A life changing experience you’ll spend 36 hours reliving the life of a B-17 World War II aviator. Imagine climbing into a B-17 aircraft and traveling back in time to 1944 about to embark on your final bombing mission over Nazi Germany. You’ll be transported back in time from the 7AM mission briefing through the amazing realism of the world’s most advanced flight simulation.
It’s 1944 and you’re on an authentic mission. You’ve been through the briefing where targets and casualties are anticipated. You feel the tension our fly boys felt as they contemplated the uncertainty of their fate.
The experience is so real that you’ll find yourself ducking as enemy fighters zip by mere feet from the nose of your plane. Your hair is literally blown back when the bomb doors open.
And then it’s time to strap on a parachute and board an authentic B-17 aircraft for a real flight. Fully immersed in 1944 you’re living the day of a real B-17 flyer. Your adrenaline is guaranteed to rush as you take off for your bombing run. The sights, sounds and even the smells of this extended flight make this a once in a lifetime adventure.
You won’t just understand what it’s like to be a WWII aviator you will actually be that aviator. You will know so much more about what our fathers and grandfathers lived through. For this moment, time will stand still.
I suppose most of these sad incidents never made it the papers ect..
Regards, Moose.
MUTINY AT SALERNO
On September 20, 1943, one of the saddest episodes in British military history took place: a mutiny by some 300 replacement troops from the 51st Highland Division and the 50th Northumbrian Division. These veterans of the North African campaign had been convalescing in a hospital in Tripoli while their parent Divisions were returned to the UK. Sent to Salerno as replacements, they believed that their officers had broken a promise to them that they would be sent to Britain to rejoin their own regiments. Disembarking at Salerno they sat down on the beach and three times refused to report to their assigned units. The Corps Commander, General Richard McCreery, addressed the men and some agreed to join their assigned units but 192 men still persisted on disobeying. They were put under arrest and sent back to Constantine where they were court martialled. The three leaders of the mutiny, all sergeants, were sentenced to death, the others to jail sentences ranging from 7 to 10 years.
In the Official British History of 1943, the Salerno Mutiny is not even mentioned but is reported in Hugh Bonds book 'Salerno' published in 1961.
I though that this was a great little comedy series that successfully exploited the fun potential of dealing with the nazis.
Comedy'Allo 'Allo!'Allo 'Allo!
René Artois is a café owner in the Nazi-occupied French town of Nouvion, whose efforts to appease a range of opposing factions without being killed provide the unlikely scenario for this long-running hit BBC One sitcom.
German Colonel Von Strohm is on good terms with René but exploits the café to hide a stolen painting (the oft-mentioned Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies by Van Klomp) he plans to sell after the war for his retirement.
Unfortunately Hitler also wants the painting and has sent Gestapo agent Otto Flick to find it. But the Germans aren't René's only problem.
The French Resistance, led by Michelle, force him to aid their persistent attempts to return two bumbling British airmen to England and all the time René must keep secret from his wife his long-running affairs with his two waitresses or risk losing his cherished café.
An innovative trick was the portrayal of languages, with French characters speaking English in a French accent whilst the 'English' had an upper-class twang.
Hence the poor French of Englishman Crabtree (disguised as a gendarme) could be depicted by his serial mispronunciations, especially his famous greeting "Good Moaning".
It's the best known of a raft of catchphrases (Michelle’s "Listen very carefully, I shall say zis only once" coming a close second).
The comedy maintained a large number of subplots and returning characters (including the camp Lieutenant Gruber, undertaker Monsieur Alfonse and forger Leclerc), cheerfully revelling in a bawdy 'picture postcard' humour.
To cram in the twisting story, episodes would run on from each other linked by René's opening monologues to camera.
Written and performed as a farce, writers David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd made great play of national stereotypes (sex-obsessed French, posh British twits) but this didn't stop the show becoming a massive success on both sides of the Channel.
'Allo 'Allo! treated the war itself quite reverently, but targeted more specifically the raft of wartime dramas that were flooding TV schedules, especially ITV series Secret Army (1977-1979), about the Resistance movement.
It may not have quite the enduring appeal of Dad's Army, but over 85 episodes retained a strong, popular, family following.
Cast
Gorden KayeRené Artois Carmen SilveraEdith Artois Vicki MichelleYvetteKirsten CookeMichelle Jack HaigM Leclerc John D CollinsFlying Officer Fairfax Nicholas FrankauFlying Officer Adamson Richard GibsonOtto Flick Kim HartmanHelga Richard MarnerCol Von Strohm Guy SinerLieutenant Gruber Rose HillMotherArthur BostromCrabtreeKenneth ConnorM Alfonse Francesca GonshawMaria Sam KellyCapt Hans Geering Hilary MinsterGeneral von Klinkerhoffen John Louis MansiVon Smallhausen Sue HodgeMimi La Bonque Gavin RichardsCapt Alberto Bertorelli Crew
If there's one villian in history that lends itself to comedy it has got to be the nazis. This is a really funny film and Christopher Lloyd is an absolute riot. I give it two thumbs up
Actors: Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Tim Matheson, Charles Durning, Christopher Lloyd
Directors: Alan Johnson
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating:
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Release Date: September 5, 2006
Run Time: 107 minutes
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
No filmmaker seems to take such glee at poking fun of the Nazis as Mel Brooks. In To Be or Not to Be, a remake of a 1942 Jack Benny comedy, Brooks and an all-star ensemble cast have a splendid time working as a makeshift Polish underground in World War II, using as their cover their theatrical company. Brooks stars as Frederick Bronski, a legend-in-his-own-mind leading man, and Anne Bancroft, Brooks' real-life wife, is his glamorous--and amorous--spouse. It's a joy to see the two spar, snuggle, and softshoe together. Bancroft, in her early '50s, is so gorgeous and seductive it's perfectly believable that she's beguiling to men of all ages--from a hunky young flier played by Tim Matheson to a wizened Nazi collaborator played by Mel Ferrer. As one would expect in a Brooks film, there's lots of silliness, but the script is leavened with real drama and fleshed out by a superb cast, including Charles Durning as a semi-clueless Nazi official. There are witty blink-and-you'll-miss-them moments, too; early in the film, Bronski is barking orders to his theater staff, including one crew member who's named Sondheim, apparently solely so that later Bronski can bark, "Sondheim, send in the clowns!" Also not to miss is the production number "Naughty Nazis," in which Bronski, as a misunderstood Hitler, sings, "All I vant is peace... a little piece of Poland, a little piece of France...." No wonder he's "world famous in Poland"! Extras include a behind-the-scenes making-of featurette, and interviews with Brooks, Durning, and the lovely Bancroft, all the more bittersweet viewed after her 2005 death. --A.T. Hurley
Product Description
Mel Brooks and his real-life wife Anne Bancroft play Frederick and Anna Bronski musical comedy stars in 1939 Poland. The highlight of the Bronskis' act is Frederick's imitation of Adolf Hitler but he is forced to eliminate this turn for fear of offending the Nazis. Meanwhile Anna enters into a harmless flirtation with Polish bomber pilot Andre Sobinski (Tim Matheson). The pilot's nightly signal to visit Anna in her dressing room is "To Be or Not to Be" spoken by Bronski during the Shakespearean portion of his act. When the Germans march into Warsaw the Bronskis and the rest of their troupe are forced into hiding (notably the homosexual Lupinski played by Lewis J. Stadlen who is forced to endure the humiliation of wearing a pink star). Flying for the Polish resistance in England Sobinski asks kindly Professor Seletzky (Jose Ferrer) to deliver his "To Be or Not to Be" message to Anna. When Seletzky doesn't seem to recognize the name of Anne Bronski Warsaw's biggest star Sobinski suspects that something is amiss. Sure enough Seletzky is a Nazi spy heading to Warsaw to help Col. "Concentration Camp" Ehrhardt (Oscar-nominated Charles Durning) destroy the underground movement. Parachuting into Poland Sobinski enlists the aid of the Bronski troupe to foil the Nazis. What follows is an uproarious series of disguises and deceptions capped by Bronski's impersonation of Der Fuhrer.System Requirements:Running Time: 107 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 024543167310 Manufacturer No: 2226731
AMERICAN FIGHTING DIVISIONS IN ITALY 1943-45, WWII. 3-DVD set! Follow the U.S. Army Infantry and Armored Divisions in brutal combat to defeat the Nazis in Italy in the longest campaign against Germany.
AMERICAN FIGHTING DIVISIONS IN ITALY 1943-45, WWII. The Allied campaign in Italy began in early July 1943 with two months of intense combat in Sicily, and the fighting continued unabated northward through Italy until Germany's surrender in May 1945. This 3-DVD-R set follows the American divisions fighting in the two-year campaign to free Italy. A Special introductory commentary is provided by historian Frank R. Cambria, Captain, US Army (Retired)
Spearheaded by the 36th Infantry Division, the U.S. invasion of mainland Italy began along the Salerno beachhead. Within three weeks, the 3rd Infantry Division, 34th Infantry Division, 45th Infantry Divisions, the 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne Division joined the battle, paying with sweat and blood as they pushed out of the beachhead to take their first objective, Naples and its vital harbor, about 30 miles north of Salerno.
Six divisions of the U.S. Fifth Army battled their way north, foot-by-foot for four months, to move only 80 miles from Salerno to German Field Marshal Kesselring's Gustav Line. Defended by eight German divisions, the Gustav Line blocked the southern approach to Rome. Before the Americans could reach Kesselring's Gustav Line, they had to run the six-mile gauntlet of the Mignano Gap, capture San Pietro, and break through the fortifications at Cassino.
As the year 1943 drew to an end, the Nazi barrier between the Allies and Rome appeared to be impregnable. Battle casualties for the Fifth Army alone were nearly 40,000, with 50,000 more casualties caused by a devastating winter.
Disk one brings you three films, including the battle for Sicily and ferocious war footage from the Academy Award winning BATTLE OF SAN PIETRO by director John Huston. The battle took place near a small village in Italy's Liri Valley where elements of the 36th Infantry Division fought a battle to the death.
The American divisions continue its relentless drive north up the rugged boot of Italy towards the Gustav Line. On Part Two, you will see amazing battlefield photography from American cameramen, and witness an outstanding testament to the valor of U.S. Infantrymen as the intrepid Americans close on the Battle of San Pietro and make the incredible assault on Monte Cassino. But the Gustave Line held.
In a brilliant tactical maneuver, General Eisenhower made a bold amphibious attack at Anzio on January 22 1944 behind the Gustav Line, catching the Germans by surprise as the 3rd and 45th Infantry Divisions and the elite U.S. Rangers stormed ashore. The second segment of this DVD examines the lost opportunity at Anzio as the highly successful landing at Anzio quickly turned into a sad and notorious quagmire when it failed for months to break out of Anzio to continue on to Rome.
Meanwhile south of the Gustav Line, the 36th Infantry Division assaulted the along the bloody Rapido River, and the 34th Infantry Division clawed its way up Monte Cassino. The Gustav Line along the Rapido had become a meat grinder, and in March 1944, the 85th Infantry Division joined the battle.
Part Three follows many of the American battles of northern Italy as elements of the 1st Armored Division, the famed 4-4-2 Japanese-American Infantry Regiment, the 34th, 85th, 88th, 91st and 92nd Infantry Divisions pound their way through the Arno Line and past Florence, to charge against the fortress-like defenses of the Gothic Line, and finally drop into the German strongholds of the Po Valley. The last segment features the elite U.S. 10th Mountain Division that joined the bitter fighting at the Gothic Line. This final presentation includes interviews with German and American commanders and solders.
Item Details
Group: World War II ID: DV-ITALY
Category: Battles / Campaigns / Strategy Media: DVD Video
