''Hitler—Beast of Berlin'' (1939) was one of the most popular "hiss and boo" films of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

era, based on the novel ''Goose Step'' by

Shepard Traube Shepard may refer to: *A common misspelling of shepherd *Alan Shepard, American astronaut and member of the Apollo 14 moon mission *Shepard, Alberta, Canada *Shepard, Missouri, a ghost town *Shepard (name) *Shepard tone, a sound consisting of a supe ...

(1907–1983).

Production history

The film was the first production of

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation was the smallest and least prestigious of the Hollywood film studios of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called "Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower Street in Hollywood where shoest ...

. 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''.

Selected film criticism

''Beast'' received mixed reviews. The film was distributed as an anti-Nazi thriller aimed at the North American domestic market. James G. Stahlman, political correspondent for ''

Nashville Banner The ''Nashville Banner'' is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998. The ''Banner'' was published each Monday through Friday afternoon (as well as Saturdays unti ...

,'' 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 An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

and

Nazi exploitation Nazi exploitation (also Nazisploitation) is a subgenre of exploitation film and sexploitation film that involves Nazis committing sex crimes, often as camp or prison overseers during World War II. Most follow the women in prison formula, only r ...

). 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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

anti-

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

propaganda literature movement. After an inadvertent betrayal, the husband is thrown into a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

, from which he escapes to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Cast

Roland Drew Roland Drew (born Walter Goss; August 4, 1900 – March 17, 1988) was an American actor. Biography Born in 1900 in New York City, Drew made his first film in 1926 and continued to work until the 1940s. Noted primarily as Dolores del Río' ...

as Hans Memling *

Steffi Duna Steffi Duna (born Erzsébet Berindey; 8 February 1910 – 22 April 1992) was a Hungarian-born film actress. Hungarian dancer Born in the Eastern name order in Budapest of Czech extraction and nicknamed Stefi (Stefánia) by her friends and fam ...

as Elsa Memling *

Greta Granstedt Greta Granstedt (born Irene Louise Granstedt; July 13, 1907 – October 7, 1987) was an American film and television actress. Early life Irene "Greta" Granstedt was the second child of Theodore and Emma Granstedt, born in Scandia, Kansas. ...

as Anna Wahl *

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake ...

as Karl Bach *

Lucien Prival Lucien Prival (July 14, 1901 – June 3, 1994) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1926 and 1953. Born in New York City, Prival was the son of a French mother and a Russian father. From 1912-1919 he lived w ...

as Sachs *

Vernon Dent Vernon Bruce Dent (February 16, 1895 – November 5, 1963) was an American comic actor, who appeared in over 400 films. He co-starred in many short films for Columbia Pictures, frequently as the foil and the main antagonist and ally to The Thr ...

as Lustig *John Ellis as Gustav Schultz *

George Rosener George Michael Rosener (May 26, 1884 – March 29, 1945) was an American film actor and writer. He also wrote and acted in the Frank Buck serial ''Jungle Menace''. Career Rosener began his acting career at age 19 as a circus clown, follow ...

as Wunderlich *

Bodil Rosing Bodil Rosing (born Bodil Frederikke Hammerich; December 27, 1877 December 31, 1941) was a Danish-American film actress in the silent and sound eras. Early years Bodil Hammerich was born in Copenhagen, the daughter of music dean Angel Hammeri ...

as Frau Kohler *

Hans Heinrich von Twardowski Hans Heinrich von Twardowski (5 May 1898 – 19 November 1958) was a German film actor. Career in Germany Twardowski was born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin in Poland). He made his first film appearance in the 1920 Robert Wiene-directed horr ...

as Storm Trooper Albert Stahlhelm *Willy Kaufman as Herr Kohler *

Hans Joby Hans Joby (3 August 1884 – 30 April 1943) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in 63 films between 1920 and 1944. He was also billed as "Captain John Peters", and often played aristocratic Prussian-types, memorably in Laurel and Hardy' ...

as Hermann Lippert *Frederick Giermann as Father Pommer *Crane Whitley as Klee (as Clem Wilenchick) *Henry Zynda as Erlich (as Henry von Zynda)

Production notes

Archival footage of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

is included.

Release

The film was released in 1940 as ''Goose Step''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hitler - Beast of Berlin 1939 drama films 1939 films American World War II propaganda films Nazi exploitation films Films directed by Sam Newfield Producers Releasing Corporation films Films based on American novels Films about Nazi Germany American black-and-white films American war drama films American World War II films 1940s English-language films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films