Hitler – Beast of Berlin

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This article is about the 1939 anti-Nazi propaganda thriller. For the 1918 anti-Kaiser propaganda melodrama silent film, see The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin.
Hitler, Beast of Berlin
Hitler, Beast of Berlin FilmPoster.jpeg
Film poster
Directed bySam Newfield (as Sherman Scott)
Written byFred Myton
Produced byProducers Releasing Corporation
StarringRoland Drew
Steffi Duna
Greta Granstedt
Alan Ladd
Music byDavid Chudnow
Distributed byProducers Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • October 8, 1939 (1939-10-08)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100,000

Hitler, Beast of Berlin (1939) was one of the most popular "hiss and boo" films of the World War II era, based on the novel Goose Step by (1907–1983).[1][2]

Production history[]

The film was the first production of Producers Releasing Corporation. It was recut and released as Beasts of Berlin the same year, having been banned in New York as too inflammatory at the time. It was also reissued in 1940 as Goose Step and in the early 1940s as Hell's Devils.[3][4][5][6][7]

Selected film criticism[]

Beast received mixed reviews. The film was distributed as an anti-Nazi thriller aimed at the North American domestic market.[3][4][5][6][7]

James G. Stahlman, political correspondent for Nashville Banner, wrote an editorial in 1939, criticizing the film for exploiting people's emotions over a serious matter – a repugnant, dangerous, dictator – in a way that clouds objectivity of the public at a critical time when force of arms may be needed. Stahlman seemed to say that using sensational propaganda to build antagonistic emotions under the guise of flag-waving public service (educating the public of the already obvious evils of Hitler) was easy money for the production, but dangerous for America (see Exploitation film and Nazi exploitation).[8] Propaganda vs. propaganda: a sub-irony of Stahlman's point was that the anti-Nazi propaganda film was being used to ridicule pro-Nazi propaganda related to the plot.

Plot[]

A man and his wife lead a German anti-Nazi propaganda literature movement. After an inadvertent betrayal, the husband is thrown into a concentration camp, from which he escapes to Switzerland.

Cast[]

  • Roland Drew as Hans Memling
  • Steffi Duna as Elsa Memling
  • Greta Granstedt as Anna Wahl
  • Alan Ladd as Karl Bach
  • Lucien Prival as Sachs
  • Vernon Dent as Lustig
  • as Gustav Schultz
  • George Rosener as Wunderlich
  • Bodil Rosing as Frau Kohler
  • Hans Heinrich von Twardowski as Storm Trooper Albert Stalhelm
  • as Herr Kohler
  • Hans Joby as Hermann Lippert
  • as Father Pommer
  • as Klee (as Clem Wilenchick)
  • as Erlich (as Henry von Zynda)
  • Adolf Hitler as himself (archive footage)

Production notes[]

Archival footage of Adolf Hitler is included.

Release[]

The film was released in 1940 as Goose Step.[9]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Shepard Traube, 76, Is Dead; Stage Producer and Director," New York Times, July 25, 1983
  2. ^ Goose Steps
    Hitler, Beast of Berlin
    Beasts of Berlin (Motion picture)
    Original screenplay
    By Shepard Traube (1907–1983), Producers Releasing Corporation (1937); OCLC 13473213
  3. ^ a b "The Screen – At the Globe: Beasts of Berlin" (film review), by New York Times, November 20, 1939
  4. ^ a b "Beasts of Berlin" (alternate link to article) (film review), by P.C.M., Jr., Motion Picture Herald, Vol. 137, No. 8, November 25, 1939, p. 42
  5. ^ a b "New York Review: Beasts of Berlin" (film review), by Charles S. Aaronson, Motion Picture Daily, November 24, 1939
  6. ^ a b "'Goose Step' Good, Drew a Standout," Film Daily, February 2, 1940
  7. ^ a b Goose Step, 1939 (production correspondence), Oscars collections, Margaret Herrick Library
  8. ^ "This Should Be Stopped," by James G. Stahlman, Nashville Banner, September 13, 1939 (accessible via Margaret Herrick Library at digitalcollections.oscars.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15759coll30/id/4715/rec/1, pps. 9–11)
  9. ^ "'Goose Step' Begins Run," Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1940, p. A7

External links[]

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