Laird Jimenez, Thomas Swenson and staffers at Seattle's famous Scarecrow Video have put together a list of movie references and influences they have found in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds." In the introduction ("Before They Were Basterds, Jimenez opines that "IB" is perhaps Tarantino's "most deft handling of reference and homage yet.... Some of these films are directly referenced in the film, others are only evoked, while others still are films we simply felt should go on the list."
A few samples:
Action in ArabiaFeatured in Tarantino's list of top five WWII pictures, also stars George Sanders on whose film persona the Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) character seemed to be modeled.
Battleship Potemkin
Eli Roth watched this for inspiration before making the "Nation's Pride" film within the film, and the famous gunshot to the eye image appears recreated in "Nation's Pride."Le Corbeau
Shows at Shosanna's theater, Le Gamaar. A classic anti-collaborationist satire from director Clouzot. This film got Clouzot in trouble with the resistance and the Reich.
The Guns of Navarone
A seminal men-on-a-mission classic.
Hangmen Also Die
"When I was writing the script for "Inglourious Basterds," I ended up looking at a different type of war film than I'd ever watched before. These were the propaganda movies made in the '40s, mostly directed by foreign directors living in Hollywood because the Nazis had occupied their home countries, like Fritz Lang with "Hangmen Also Die." What's really interesting is that WWII was going on, the Nazis were an actual threat, not a theoretical threat, not just movie bad guys. Those directors, in most cases, had personal experience with the Nazis, and obviously they had to be worried about their loved ones back home. And yet those films are entertaining, they're thrilling adventure stories, and oftentimes they're quite funny, there's a lot of humor in them. And this goes against all the ponderous, anti-war, violin-music diatribes that we've seen in war movies since the '80s." -- Quentin Tarantino
Men in War
A good Aldo Ray war movie. [JE: Specifically, a classic platoon movie, directed by Anthony Mann. You can hear it in the Firesign Theatre's "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers," too.]
Sabotage
During narrator Sam Jackson's explanation of the flammable properties of nitrate film, a clip from this Hitchcock picture is briefly shown of a kid trying to board a bus with a film print. The conductor denies him entry for safety reasons. If you watch the film you will be aware of the fact that, unbeknownst to any of the characters, the kid is actually carrying a ticking time bomb.
More here.
I'm glad to see that you're also a fan of Firesign Theatre, Jim. They are probably the most literary of comedians of t last century, and they deserve way more attention. They're practically Joycean in their poetic playful use of language. I love their sketch, "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger." Never has there been a better artistic homage to Dashiell Hammett. Period.
Nice list, though exhaustive as it seems not complete. I'd say the scene in the office with Landa and von Hammersmarck is a direct reference to Hitchcock's Frenzy. Brad Pitt channels a middle-aged Marlon Brando overacting a southern States accent; his scar over the throat points to the Clint Eastwood character in Hang 'em High. I see a slight resemblance of Michael Fassbender to the young Sean Connery, especially during the office scene, where he sports the moustache [reminiscent of Connery in A Bridge Too Far] and uses some Connery mannerisms [eyebrow, anyone?].
I'd also take exception to a minor point about German soldiers referencing Edgar Wallace during the war. While his novels had been very successful in Germany before the war [through the Goldmann Verlag], it is doubtful the decidedly British author was held in high esteem during the 1940s.
It wasn't till 1959 and the following decade that Wallace's name become kind of legendary here through the still very, very successful movie series produced with his name [some of them rather good, almost none with any resemblance to the actual contents of the novels giving the film titles]. Clearly QT uses the post-war Edgar Wallace just like he uses the French Emmanuelle movies from the 1970s as a reference point.
That's a gorgeous BASTERDS poster, and one I haven't seen before; is that art by Tomer Hanuka?
Dierk, I wrote the bit about Wallace, and I very much appreciate your clarification. May I quote you on that, it's the kind of insight I was hoping we would get from the public at large!
Laird, no problem, you can cite me on Wallace and everything else. If you want I can tell you more about Edgar Wallace and Germany, just send me an e-mail [the link leads you to my German Who-am-I page, which should lead you easily to an address; or ask Mr Emerson to hand over the one I use here].
Is there any significance to the name of the theatre "Le Gamaar?" I have also looked in all my French dictionaries and cannot find this word......or is it just someone's last name?
Walter Pompei