Quax the Crash Pilot

1941 film

Hermann Grote (novel)
Robert A. Stemmle

Produced byHeinz RühmannStarring

Heinz Rühmann
Karin Himboldt
Lothar Firmans

CinematographyHeinz von JaworskyEdited byWalter FredersdorfMusic byWerner Bochmann

Production
company

Terra Film

Distributed byTerra Film

Release date

16 December 1941 (1941-12-16)

Running time

92 minutesCountryGermanyLanguageGerman

Quax the Crash Pilot (German: Quax, der Bruchpilot) is a 1941 German comedy film directed by Kurt Hoffmann and starring Heinz Rühmann, Karin Himboldt and Lothar Firmans.^[1] It is also sometimes translated as Quax the Test Pilot.^[2] It features the popular song "Homeland, Your Stars".

The film set in the 1930s before the outbreak of the Second World War. It is based on an aviation story by Hermann Grote about an everyday man who wins a newspaper competition that offers free flying lessons. Despite initial struggles, he gradually shows himself to be a good pilot.

Much of the film was shot on location in Bavaria. Interiors were shot at the Tempelhof and Babelsberg Studios in Berlin and the Bavaria Studios in Munich. It was followed by a sequel Quax in Africa which was also made during the Nazi era, but not released until 1947.

Main cast

Heinz Rühmann as Otto "Quax" Groschenbügel
Karin Himboldt as Marianne Bredow
Lothar Firmans as Hansen, Fluglehrer
Harry Liedtke as Herr Bredow
Elga Brink as Frau Bredow
Hilde Sessak as Adelheid
Leo Peukert as Bürgermeister
Georg Vogelsang as Der alte Krehlert
Beppo Brem as Knecht Alois
Lutz Götz as Herr Busse
Arthur Schröder as Flugarzt
Franz Zimmermann as Harry Peters, Flugschüler
Kunibert Gensichen as Walter Ottermann, Flugschüler
Manfred Heidmann as Ludwig Mommsen, Flugschüler
Guenther Markert as Gottfried Müller, Flugschüler
José Held as Karl Bruhn, Flugschüler

References

^ Hoffmann p. 109
^ Chapman p. 192

Bibliography

Chapman, James (2008). War and Film. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-347-5.
Hoffmann, Hilmar (1996). The Triumph of Propaganda: Film and National Socialism, 1933–1945. Translated by Broadwin, John; Berghahn, Volker R. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-57181-122-6.