U-Boote westwärts!

U-Boote westwärts! (in English: U-boats Westward!) is a 1941 German war propaganda film promoting the Kriegsmarine.[1] It concerns a U-boat mission in the Battle of the Atlantic and was produced by UFA. The U-boat used for the film was U-123, which would later play a major role in Operation Drumbeat.[2]

U-Boote westwärts!
Directed byGünther Rittau
Written byGeorg Zoch
StarringHerbert Wilk
Music byHarald Böhmelt
CinematographyIgor Oberberg
Edited byJohanna Meisel
Distributed byUFA
Release date
  • 9 May 1941 (1941-05-09)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryNazi Germany
LanguageGerman

Plot

The film opens aboard a U-boat as it returns from a mission. It then follows the crew onshore the day before they ship off for their next mission—meeting their family and sweethearts, spending a last night at a club, and so forth. Then they ship off, soon sighting and boarding a Dutch merchant ship, which they inspect for contraband. The boarding of the ship is shown being done professionally and in a non-confrontational manner. While they are aboard the Dutch ship, a Royal Navy ship spots them and tries to torpedo them, but the U-boat ends up sinking it.

Cast

Motifs

The British are shown as cowardly and duplicitous.[1] It also glamorizes death in battle: the British ship was torpedoed even though it had German POWs, and one dies, speaking of the honor of dying for the fatherland.[1]

See also

References

  1. Hertzstein, Robert Edwin (1978). The War That Hitler Won. New York: Putnam. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-399-11845-6.
  2. Gannon, Michael (1991). Operation Drumbeat: The Dramatic True Story of Germany's First U-boat Attacks Along the American Coast In World War II. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-06-092088-3.
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