The Log of U-35/Battleship Potemkin - Movie(s) of the Month January 2025

[Admiral_Karasu]

Movie of the Month for January 2025

This time we've got a double feature!

Try having the movie watched by the first weekend or so, that's SAT/SUN January 11/12.

Note! Recommended that you use the link to watch the movie in an adjacent tab or new window for ease of reference.

Disclaimer. Some people may perceive this films as still having propaganda value. Note that not everything you may see is entirely historically correct or factual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxsjPku8zR4

 

On Wikipedia (the actual SM U-35):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-35_(Germany)

And on IMDB:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010375/

NB. The Youtube link is to the US version, the original German film had a longer running time.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060008290

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCR44ihk6C8

 

On Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship_Potemkin

And on IMDB:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015648/

 

Spoiler Warning!

If you have no clue about the movie previously, watch the movie first before going into the discussion.

 

General discussion of the movie to follow below.

[Admiral_Karasu]

It's Sunday January 12th...

Does the Bortsch vermine à la Potemkine meet your expectations?

[Wolfswetpaws]

1 hour ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

It's Sunday January 12th...

Does the Bortsch vermine à la Potemkine meet your expectations?

You lost me at Bortsch.

[Admiral_Karasu]

7 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

You lost me at Bortsch.

I sense that someone has not yet completed their assignment... anyone else?

[Wolfswetpaws]

Just now, Admiral_Karasu said:

I sense that someone has not yet completed their assignment.

True.

[Justin_Simpleton]

The Battleship Potemkim was pretty good to watch.  It took me awhile to figure out there were English subtitles.  I liked the scenes showing how some of the equipment were operated such as hoisting the gangway.  I had to laugh when they were preparing to steam out and meet the Admiral's squadron because all the gages in the engine room showed zero. It looked like a cold steam plant to me.  I nominate the child that got shot for the "best acting while dead" award. 

[Admiral_Karasu]

53 minutes ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

The Battleship Potemkim was pretty good to watch.  It took me awhile to figure out there were English subtitles.  I liked the scenes showing how some of the equipment were operated such as hoisting the gangway.  I had to laugh when they were preparing to steam out and meet the Admiral's squadron because all the gages in the engine room showed zero. It looked like a cold steam plant to me.  I nominate the child that got shot for the "best acting while dead" award. 

I haven't completely been able to figure out which ships they used for the filming, and for which part of the filming as well. The choices mentioned are the battleships Rostislav (scuttled at the time), Dvenadsat Apostolei (Odessa port), and the cruiser Pamyat Merkuriya. I suspect that only the cruiser was operational enough to run under steam so if the gauges showed zero, the engine room scene was more than likely shot in Odessa port. A nicely spotted goof, there.

Rostislav, by the way, was in 1905 Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Krieger's flagship (acting commander of the Black Sea Fleet) and more than likely the  Admiral's squadron in the movie would have been Krieger's squadron. The mutiny was, apparently, first planned to start on the Rostislav, not the Potemkin, by 'tsentralka'.

[Justin_Simpleton]

Which battleships had the three guns per turret?  The one in the movie was part of the Admiral's squadron.

[Wolfswetpaws]

9 minutes ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

Which battleships had the three guns per turret?  The one in the movie was part of the Admiral's squadron.

 

Quote

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015648/trivia/?ref_=tt_dyk_trv

The battleship used during the filming was not the "Knyaz Potyomkin-Tavricheskiy," but an older battleship called "Dvenadstat Apostolov" (The Twelve Apostles), as the original battleship 'Potyomkin' had been broken up in 1922.

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The ship that stands for battleship Potemkin, the Twelve Apostles, was beached in order to mark a sand bank, so the stern was deep into the rocks. That is why, throughout the film, there are no panoramic shots of the ship, and the stern is never visible.  

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Battleship "Dvenadtsat Apostolov," that played a part of "Potemkin," was removed from active service in 1911 and served as a mine hulk until mid-1920s, when the film was made. Despite the fact that she was from a similar period (1892) and of similar size, she had to be heavily modified externally, including the addition of dummy gun turrets.  

 

 

Quote

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015648/goofs/?tab=gf&ref_=tt_dyk_gf  

In the Imperial squadron near the end of the film, there are close-ups of triple gun turrets of Gangut-class dreadnought. It possibly was made this way to show the power of Imperial fleet, but battleships of 1905 were much smaller pre-dreadnoughts, with twin turrets only, just like "Potemkin". "Ganguts" entered service in 1914.

 

Edited January 12 by Wolfswetpaws

[Admiral_Karasu]

I thought the turret looked familiar. Compare the photo of Gangut here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Gangut_(1911)

To what we see in the movie

https://youtu.be/mCR44ihk6C8?t=4102

... and you will quickly see it is the rear turret of a Gangut class battleship.