Hitler's Hollywood

The German Cinema in the Age of Propaganda 1933 - 1945

The cinema - place of everyday escape, of immersion in dream worlds. It is a place that attracts the masses - even more so in the past than it is today. And therefore the medium of film is also perfectly suited to manipulate the audience. And this is exactly what the Nazi regime took advantage of during the period from 1933 to 1945. More than 1000 movies were produced in Germany during this time. Most of them simply offered good, harmless entertainment on the surface. But directed by the National Socialist state, the manipulative power of film was used quite deliberately to arouse yearnings in the people and to underpin their love of the Fatherland.

Hitler's Hollywood takes a fascinating look at this dark era of German cinema. Director Rüdiger Suchsland shows how technically perfect films were used to deliberately trigger emotions in viewers and how the meticulously planned Nazi propaganda machinery worked. It is fascinating to see the means by which this was achieved and the impact it had on the careers of some actors and actresses, as well as on those of directors and authors. Suchsland uses numerous examples to show the power that cinema can have, even if you might not realize it at first glance. For surprisingly few of the films made during this period are overt works of propaganda. Many other flicks from this dark era may seem almost inconsequential in comparison. And yet: there was actually no film that was not commissioned or approved by the regime - and thus every single film had a goal: To manipulate the German people, to keep them quiet or even to build up enemy images.

The stark discrepancy between artistic pretensions, which many of the films from this period have, and what they say in the context of contemporary history is what makes Hitler's Hollywood so interesting. But the documentary also shows that there were not only hangers-on and yes-men here who cared more about their careers than their artistic integrity and ethical sensibilities, but that there were also resisters and rebels and those who did not want to be part of this propaganda machine and therefore left Germany.

Hitler's Hollywood is a gripping piece of contemporary and cinematic history that is engaging, interesting and illuminatingly rehashed. A really good documentary that deserves a clear worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp