[4] Manfred von Richthofen is newly assigned to a German air squadron under the command of Oswald Boelcke.

Outraged by an order to camouflage his squadron's aircraft, he paints them in bright conspicuous colors, claiming that gentlemen should not hide from their enemies.

Richthofen suffers a skull wound during an aerial battle, and begins showing troubling signs of memory loss and confusion.

Back at their aerodrome, Richthofen berates fellow pilot Hermann Göring for strafing medical personnel.

He refuses a job offer from the government deciding to help fight alongside his men, knowing it will probably lead to his death in combat.

Another thing he wanted to do was to contrast the Baron with the man who had been credited with shooting him down, Canadian RAF pilot Roy Brown, although it is now considered all but certain by historians, doctors, and ballistics experts that Richthofen was actually killed by an AA machine gunner firing from the ground.

Whereas Roy Brown, the so-called hero, was a garage mechanic from Canada who was so frightened of flying that he got ulcers and had to drink a quart of milk before he could take off.

I took all that and played upon the theme that World War I ended the concept of chivalry and honor among soldiers in combat and ushered in the era of mass slaughter of the ordinary man.

[10] Ex-RCAF pilot Lynn Garrison supplied the aircraft, crews and facilities, and personally coordinated the flying sequences; Garrison had purchased the collection of hangars, aircraft, vehicles and support equipment accumulated for filming 20th Century's top-grossing film, The Blue Max, after the production wrapped in 1965.

Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, was one of the film's stunt pilots, and wrote about some of his experiences at Weston during its production.

[14] United Artists who were financing the picture turned down Bruce Dern, who was Corman's original choice for Roy Brown.

Don Stroud - whom Corman had selected to play Richthofen - was given the role instead and John Phillip Law was cast as the Baron.

[17][18] For the aerial sequences, Corman used an Aérospatiale Alouette II helicopter, along with a Helio Courier, for the photography, supported by a number of specialized camera mounts Garrison developed for use on individual aircraft.

Garrison trained Law and Stroud to the point where they could take off, land a Stampe, and fly basic sequences themselves from the rear seat, filmed with a rear-facing camera.

On 15 September 1970, Charles Boddington, a veteran of both The Blue Max and Darling Lili, was killed when his S.E.5 spun in during a low-level manoeuvre over the airfield.

"[20] Some of the interior shots in Von Richthofen and Brown were filmed at Powerscourt House, a noted stately home in County Wicklow, Ireland.

[23][24] Corman says when United Artists saw the final cut they insisted the actors be redubbed so that the German characters had accents.

"[27] Critics also connected Corman's anti-war views with the central characters of the film, seeing the antagonists as representing the modern relentless killing machine versus old world chivalry.