Editorial

A film is currently being produced in Italy entitled U-571 which is supposed to be some new big wartime thriller -- I guess the recent spate of good war movies has fostered producers to 'cash in' on what could be perceived as a current trend by movie-goers. This film and its plot is very difficult to understand for several reasons.

This was a fairly active Type VII-C under two good commanders, but they did nothing spectacular during the war, so one must wonder why this particular boat was selected. When I asked the production person who contacted us, he had no idea why U-571 was chosen.

The basic plot, as spelled out in VARIETY Magazine, centers around American soldiers who attempt to board the boat and take possession of the ENIGMA coding machine. Actually, no American soldiers ever attempted to board any U-Boat anywhere in WWII. It stands to reason that soldiers, being land-warriors, would have a difficult time getting out into the ocean to even find a U- Boat. True, U-505 was boarded and captured by American forces on 4 June 1944, but these were American Navy men, not soldiers.

Again in the VARIETY article, it states that the production company spent millions reproducing many thing including, as the article states, Nazi paraphernalia. Why do book publishers and movie producers think they must use the term 'Nazi' in order to sell their product? It appears that history is not so important as getting people to the ticket windows to reach for their wallet.

One of the production people called here a couple times and if he is any indication of the rest of the people on the project... He was most arrogant, condescending and gave the impression that the world should be pleased that this film is being made and that he is connected with it. He asked us to suggest a former German U-Boat Skipper to act as consultant on the film. We always like to help out decent historical projects and also help our U- BootFahrer Members and so we were going to try to help but when we realized that true and honest history was not even a consideration, and when the production guy who was calling us became rude, pushy and insistent, we decided this was not anything we wished to get involved with.

As our Members know, true and honest history is what drives SHARKHUNTERS and we cannot 'sell out' our beliefs for some easy money. I am curious at this point who they will be able to turn up by waving some money in their face. It will be interesting to see if anyone will sell out.

All things considered, this is one submarine film that will not see me at the box office with money in my hand.