Kooshmeister
New member
It's (fairly) well-known there is a weird goof wherein Gobler refers to Dietrich as a major, in a line spoken in German that roughly translates to "The plane is ready, Major. It (the Ark) can be loaded now." (More or less.)
I think I figured out why he says this.
The line was apparently originally given not by Gobler to Dietrich, but by one of the mechanics to Gobler (whose insignia denotes him as a major), back at the airfield. Pat Roach's character, to be precise. At least, this is how it is shown in the comic, where Pat's mechanic tells Gobler the plane is prepped and they can load the Ark.
This may also explain why Pat is credited as "1st Mechanic" despite being the second one to appear; he originally was going to appear first and tell Gobler the plane was ready.
In essence what I think happened is the longer scene where the mechanic talks to Gobler got trimmed down and likely was never even filmed (since Pat Roach is not visible in the shot of Gobler leaving the airfield). The mechanic's line was then given to Gobler without regard for correct ranks.
This begs the question: why did native German speaker Wolf Kahler not notice? my personal theory is because Anthony Higgins, as Gobler, spoke to him on the set in English and was dubbed over later by a German voice actor, and the German actor probably one who read the line verbatim as it was scripted.
I think I figured out why he says this.
The line was apparently originally given not by Gobler to Dietrich, but by one of the mechanics to Gobler (whose insignia denotes him as a major), back at the airfield. Pat Roach's character, to be precise. At least, this is how it is shown in the comic, where Pat's mechanic tells Gobler the plane is prepped and they can load the Ark.
This may also explain why Pat is credited as "1st Mechanic" despite being the second one to appear; he originally was going to appear first and tell Gobler the plane was ready.
In essence what I think happened is the longer scene where the mechanic talks to Gobler got trimmed down and likely was never even filmed (since Pat Roach is not visible in the shot of Gobler leaving the airfield). The mechanic's line was then given to Gobler without regard for correct ranks.
This begs the question: why did native German speaker Wolf Kahler not notice? my personal theory is because Anthony Higgins, as Gobler, spoke to him on the set in English and was dubbed over later by a German voice actor, and the German actor probably one who read the line verbatim as it was scripted.