Hitler – Beast of Berlin

Hitler, Beast of Berlin
Film poster
Directed by Sam Newfield (as Sherman Scott)
Produced by Producers Releasing Corporation
Written by Fred Myton
Starring Roland Drew
Steffi Duna
Greta Granstedt
Alan Ladd
Music by David Chudnow
Distributed by Producers Releasing Corporation
Release date
  • October 8, 1939 (1939-10-08)
Running time
 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English
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 Shepard Traube (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

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. 1 2 "The Screen – At the Globe: Beasts of Berlin" (film review), by New York Times, November 20, 1939
  4. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "New York Review: Beasts of Berlin" (film review), by Charles S. Aaronson, Motion Picture Daily, November 24 1939
  6. 1 2 "'Goose Step' Good, Drew a Standout," Film Daily, February 2, 1940
  7. 1 2 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
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