Original German vehicles in Movies

[Sewer King]

And just last evening, The Longest Day (1962) was shown here on cable TV. I never before noticed that the German defenders at the Normandy fortifications wheeled out actual PaKs in brief scenes.

What looks like another PaK is bunkered into the casino strongpoint that the French commandos assault. At least to tell from its muzzle brake, but I couldn't do so from a glance at its breech end as the gunners served it. The same scene had to make do with an Oerlikon 20mm atop the strongpoint. In another scene, the German AA gunners use American M 51 "quad 50s" as a stand-in for Flak 38.

I hadn't thought to check Kelly's Heroes, not having seen it in awhile. A Flak 36 might be of small interest to see on film because I would expect it to be less common than the field pieces.

Did the Spanish Army have German tube artillery, if not necessarily used in any war films?

[Dubliner]

A real Jagdpanzer IV L/70 was used in the 1999 low budget UK film "Steel Tempest." This vehicle is now in the US, and it has been restored and repainted by the Patton Museum. Current photos of the vehicle can be found on the Achtung Panzer! web page here: http://www.achtungpanzer.com/gallery/jg4gal.htm

[Fallschirmjäger]

A movie made in the u.k about the germans in WW2?,or was if for a documentry like renactments of a battles?,like seen some dvds that had this on the cover picture etc...

[Dubliner]

Cromwell Productions used footage from the making of "Steel Tempest" to put together a documentary called ""Achtung Panzer German Tanks at War." You can read about this documentary and the dramatic film on the Second Battle Group website:

http://www.sbg1.mistral.co.uk/

I want to be charitable to the guys at the Second Battle Group, but "Steel Tempest" is basically a series of re-enactment battles with bad special effects.

[Fallschirmjäger]

Thanks for that info Dubliner.

[karltrowitz]

The movie "They were not divided" from 1950 has a real Tiger I and a Jagdpanther in the battle scenes. Not a bad movie either.

[Dubliner]

"They Were not Divided" was a good movie. The battle scene with the Tiger and Jagdpanther was short and the effects were circa 1950, but the story was good and there are not too many films with 7+ M4s and real working panzers. I can't think of another film that focuses on the everyday life of a armored unit, and I believe "It Happened Here" is the only other film with a operational German heavy panzer,

Its too bad Dream Works will never do a "Band of Brothers" like series for the Welsh Guards or Grenadier Guards.

Picture from "They Were Not Divided" 1950

[Potsdamerplatz]

I remember reading recently about a movie or television drama that had featured a restored Spitfire for ground shots only and the aircraft was accidentally hit by a truck during filming, causing a lot of damage and landing the film-makers with an expensive repair bill.

I will need to try and remember what movie it was.

Kind regards.

[Dubliner]

There are a number of real horror stories out there of vintage vehicles being damaged on film sets. Unless you have a good working relationship with a top quality film services company, you have to be a bit mad to hire out your MV for movie work.

[Fallschirmjäger]

Im shure i have seen the movie They Were not Divided at least once,but wish i could see it again,like they used to show a lot of old WW2 movies on tv here.But these days its very far between them,cant remember now when the last one was on?.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043039/
They where not divided,see christopher lee was in this too,but was in the RAF i see in WW2.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043459/
Decision Before Dawn,i would like to see this again too,it was a long time too realy when i did,i remember the real german halftrack i saw in it,cant remember other german vehicles to much right now,but most likely?.I remember the main german soldier being a luftwaffe medic to i think(oskar werner) which i liked.

[ldb730]

what tank do the "hero"group have in the movie Wheels of Terror. In the books they're Tigers, but in the movie it certainly isn't Tiger...

I think they were SU 85 Soviet tank destroyers, based on the T 34 hull. No idea what they were supposed to be, StuGs possibly. There was also a Horch 15 with a bloody awful paint scheme later in the film.

Regarding other films, the Krauss-Maffei Sdkfz 7 seen in the Dirty Dozen might have been the same one used in A Bridge Too Far.

The Marder III Ausf M in Private Ryan (the one that gets firebombed) is apparently original and was displayed at Beltring a couple of years back. The other "Marder" was possibly ex Swedish Army and "dressed up" for the film (later used in the John Thaw series Monsignior Renard, I think).

As far as I am aware, there are no original Tiger tanks in the films i have seen. Kelly's Heroes and Private Ryan used T34s with fibreglass superstructures to make them look likt Tigers. Mind you, they did look quite good.

Band of Brothers featured a convincing Jagdpanther (built on a T54 chassis?) and StuG IIIs on FV 432 chassis.

The 1950s Czech movie Closely Observed Trains had what looked like genuine Hanomag Sdkfz 251 halftracks in it.

The "Tiger" in Kelly's Heroes is obviouly a T-34 (the turret is really far forward on the hull) but in Saving Pvt Ryan/Band of Brothers it looks to me like they used a T-54 or T-55 since the turret was more centered on the hull.

[ldb730]

A second look at the "Tiger" used in Band of Brothers & Pvt Ryan...the main problem I have is why they left the early commander's "drum" coupola on a vehicle that by 1944 would have had the later coupola with periscopes? Also the exterior smoke dischargers on the sides of the turret were done away with by 1944 in favor of the nahverteidigungswaffe which could be loaded internally and used to fire smoke as well as anti-personnel grenades. Speilberg could have paid me $100,000.00 to get that aspect right and I wouldn't have complained at all.

[Panzerfaust60]

ldb730 it is propably because the cupola on the T-34 is drum-like, so instead of cuting it off and making a late version cupola they just made it thrly version, and since they were anyway making an early version tiger they put the exterior dischargers on the sides of the turret just to make it look right

Anyways here is a screenshot from the 9th episode of the 1st season of "Lost", if these aren't Elephants I don't know what they are...

[Dragonknight1]

the 3 shermans in "Kellys heros are real, as is the half track with the 105 on her.. many german tanks are not german tanks but early pattons m47's i belive some are the m60 or m60 a1's . same with german half tracks many are american m3's or 4's some years ago, a guy in ohio was selling a quad .500 anti air half track . recently a strug3 was pulled out of the mud in poland i may be wrong about the counrty but that it was found in fair shape is true. the Lee tank in the movie "1941" with jim blushi is real there was a movie , i can't remember the name with Humphry Bogart where he is a sargent in comand of a Lee tank in the desert.many of the cars are right , there are a few swimer wagons left but can't recall any in movies the 155 in Battle of the bulge is real so are the shermans and jeeps hellcats didn't come in till late in the war, in the movie back to battan the m10 with the 3inch gun is real so are the sturat ,lee and sherman tanks many of the 37 anti tank guns are real . i hope i didn't mess up the game its late here i found this site by accedent, but i love history n movies , have a good night n a happy holiday season, reguards, Dragonknight1

[phylo_roadking]

And just last evening, The Longest Day (1962) was shown here on cable TV. I never before noticed that the German defenders at the Normandy fortifications wheeled out actual PaKs in brief scenes.

I scoped out the DVD last night. This scene is just good-quality "period" WWII footage spliced in with someone yelling "Schnell! Schnell!" in a voiceover on the soundtrack LOL