Scientology Hinders Tom Cruise's Latest Film

LONDON, July 2, 2007 — -- To film or not to film -- that is the question surrounding Tom Cruise's latest movie.

Cruise was set to begin shooting in Germany next month. In the film, called "Valkyrie," the actor will play Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, the leader of an unsuccessful plot to kill Adolf Hitler in July 1944.

The news that the actor is to play the German aristocrat, who was executed by a firing squad after the failed assassination attempt, has angered quite a few Germans -- most of all von Stauffenberg's family.

Von Stauffenberg's oldest son, Berthold, a 72-year-old retired German army colonel, is furious that Cruise will play his father.

He told Sueddeutsche Zeitung in Munich, "I had hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr. Cruise and the movie makers. It is sure to be crap. Of course, I could be wrong -- I would like to be. I'm not saying Cruise is a bad actor, I cannot judge that, but he should keep his hands off my father."

Other newspapers here were quick to report that the Ministry of Defense in Berlin, where most of the movie will be shot, had strong objections because of Cruise's membership in the Church of Scientology.

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung was quoted as saying that because of the actor's belief in Scientology the filmmakers could not shoot at any military sites if Cruise were to play von Stauffenberg.

When contacted, German defense ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer told ABC News, "The only thing we really care for is that von Stauffenberg is shown as the important historical figure he is. Germany's military has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and in Count von Stauffenberg's person in particular."

Some articles published this weekend suggest that Cruise and his team would be banned from filming at the original location of the attempted plot, the so-called Bendler Bloc, because of the movie star's religious views.

Scientology has been monitored in Germany because it is believed that its activities are "directed against the free democratic order" in the country.