In Casablanca, did anyone else notice... in War Movies, Westerns, Documentaries & TV Series Forum

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In Casablanca, did anyone else notice...

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Dalkowski110	In Casablanca, did anyone else notice...	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1489 May 20 07 1:41 PM Forum Co-host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None ...that Major Strasser is wearing a Luftwaffe uniform? His shoulderboards, collar patches, chest badge, etc. all seem to be correct, to top it off (although unfortunately, due to the movie being black and white, we can't see if his uniform really was RLM Grey vs. Field Grey). We know this movie strived for a certain degree of accuracy (they initially put "German 88's" in the script until the Army told them it was supposed to be classified, hence "German 77's"), so perhaps this is why Major Strasser is introduced as "Major Strasser of the Third Reich" rather than "Major Strasser of the Luftwaffe" (audience question: "Why is an air force officer basically acting as a local provost marshal?") or "Major Strasser of the Wehrmacht" (which, looking at his uniform, would be incorrect).
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diamondtim	Re: In Casablanca, did anyone else notice...	#1	[-]
Posts: 670 May 22 07 10:16 AM Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Sorry, but when I watch Casablanca, I'm more focused on Ingrid Bergman than Major Strasser's uniform. Share the Love, Diamondtim No man is entirely useless, he can always serve as a bad example
Lonelurker	Re: In Casablanca, did anyone else notice...	#2	[-]
Posts: 1 Apr 14 12 7:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes, I noticed. Major Strasser is acting as a Luftwaffe liaison officer. This was a real function. It's discussed in Airpower: Theory and Practice By John Gooch.
nothernug		#3	[-]
Posts: 13336 Apr 15 12 8:04 PM Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Howdy Lonelurker and welcome to Parallax Bill's! Thanks for the info! If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen. Sam Adams
JTB1967		#4	[-]
Posts: 1141 Apr 18 12 2:34 PM Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dalkowski110 wrote: "Why is an air force officer basically acting as a local provost marshal?") or "Major Strasser of the Wehrmacht" (which, looking at his uniform, would be incorrect). My first guess is that they just grabbed a uniform out of the prop department. You'll notice his pants have a double stripe which was for General Officers. Major Strasser wouldn't have been allowed to wear them.
Dalkowski110		#5	[-]
Posts: 1489 Aug 1 12 9:45 PM Forum Co-host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Watched it again recently and you nailed it...his trousers are flat-out wrong. What gets me, though, is that they went out of their way to get the tunic correct. He is a Luftwaffe Major. Why go through all the trouble of making a correct tunic while screwing up the pants? I realize it's a movie, but it was also before Hollywood became Hollyweird and the US Government did show enough concern to make them change the caliber of the German artillery pieces.