This year marks the 60th anniversary of the filming of The Blue Max in Ireland. Gerry Duffy, who was nine at the time, recalls the excitement of a major Hollywood movie being shot in Dublin and other locations around the country.

 

The summer of 1965 saw the skies over South Dublin and Wicklow transformed into a World War I battlefield, as biplanes and triplanes weaved through the air in breathtaking aerial dogfights. With the roar of engines and the crackle of stunt gunfire, these vintage aircraft re-enacted the drama of early air combat against the city skyline.

Onlookers below, including myself as a nine-year-old boy, captivated by the spectacle, craned their necks skyward, witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime performance as history and Hollywood merged above them.

Ireland was chosen as the location for the 1917 setting ahead of Flanders and the Somme because in 1965 its skies were quieter and the countryside was less populated, giving a better backdrop to the WW1 era.
Baldonnel Aerodrome and Weston Airfield had not been overdeveloped and were quieter, unlike like other continental airfields and airports, so were chosen as a more suitable location.

The fact also that the Irish government was very helpful and cooperative in aiding the film company also swung the film makers here to Ireland. Seán Lemass, the then Taoiseach, visited the cast and crew at Weston, Baldonnel and Ardmore Studios in Bray on quite a few occasions to bolster the government’s support for the fledgling film industry.

Directed by John Guillermin, The Blue Max was one of the most ambitious aviation films of its time, with a budget of $5 million, ultimately earning over $16 million at the box office. It was unusual in that it portrayed WWI from the German side and highlighted the chivalry and honour amongst their flying officers.
20th Century Fox sourced an all-star lineup including three top A-listed actors at that time in George Peppard (Breakfast at Tiffanys), James Mason (Desert Fox / North by Northwest) and Ursula Andress (Dr No).

The film followed the rise of Bruno Stachel, an arrogant footsoldier who moved up the ranks to become a determined but despised German flying officer striving to earn the coveted Blue Max medal for downing 20 enemy aircraft. It featured a sub plot of a love triangle between the three main characters with fatal consequences.

The fine film score by Jerry Goldsmith added immensely to the film, instilling a sensation of flight, giving a rising and falling tempo in keeping with the movement of the replica aeroplanes.

Locations in Ireland became a stand-in for the battlefields of World War I. Calary Bog doubled for the Somme, Wicklow for a Northern France town, Dublin for Berlin, and Weston and Baldonnel airfields for Northern France and Berlin as filming began on the classic war film. Unlike Flanders and the Somme, which had modernised significantly, Ireland’s quieter skies and sparsely populated countryside provided an authentic backdrop for the war-torn landscapes of the era.

20th Century Fox chose Calary Bog as the area to create a typical French village representative of the Somme region of Northern France. On its completion, it was blown up to create the illusion of the war damaged village which featured in the opening scenes. Over 1,000 tons of explosives were used in 5,000 explosions across the bog to recreate the battle scenes resembling the Somme in 1917. Over 1,200 extras, including many Irish

Defence Forces personnel, were cast as soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

At Ardmore Studios, intricate interior sets were constructed to depict the officers’ mess, briefing rooms, and headquarters scenes. The set designers paid remarkable attention to detail, using authentic period props including maps, medals, and military paraphernalia, to enhance realism. Some of the furniture and decor were sourced from Irish antique dealers, adding to the historical accuracy.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own