So Others May Live
Logline
A German firefighter struggles to save lives in Nazi Berlin while a Lancaster pilot prepares to fly one last mission.
Genre
War,Historical Fiction,Suspense/Thriller
Short Summary
Michael and Grace argue before he returns to his base for his final mission as Karl Weber, station commander, takes charge of teenage auxiliaries, now part of Berlin's defenses. He meets Ursula on a call, but is unaware of the dangerous game she is playing which might put his own life at risk.
Michael nurses his crippled bomber back to England as Grace awaits his return. Ursula is arrested by the Gestapo and Karl dies saving the lives of the men sent to arrest him.
Setting
1943 London and Berlin
Based on a True Story
No
Plot - Premise
Tragedy
Plot - Other Elements
Other
Mature Audience Themes
Language/Profanity
Main Character Details
Name: Karl Weber
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Heroic,Honorable,Leader,Decisive,Selfless
Additional Character Details
Name: Ursula Muller
Age: Early 20s
Gender: Female
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Confident,Heroic,Patriotic,Secretive,Visionary
Additional Character Details
Name: Michael O'Hanlon
Age: Early 20s
Gender: Male
Role: protagonist
Key Traits: Leader,Complex,Desperate,Heroic
Additional Character Details
Name: Michael O'Hanlon
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Role: protagonist
Key Traits: Complex,Desperate,Heroic,Insecure,Leader
Development Pitch
Imagine: You are a firefighter. Not in your own town. But in Nazi Germany. Your job is to save lives as your government seeks to destroy them. Karl Weber, station commander, thought the fighting on the Eastern Front was bad, but then he experienced the heavy raid on Hamburg in July 1943. Haunted by his memories, he goes about his job of running a fire station in central Berlin as he and his crew, reduced by the demands of the war, go about the daily grind of responding to alarms by day and air raids by night. To supplement his personnel, Karl is assigned a group of teenage auxiliaries who now make up part of Berlin's defenses against a nightly rain of fire. Meanwhile in Charlottenburg, Ursula Muller is living a double life. By day, she is a civilian telephone operator for the government. By night, she serves as a courier for a resistance group. Keeping secrets in Nazi Germany is difficult, and Ursula is unaware that she is already being tailed by the dreaded Gestapo. When she accidentally starts a small fire in her flat, Ursula meets Karl and is instantly drawn to him, though she knows that is not good for either of them. In the course of a single night, amidst the horror of an air raid, they learn the true meaning of courage and sacrifice. Title: So Others May Live Logline: One man struggles to save lives for a regime bent upon destroying them.