The film depicts the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement from a small radical political adventurer and cell to the dictatorial regime of Germany in the genre of a gangster film. The h... Read allThe film depicts the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement from a small radical political adventurer and cell to the dictatorial regime of Germany in the genre of a gangster film. The historical facts are portrayed accurately, with the exception of some minor errors.The film depicts the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement from a small radical political adventurer and cell to the dictatorial regime of Germany in the genre of a gangster film. The historical facts are portrayed accurately, with the exception of some minor errors.
- Geli Raubal
- (as Poldi Dur)
- Angela Raubal
- (as Helen Thimig)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film represents one of a small handful of American films that featured the word "Hitler" or "Hitler's", and both referencing Adolf Hitler in their titles and were made around the time of the Second World War. These movies include Hitler's Children (1943); Hitler's Madman (1943) aka Hitler's Hangman; Hitler--Dead or Alive (1942); the documentary short, Hitler Lives (1945); The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler (1943); Hitler's Women aka Women in Bondage (1943); the comic short The Devil with Hitler (1942) and Hitler: Beast of Berlin (1939).
- GoofsAdolf Hitler was already member of the German Workers' Party when Ernst Röhm joined it in 1919. In the movie it is the other way around.
- Quotes
Captain Ernst Röhm: Gerlich has shot himself.
Streicher: He's the first man who shot himself in the head six times.
- ConnectionsEdited into Hitler (1962)
- SoundtracksDas Lied der Deutschen
(uncredited)
music by Joseph Haydn
original lyrics by August Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben
(played and sang various times in the movie)
Bobby Watson plays Hitler--as he'd done in other films of the time. He bore a very close resemblance to Hitler. While this is not really a good thing, it kept him busy during WWII making such propaganda comedy films as "Nazty Nuisance" and "The Devil With Hitler". Here, however, he plays the Nazi leader in a non-comedic role. In total, Watson played Hitler in 9 films! In addition, the actors they chose to play such notable Nazis as Hess and Röhm looked remarkably similar to their real life counterparts--showing the studio actually took some time with this film to get the look right. So, despite a relatively low budget, the studio took this project very seriously.
For the most part, the film does follow the career of Hitler. The most sensational part of the movie, his relationship with his niece, Geli, was actually probably even sicker than the film portrays. I don't think audiences of the day wanted a THOROUGH examination of his life with her--some of the allegations are too nasty to list on IMDb (they probably would not allow it). The film implied that Hitler killed her, but it's more likely his very bizarre sexual demands and obsessive demand for her attentions led to her suicide.
The biggest inaccuracy in the film was the constant portrayal of Hitler as an abject coward or a man easily manipulated by his staff. Now I am NOT an apologist for him--he was evil personified. But, unfortunately, he was not a coward. For example, despite the film showing him with hysterical blindness during WWI (a story that is inconsistent with him as a soldier), Hitler LOVED WWI and loved danger--often volunteering for insanely difficult missions. He really was gassed during the war, got blown up another time and received two Iron Crosses--something practically unheard of for someone who was not an officer. In war, he was in his element and thrived. Frankly, this true picture is a worse image--a war-loving monster instead of the abject coward and blow-hard they showed him to be in the movie. And, a man who was all too aware of the evils his henchmen did! Overall, a very good bio of Hitler. Well constructed and acted--and fascinating throughout.
- planktonrules
- Oct 7, 2011
Details
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1