Operation
Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot To Kill Hitler
“An
emotional journey into the amazing
truth behind the inspiration for Tom
Cruise’s
recently-released film Valkyrie,
the fine documentary Operation
Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot To Kill
Hitler reveals the riveting facts
surrounding a daring attempt during
World War II to kill Hitler and put an end
to his reign of terror...”
SOMETIMES EVEN HOLLYWOOD couldn't dream up a sequence of events
so incredible that it has the potential for an epic film without wavering from
the truth.
There were many attempts to assassinate Hitler but the most famous is Operation
Valkyrie — the codename originally given to a contingency plan designed
to deal with internal disturbances, uprisings of foreign labourers or concentrated
air raids during the course of the war. And Hitler himself approved it because,
at the time, seven and a half million foreigners were working in Germany.
Not everybody in Germany supported Hitler's rise to power and in 1944 as the
war rages on, reports of the holocaust and other atrocities by the SS reach
the ears of a group of high-ranking German officers — amongst whom is General
Friedrich Olbricht, serving under Home Army Commander General Friedrich Fromm,
and Chief of Staff Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg — a devout Catholic from
one of the oldest and most distinguished families in Germany who is becoming
disillusioned with the Nazi regime.
Operation Valkyrie was the brainchild of Olbricht but he and Stauffenberg —
who was severely injured in Africa — have hijacked the name and are secretly
planning to kill Hitler, Himmler and Goering and overthrow the Nazi regime.
But the three men are rarely seen together.
That Hitler had survived other assassination attempts was due to luck —
or bad luck, depending upon your viewpoint. Operation Valkyrie was beset with
problems and had already been postponed. Rumours were already circulating in
Berlin that the HQ was to be blown up and the meeting on 20 July, 1944, at Hitler's
headquarters at Wolfschanze (Wolf's Lair) was to be moved from the expected
bunker to the conference room.
Using rare colour footage, painstakingly recreated dramatisations, detailed
CG reconstructions and exclusive interviews — including with authors of
books about Hitler, relatives of those involved, leading historians and the
last surviving member of the plot, Baron Philipp von Boeselager — Operation
Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot To Kill Hitler takes an in-depth and comprehensive
look at what happened before, during and after the pivotal events of July 1944.
Baron von Boeselager was just 25 at the time and trusted head of the army staff
Major General Tresckow — who had himself been plotting to overthrow Hitler
since the early 1930s — with his secret. The Baron, who was born in 1917,
died in 2008 and this documentary is dedicated to his memory.
Operation Valkyrie is Written, Directed and Edited by Jean-Pierre Isbouts
(Beyond The Golden Compass: The Magic Of Philip Pullman); Created
and Produced by William A Schwartz; Supervising Producer is M Catherine Labrador;
Narrated by John H Mayer with additional narration by Pamela Meadow, Bryan Gurley,
Thomas Robbins and Brett Trimble. The haunting, original score is by Michael
Labrador and Jean-Pierre Isbouts and Director of Photography is Alicia Robbins.
In the reconstructions, Hitler is played by Jack Heidt, Claus von Stauffenberg
by Brian Gurley and General Fromm by Kevin Garrett.
This incredible story of the loyalty and courage of men who were not afraid
to die for their beliefs is also dramatised in Bryan Singer's highly-anticipated
Hollywood feature Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise as von Stauffenberg.
This documentary, Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot To Kill Hitler,
tells the true story of the events behind that film.
Produced in collaboration with the German Resistance Organisation's Memorial
Centre, this brand-new documentary presents the definitive story of the assassination
plot, based on eyewitness accounts and featuring an interview with Philipp Baron
von Boeselager, the last surviving member of the Stauffenberg conspiracy.
• Operation Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg
Plot To Kill Hitler is one of the most astonishing chapters in the history
of World War II and is the untold eyewitness story of Operation Valkyrie. The
DVD is available now (Released 26 January, 2009, by Anchor Bay Entertainment).
Certificate: E | Discs: 2 x DVDs | RRP: £12.99 | Running Time: 76 mins approx
with nearly two hours of extra features.
Special Features (Disc 2)
Stauffenberg's Legacy: What if Valkyrie had Succeeded? A Scholar's Debate |
Killing Hitler: Assassination Attempts on the Führer's Life | Lautlingen: An
Exclusive Visit to The Stauffenberg Estate | The Eva Braun Films: Newly re-mastered
colour Home Movies shot by Hitler's mistress | The People's Court: Trials of
the July 20 Conspirators | The Boeselager Interview: Interview with Baron Philipp
von Boeselager.
"An emotional journey into the amazing truth behind the inspiration for Tom
Cruise's recently-released film Valkyrie, the fine documentary Operation
Valkyrie: The Stauffenberg Plot To Kill Hitler reveals the riveting facts
surrounding a daring attempt during World War II to kill Hitler and put an end
to his reign of terror" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
