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.

Many German politicians consider the group -- which is not officially registered as a church -- to be a sect masquerading as a religion to make money. But Scientology leaders reject this.

Sabine Weber, spokesperson for the Church of Scientology in Germany told ABC News, "German politicians are simply attacking top Scientologists like Cruise because they want to step into the limelight. That's what it is all about. Neither the Church nor any of its members' personal beliefs have any bearing on the movie's themes or content."

Tom Cruise's co-producer, Paula Wagner, told news agencies pretty much the same thing and added, "Germany is the only place we can truly do the story justice. We believe the film will go a long way towards reminding the world that even within the ranks of the German military, there was real resistance to the Nazi regime."

That statement, however, does not seem to calm down von Stauffenberg's son who remarked, "In any case, I fear it could turn into horrible kitsch."