worked perfectly. I assumed in fact that it was written for a German. This was post WWII, and there was not a lot of love lost between the Allies and the Germans. Germans were also known for their engineering prowess, and it was no great stretch to think this "engineer" could redesign the wreckage into a flying machine. Captain Towns was a proud man, and it must have eaten him alive to not only have to give up some control, but to do so to a slightly obnoxious German. Wonderful characters..
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blacksunday52 — 12 years ago(September 14, 2013 03:50 PM)
Two more thoughts about this:
- Dorfmann's nationality provides a nice way to explain his career track - particularly, his choice of employer and aircraft designed.
- Given that the movie was made in 1965, it would be hard for an American audience not to think of Werner von Braun while watching it.
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Mr_Blonde3 — 11 years ago(June 19, 2014 12:07 PM)
It also adds a lot of tension to the group. In the beginning, they're harassing him for his nationality, and the way he tries to keep himself clean. Then, when he comes up with the plan, everyone, even Towns, ends up having to begrudgingly defer to his leadership.
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