Hitler's Hollywood

Documentary on a fascinating subject dealt with a great deal of humanity and intelligence. It comes across to me as an homage to the artists and craftsmen and indeed the moviegoers of the cinema of of the Nazis, not the criminally insane behind the productions. The narration is gentle and enthuses over performances... (maybe too quiet on the soundtrack as the movie sound mix is off ....so Nazi music will burst out at twice the volume!). The commentary with the situation of the absolute lack of any true, honest beauty, or real humour leaves it all so open to derision now. British movies even then despite being propaganda for instance were much more easy going and self-effacing at the time. Most documentaries teach you a thing or two you didn't know but this was much more profound. It took me something I think more about the very nature of human evil. For things to meditate on, there is for instance the crazy toxic glow and melting polychromatic fantasies of the work of the studios at the very point of the nemesis of the third Reich.

I thought that this was very interesting but nothing like as good as Rudiger Suchsland's first documentary, From Caligari to Hitler (2014) which covered the first part of Siegfried Kracauer's book, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film published in 1947. There were some of the propaganda films good but there is only so much that you can watch and the rest of the films are rather tiresome with silly comedy, romantic and sci-fi or musicals which were considered my Goebbels as 'entertainment' although maybe they were all for propaganda. I loved the idea that in Nazi Germany 'horror' was not allowed and Goebbels hated the idea that it told of the truth.

While the basic subject is interesting, the analysis provided in this documentary is ultimately superficial. Much of the runtime simply functions as a clip show of Nazi-era films with the occasional biographical detail added for a director or actor. The sound mixing is way off at points, with a film's music or dialogue drowning out the voiceover (or voiceunder in this case) narration.

In 105 minutes Ruediger Suchsland's 'Hitler's Hollywood' provides a startling retrospective of German cinema under the skillfull hand of Hitler's propaganda mage who was Josef Goebbels. As Reichminister for Propaganda and National Enlightenemnt, he had total control of cinema, radio, press and theatre. Evil genius that he was, he had a deep intuitive understanding of mass psychology, and in 'Hitler's Hollywood' we see a large swathe of Nazi controlled films from 1933-to 1945, when the first Oscar winner Emil Jannings was in the midst of staring in a film. With great intelligence, we also see how the Nazis through talented film makers out did Hollywood in romantic comedies, musicales and extolling the 'virtues' of the 'master race' in physical beauty. And yet, the dark eyed Swedish singer Zarah Leander appeared in musicales with military themes, or the German penchant for exotic Slavs or Gypsies. And yet, her career in post war Europe, there she was with a number one hit 'Wunderbar', sung in English. Her sultry, deep throat voice still even today has not lost its mystery and allure. [See, YouTune]. Hans Detlef Sierck's 'La Habanera' made her a star and a household name. Sierck remade himself after the war, and much lionised in Hollywood as Douglas Sirk. There he was the masterly eye behind luscious romantic films like 'Magnificent Obsession' and 'All Heaven Allows'. He honed his technique at the Ufa Studios and theatre, and the influence of Goebbels ideas found its way in Hollywood, perhaps. Popular singers like Hans Albers who sang of and longed for the South Seas, transitioned to a postwar career without a hiccup. Suchsland does make a seamless cloth of Nazi cinema from the 1930s to the change of fortunes of defeat in Russia and the collapse of the Third Reich. Films became more realistic, less romantic and cotton candy. One thing remained a red thread: anti-Semitism. 'Jud Suess' by Van Harlan, with his wife, Krista Soederbaum, is an infamous anti-Semitic film that pulls no punches as an odious film, yet one extolling Nazi pathological hatred of Jews. And, he, too, survived the war, and continued to make film until his death in West Germany. Goebbels understood 'soft power', and German films flooded European markets as they did in America's ethnic picture houses that spoke to 'benign' anti-Semitism that flourished in Europe and the US. Even Ingrid Bergman as an ingenue appeared in a German film before she left for Hollywood. Suchsland script alludes to her guilt, which maght have been, and he repurchasing her guilt by playing Isle in 'Casablanca'? A reviewer cannot do justice to 'Hitler's Hollywood' but strongly suggest you go see it, and visually and emotionally and intellectually absorb the dazzling cross section of 'Hitler's Hollywood'. And this documentary is a cautionary tale of techniques that used today. 'Caveat emptor!'

I had no idea about the propaganda movies. Many moviestars i recognized from movies when I was young, but didn't know anything about their past.