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Valkyrie

FILM · 2008 · UK

Valkyrie

24 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

  • Valkyrie — production image

24 Interesting Facts About Valkyrie

Interesting Facts (20)

  1. #001

    Philipp von Schulthess, who plays Tresckow's aide in this film, is the grandson of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. In the film, Countess Nina von Stauffenberg is pregnant with the mother of Philipp von Schulthess.

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  2. #002

    David Bamber, who plays Hitler, imitates Hitler's normal speaking voice very well. He based it on the only known recording of the German dictator speaking in a conversational tone. It was recorded in Finland when Adolf visited Finnish General Mannerheim for his birthday. A radio operator safely recorded part of the conversation, and it has been preserved to this day. In this film Hitler speaks in a very deep voice and with a distinctive Austrian accent, very different from his voice in recordings of his public speeches.

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  3. #003

    Much of the film takes place in the offices of the Bendlerblock, which served as the office for the military operations of the Third Reich's military command. The Bendlerblock courtyard is where Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and the other conspirators were executed. Some of the film's shooting took place in the actual building. This building is now the German Resistance Memorial (German: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand). The statement in the film's final slide is from a plaque near the execution site at the Memorial.

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  4. #004

    When Hitler visits Smolensk, German officers are seen hurriedly smoking and then stamping out their cigarettes with their boots. Hitler hated smoking, so they tried to smoke until the last moment without offending him and potentially endangering their own careers.

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  5. #005

    The original film was destroyed during development after being processed with the wrong chemical, so some scenes had to be reshot.

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  6. #006

    The film does not mention that among the thousands of retaliation victims of the failed July Plot was Claus's brother Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, a lawyer and also one of the key co-conspirators.

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  7. #007

    After the assassination attempt failed, the Gestapo rounded up the opponents and tried, convicted and executed them. One of the men accused was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who committed suicide in exchange for his family's safety.

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  8. #008

    David Bamber (Adolf Hitler) is the only non-German actor who speaks with a German accent. The producers felt that Adolf Hitler speaking in Bamber's natural English accent would distract viewers. However, the difference that emerges in the accent is not very realistic, because Hitler was a native of Austria. The main language spoken in Germany and Austria is German, but Hitler's Austrian accent set him apart (mostly) among his German subordinates.

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  9. #009

    Before the production of Valkyrie, the German Ministry of Defence announced that filming would not be permitted at the country's military facilities because Tom Cruise is a member of Scientology, which German authorities regard as a dangerous cult.

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  10. #010

    On set, 11 extras playing Wehrmacht soldiers were injured when they fell from a moving truck. One suffered a serious back injury, while the rest had bruises, cuts and head injuries. An insurance company investigation concluded that one extra had improperly closed a side panel, causing it to open while the truck was moving.

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  11. #011

    Tom Cruise became interested in the role after seeing a picture of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and realizing how much he resembled him.

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  12. #012

    Some scenes in this film were shot at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, Germany. Babelsberg existed during the period depicted in this film and was used for shooting films approved by Nazi Reich Minister of Propaganda Josef Goebbels, who appears as a character in this film.

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  13. #013

    Unlike the other actors playing major characters, Tom Cruise is never seen smoking in this film. In contrast, the real Stauffenberg was a lifelong smoker, though he was reportedly able to give up cigarettes temporarily of his own accord when necessary, while dealing with illnesses he was prone to such as throat infections or gastritis.

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  14. #014

    Stauffenberg and Goerdeler shared a well-documented mutual dislike in real life, just as in this film.

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  15. #015

    The film takes place from 13 March 1943 to 21 July 1944.

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  16. #016

    The opening prologue is a quotation from the Nazis' compulsory oath of loyalty for German Armed Forces soldiers. It says: "I swear by God this sacred oath: that I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Father of the German Empire and people, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath…".

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  17. #017

    The screenplay for this film appeared on the 2007 Black List, a list of the year's most liked unproduced screenplays.

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  18. #018

    The film was a ghost-directed production, with Christopher McQuarrie and Thomas Newton Seigel directing during director Bryan Singer's absences or when he arrived late on set.

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  19. #019

    The fountain pen that was attached to Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg's bag when Adolf Hitler signed the revised Valkyrie was a Pelikan M100, a model produced in Germany during World War II.

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  20. #020

    In a 2009 interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, grand-nephew Franz Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg criticized the characterization of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg in this film as too timid, too serious and not unconventional enough.

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Production Story (1)

  1. #021

    The film was first scheduled for release on 8 August 2008 but was later pushed to 27 June 2008. The producer could not find a suitable location for the battle scene in which Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg loses his eye and hand, halted production and moved the release to 3 October 2008. Shooting resumed in June 2008 and the release was postponed to 13 February 2009. After a successful test screening it was released, and was finally moved to 25 December 2008.

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Behind the Scenes (1)

  1. #022

    Initially the German Ministry of Defence would not allow filming at the Bendlerblock. After objections from Tom Cruise and screenwriter and producer Christopher McQuarrie, they backed down. The entire crew began each day's shooting with a minute of silence in memory of those who gave their lives in the Germans' known last assassination attempt against Hitler.

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Characters & Cast (1)

  1. #023

    East German-born Thomas Kretschmann, who played Major Otto Ernst Remer, stated that he did not enjoy taking on Nazi roles in films. As of 2018 he had appeared as a Nazi fourteen times, including the lead role of Adolf Eichmann, one of the leaders and architects of the Jewish Final Solution. He also played the Nazi Hermann Fegelein in Downfall. Numerous videos were made in which entirely new subtitles were added for various, mostly comedic, subjects. Fegelein is the target of Hitler's rage and shouting.

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Deeper Meaning (1)

  1. #024

    The teleprinter room seen several times in this film is an extremely accurate depiction. Nearly thirty historically accurate original teleprinter machines of various types were used. Some were provided by collector and technical adviser Henning Treumann, while others were borrowed from other sources. All the machines were fully functional, and in the film they print original archive messages from the Nazi era, all fed from off-screen teleprinters and laptops.

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Related pages

  • Stephen Fry — Valkyrie comes up in the facts on that page

Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • IMDb IMDb title page (trivia)

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