The character of Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt
Aldo Raine, second lieutenant of the American Special Forces, is also known as "El Apache" because of his fondness for slicing hair in the style of those Indians. Aldo is also a native of Tennessee, the birthplace of Quentin Tarantino and the origin of many of his characters: Butch Coolidge, Zed, and Maynard in Pulp Fiction, Sheriff Earl McGraw, and Budd in Kill Bill, and Stuntman Mike in Death Proof.
The name Aldo Raine is a tribute to one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite actors: Aldo Ray, a regular in "exploitation" movies. The last name "Raine" is a tribute to the main character "Charles Rane" from the film Operation Rolling Thunder, another of the director's favorites.
Casting director Johanna Ray, who worked on Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds, was married to Aldo Ray from 1960-67.
Raine's Italian alias when they go undercover at the premiere of the movie "Pride of a Nation" is Enzo Girolami, a clear homage to Italian director Enzo Girolami Castellari (Enzo G. Castellari), director of the original version of Inglourious Basterds and of numerous spaghetti westerns, among which Keoma (1976) stands out.
The references in the names of the protagonists
The character's name Hugo Stiglitz is a tribute to the real-life German-Mexican actor of the same name, a regular in B series and exploitation movies during the 1970s.
The name of Mrs. Mimieux (aka Shosanna) is probably based on the actress Yvette Mimieux, who in turn acted in Mercernarios (Dark of the Sun), along with Rod Taylor (The Birds, Time on Your Hands) who in turn plays Winston Churchill in Inglourious Basterds. Expendables is another of Tarantino's favorite movies, typical of a bunch of guys on risky missions.
General Ed Fenech, played by Mike Myers (Austin Powers), is a member of the British Armed Forces who is working with the Bastard Special Operations Unit. The name of the character is a tribute to the actress Edwige Fenech, star of numerous erotic Italian films of the 70s.
Quentin Tarantino's friends
The Narrator of Inglourious Basterds is none other than Samuel L. Jackson, a regular in Tarantino films like Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown.
The American radio official with whom they "pact" at the end of the film is none other than Harvey Keitel. Other Tarantino regulars; is Mr. Wolf in Pulp Fiction, Mr. White in Reservoir Dogs, and Jacob Fuller in From Dusk Till Dawn.
Sergeant Donny Donowitz, also known as "the Bear Jew", is played by Eli Roth, director of Hostel and personal friend of Quentin Tarantino. According to Quentin himself, Donny is the father of Lee Donowitz who appears in Point Blank Love, as a billionaire film producer who has made several hit movies.
Some of the countless movie references
The title and the "base" of the film are a very clear homage to the 1978 Italian film: Quel Maledetto Treno Blindato also known as "Inglorious Bastards".
Bridget Von Hammersmark, the character played by Diane Kruger, a popular movie star in Nazi Germany, is inspired by famous German actresses of the time, such as Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl -who became the director of such prominent documentaries as The Triumph of the Will and Olympia-.
Quentin Tarantino wanted to make a war movie in the style of a spaghetti western, so he decided that the title would be "Once Upon a Time in Occupied France." He ultimately dismissed it but gave that name to the title of the film's first chapter.
Shosanna Dreyfus, the character played by Melanie Laurent, is a Jewish girl whose family is murdered by the Nazis and who escapes the massacre. Shosanna bears a strong resemblance to another character from Quentin's movie: Kill Bill's Bride. Like her, Shosanna is blonde, smart, strong, and out for revenge.
Marcel is a black Frenchman who works as a projectionist alongside Shosanna Dreyfus in his movie theater. Played by Jacky Ido, Marcel's name is a variation of Marsellus... like the character Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction (also black and also in a relationship with a white woman).
The German actor Gedeon Burkhard, the bastard Wilhelm Wicki, was 1995 to 2001 the protagonist of the television hit Rex, a Different Policeman accompanying the dog that gives its name to the series.
As it did in Kill Bill, there is a division of Inglourious Basterds into clearly differentiated chapters.
Several of the scenes in the film, such as Aldo Raine's first appearance before his men or the final part in the cinema, are very reminiscent of various moments in the quintessential war mission film The Dirty Twelve.
During the footage, musical pieces by Ennio Morricone, Dimitri Tiomkin, Charles Bernstein, Gianni Ferrio, or Riz Ortolani from war films and spaghetti westerns from the 60s or 70s follow one another.
During the tavern scene, you can see the names of famous German actors and directors of the time such as G.W. Pabst or Emil Jannings, as well as movie titles like King Kong.
Aldo Raine and two of his men use the Italian names Antonio Margheriti, Enzo Gorlomi, and Dominic Decocco as aliases. The first two are tributes to Italian B-series and spaghetti western directors, the first to the director of the same name and the second to Enzo Girolami Castellari (Enzo G. Castellari), who appears briefly at the cocktail party in the cinema.
