Munich, Germany—One of the more compelling true stories of
wartime Germany is that of young Sophie Scholl and the organization known as
the White Rose.
The White Rose was a small university based peaceful Nazi
resistance organization committed to revealing the evil state secrets of the
Third Reich. They exposed the cruel
murders of mentally ill children, Jews and prisoners of war. They did so by writing, printing distributing
leaflets exposing the shameful Nazi crimes.
In 1943 Sophie, her brother Hans Scholl and a friend, Christoph
Probst were caught in the act of distributing hundreds of leaflets at the
University in Munich. They were
arrested, tried convicted and executed for treason. Eventually four other members were executed
too and others imprisoned.
What makes Sophie special was that she fought tyranny and
demanded that she not be treated better than her brother and friend
Christoph. The young trio were
allbeheaded on a guillotine.
I want this film remade in English. I’d cast Sebastian Koch as Gestapo Inspector Robert Mohr and Christian Berkel as Judge Roland Frisler. Additionally I'd cast Carice van Houten as Else Gebel, Sophie's cellmate at Stadlehiem. A casting dragnet should be cast to find a wonderful 21-year-old actress
to play Sophie.
The actors should speak in English with authentic German
accents and it should be filmed where it happened. Needless to say I'd love to personally be involved in this production.
This story is compelling, heartbreaking and a monument to
the courage of these youngsters.
Sophie Scholl, 21 a German Citizen Murdered Under color of law by The Nazis
Los, Angeles, CA—One of my
favorite films is Valkyrie with Tom Cruise playing would be Hitler assassin,
Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg.It was
filmed in many authentic locations with a terrific cast and crew.The finished product film told the exciting
and heroic story very well. It was made by boyhood pals, Director Brian Singer and Co-Writer and
Producer Christopher McQuarie.
When the Blu-Ray disk came
out the extras were really exceptional.
It contained a compelling documentary where actual resistance members
and their families told the history of brave Germans trying to bring down the
Nazi regime. It’s a part of World War
Two history that has been largely ignored especially here in America. At Berlin’s Bendlerblock
Resistance Museum there is a never-ending well-documented supply of stories fit
for many riveting films. That Bendlerblock location happens to be where the
Valkyrie conspirators actually worked and where they were executed on July 20.
1944. One such story that stands out the
most to me is that of 21 year-old Sophie Scholl and the White Rose.
Several young men and women
associated with the University in Munich belonged to a peaceful resistance
group, The White Rose. They mailed and
passed out newsletter leaflets that exposed the agenda and atrocities of the
Nazi government.
One day, Sophie Scholl, her
brother Hans Scholl and a friend Christoph Probst were caught distributing leaflets at
the University. They were arrested and a
Gestapo investigation was launched. A
very high profile Nazi show trial was held and the trio were convicted and
beheaded at the Stadlehiem Prison within four days of their arrest.
A terrific German language
film was made but unfortunately subtitled foreign films are usually never well
received in America. I guess people
don’t like reading films.
The leading roles are that of
Sophie Scholl, Gestapo Inspector Mohr and People’s Court President, Judge
Roland Frisler. I’d love to see this
staring English speaking German actors like Christian Berkel, Sebastian Koch
and a yet to be discovered 21 year-old leading lady.
Yes, I’m a SAG-AFTRA member
and want a small part in the film however I also want to help produce it on
location in Munich. I know Germany very well.
As Valkyrie was being
negotiated in Germany as a project there was a very unfortunate flap over lead
actor Tom Cruise’s Scientology faith. It
nearly derailed the entire film. That
left some wounds with the people that worked so hard in bringing that great
story to light. The question I must ask
is their skin thick enough to make yet another excellent film there. I really hope so.
On a side note, my having
spent my adult life in courtrooms I have particular disdain for despot judges
like Roland Frisler. Yes they are everywhere and only restrained by our form of government.
When Adolph Hitler sought to plan
the Holocaust he entrusted 15 high Ranking Nazis to work out the details at a lakeside Villa in Wannsee just outside of Berlin over a two-hour luncheon meeting. Frisler was one
of the several lawyers there making sure it was all legal. They call that meeting the Wansee Conference.
Had Frisler not been killed
in an Allied bombing raid he surly would have been in the first wave of war
criminals executed at Nuremberg.
I only hope that Singer and
McQuarie read this and consider making the film. If they pass on it, surely another filmmaker
should step in. There would be a generous
German film grant waiting for the producer.
The official trailer for the
German production of several years ago is below:
