Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever?

Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever (German: Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben) is an 1959 West-German film, directed by Frank Wisbar and based on the eponymous novel by Fritz Wöss. The movie revolves around the Battle of Stalingrad. The title is vaguely drawn from Friedrich the Great's words when he saw his soldiers fleeing at Kolin: "You cursed rascals, do you want to live forever?^[1]"

Plot summary

The young Wehrmacht Lieutenant Wisse is sent to serve as a liaison officer with the Romanian Army at Stalingrad. His new commander, Major Linkmann, is a rigid officer who looks down on their allies, contrary to Wisse. Soon after his arrival, the Red Army encircles the Germans, and they retreat into the city of Stalingrad. During the flight, Linkmann tries to abandon them. Wisse convinces a sergeant to ignore the orders obliging him to burn the supply depot, thus procuring provisions for the soldiers. In Stalingrad, he is again put under Linkmann's command. The tensions between them soar while their soldiers become desperate with hunger, as the 6th Army is ordered to hold on. Wisse is nearly captured by the Soviets, but a Russian woman whom he once helped leads him back to the German lines. Eventually, Linkmann tries to surrender by himself, but is shot dead by two of his own men. When the 6th Army commander, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, orders the remaining German troops in Stalingrad to surrender, Wisse and his soldiers are sent to a POW camp.

Select cast

• Joachim Hansen as Wisse
• Wilhelm Borchert as Friedrich Paulus
• Wolfgang Preiss as Linkmann
• Carl Lange as General von Seydlitz
• Karl John as Hermann Hoth
• Peter Carsten as Obergefreiter Kraemer
• Richard Münch as Oberstleutnant Kesselbach
• Günter Pfitzmann as Wachtmeister Kunowski
• Sonja Ziemann as Katja
• Gunnar Möller as Leutnant Fuhrmann

References

External links

• Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? at the Internet Movie Database