Escape from Germany

Escape From Germany purports to be the "incredible true story" of the evacuation of Mormon missionaries from Germany just prior to the invasion of Poland. While I'm prepared to believe such an evacuation took place, the film creates an entirely false narrative around the Mormon relationship to Hitler and Nazism - so the film qualifies as propaganda, not historical drama. From the outset Escape from Germany implies that Mormons were persecuted by the Nazis and in grave danger as war became inevitable. In fact, Hitler had no problem with Mormons and many German Mormons were enthusiastic Nazis. Moreover, the Mormon church was more than mildly enthusiastic about Hitler throughout the 1930s, not at all averse to anti-semitism and fully supportive of many Nazi policies, such as their laws against homosexuality. So when the film's Mormon missionaries are depicted as fearful and repulsed by SS officers, then kind and compassionate toward Jewish children, it is fanciful revisionism, not a believable depiction of Mormon attitudes of the time. Blatant propaganda aside, Escape From Germany - despite an obviously lavish budget - is hobbled by consistently lousy dialogue, some very ropey acting and loads of hilariously OTT German accents. About the only plus is the cast of impossibly good-looking missionaries. Oddly, most look as though they should have been cast as hot Nazis.