Docu-drama/propaganda film showing the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Originally produced in France, then acquired by a British studio and re-edited. The film was then licenced to the US studio Crystal Pictures and trimmed. A bit "shouty" and cartoonish by today's standards, but it served its purpose and is historically accurate.
The fact that the US Production Code Authority took exception to the "unsympathetic portrayals" of Nazi officials, and the fact that anti-Semitic references were removed from prints by certain states, sadly shows how far America had its head buried in the sand in the years immediately leading up to World War Two.
Note: The existing US print runs only 43 minutes, and certain actors known to be in the British version (Robert Beatty, Henry Oscar and Herbert Lom) are not present.
-Dave W. |