The Hitler Gang

The Hitler Gang (1944)

DID HITLER KILL THE ONE GIRL HE EVER LOVED?

The Hitler Gang adopts the style of a gangster film as it charts Adolf Hitler’s rise from small-time politico to dictator of Germany.

Date of release
1944-04-26
TMDB
6.3 / 10 (10)
Runtime
1h 41m
Genres
Drama, War
Director
John Farrow

Casting

Interesting facts

The Hitler Gang is a 1944 American pseudo-documentary film directed by John Farrow, which traces the political rise of Adolf Hitler. Described as a "documentary-propaganda" film by its studio, Paramount Pictures, the historical drama is based on documented fact and marks the first serious effort to portray Hitler in film. The filmmakers chose to avoid casting stars in the lead roles, assembling instead a remarkable company of lookalikes to play Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Göring, and other leading Nazis.

Production

In 1918 the Germans, facing annihilation, surrendered to the Allies. But there were men among them who did not acknowledge defeat. Before the last shot was fired, they were already planning for the next world war. This is the story of those men. Shocking though it may be, it is based on fact. The episodes throughout are authenticated by documentary records, by the works of reputable historians, and in some instances by actual participants.

Paramount Pictures production chief Buddy De Sylva was inspired to make The Hitler Gang after he saw the 1941 Nazi propaganda film, Ohm Krüger. "The Germans did a good job on that picture," De Sylva said. "Their production was excellent, their story was dramatic and though we know the picture is a lie, other peoples may not realize it. What we're doing is taking a different tack.

Paramount called The Hitler Gang a "documentary-propaganda" film. Pre-production began in March 1943. Extensive research was done to accurately document events, at a cost that exceeded $40,000. Great care was taken to authentically reproduce every detail of German uniforms, medals and weaponry. The screenplay was written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich.

The first serious attempt to portray Hitler in film, The Hitler Gang proved to be a serious historical drama. Robert Watson was an uncanny match for Hitler, and he was surrounded by superlative character actors—many of them immigrants who had fled Nazi Germany.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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