''Hitler's Children'' is a 1943 American black-and-white

propaganda film A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...

made by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

. The film stars

Tim Holt Charles John "Tim" Holt III (February 5, 1919 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures. In a career spanning mo ...

Bonita Granville Bonita Gloria Granville Wrather (February 2, 1923 – October 11, 1988) was an American actress and producer. The daughter of vaudevillians, Granville began her career on the stage at age three. She initially began as a child actress, making h ...

and

Kent Smith Frank Kent Smith (March 19, 1907 – April 23, 1985) was an American actor who had a lengthy career in film, theatre and television. Early years Smith was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Smith. He was born in New York City and was educated ...

and was

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was an American film director. He was known for his 1940s films noir, noir films and received an Academy Award for Best Director, Oscar nomination for Best Director for ''Crossfire (film), Cros ...

from an adaptation by

Emmet Lavery Emmet Godfrey Lavery (November 8, 1902 – January 1, 1986) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Born in Poughkeepsie, Lavery trained as a lawyer, before devoting his career to the theatre and to film. He wrote the English libretto for E ...

Gregor Ziemer Gregor Athalwin Ziemer (May 24, 1899 – August 1982) was an American educator, writer, and correspondent. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1922 with an English degree. Ziemer lived in Germany from 1928 to 1939, ...

's book ''

Education for Death ''Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi'' is an animated propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released on January 15, 1943, by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Clyde Geronimi and principally animated by Milt Kahl, W ...

''.Crowther, Bosley
"Review: 'Hitler's Children', fictionalized version of 'Education for Death,' makes its appearance at the Paramount Theatre."
''The New York Times'', February 25, 1943. The film was among the most financially successful produced by

RKO Studios RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

. It is known for its portrayal of brutality associated with the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

, represented particularly by two young participants.

Plot

In 1933 Berlin, Professor Nichols runs the American Colony School. It is next to the

Horst Wessel Horst Ludwig Georg Erich Wessel (9 October 1907 – 23 February 1930) was a Berlin ''Sturmführer'' ("Assault Leader", the lowest commissioned officer rank) of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), the Nazi Party's stormtroopers. After his killing in 1 ...

School, where young Germans are indoctrinated into

Nazism 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 Na ...

. During a brawl between the student bodies, Karl Bruner, a German youth born in the United States, objects when Anna Muller, an American citizen born in Germany, smacks him with her hockey stick. However, the two are attracted to each other. The professor, Anna, and Karl become good friends, though they do not agree politically. After a while, they lose touch with each other. Six years later, as war looms in Europe, Karl Bruner, now a lieutenant in the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

, removes students of foreign nationalities from the American school. Muller is also removed even though she is working there as an assistant teacher. Because she was born in Germany to German parents, the German government classifies her as German despite her American citizenship. Nichols tries to find Muller, but the American

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

has no power and Muller's German grandparents are too frightened to help. Nichols' friend Franz Erhart, a formerly bold journalist who now fears being reported by his own children, suggests that the professor seek permission from the Ministry of Education to inspect a labor camp where Muller is likely being held. Nichols meets Gestapo Colonel Henkel and his aide and protégé Bruner. Henkel approves Nichols' request to visit Muller but, in private, Bruner tries to dissuade Nichols, insisting that Muller has now been converted to Nazi ideology. Bruner is disbelieving, but when he meets Muller at the camp she acts as if she is a true believer. After Nichols leaves, Bruner tells Muller that he has recommended her for an advanced

geopolitik Geopolitik is a branch of 19th-century German statecraft, foreign policy and geostrategy. It developed from the writings of various German philosophers, geographers and thinkers, including Oswald Spengler (1880-1936), Alexander Humboldt (1769-1 ...

course at a German university. Muller reveals that she hates the system and has gone along with it because she has no choice. When Muller is interviewed by Henkel and Dr. Graf of the education department, she furiously declines the opportunity, making her true feelings clear. She is sent back to the camp and demoted from the staff to a laborer position. When she persists in 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 ...

behavior, Henkel orders that she be sterilized. When Bruner learns of this, he tries to persuade Muller to pretend to be a good Nazi and bear his child to prove her usefulness to Germany, but she refuses. Muller flees the camp and reaches Berlin, where she hides in a church. A search party finds her and takes her away over the protests of the bishop. Henkel orders her to receive ten lashes and sends Bruner to witness her punishment. After she is whipped the second time, Bruner stops the action, although he knows that he has doomed himself and Muller. Bruner pretends to have realized his mistake and recants. However, Henkel arranges for a national radio broadcast of the trial of Bruner and Muller and promises Karl full honors at his funeral. Professor Nichols is ordered to leave Germany immediately; if he does not, he will be arrested as an accessory to treason. At the airport, Nichols hears Karl's opening statement denouncing Hitler's Germany before the young man is shot and killed. Muller is shot and killed as she rushes to Karl.

Cast

Production

Tim Holt was offered the lead role, but when it seemed that he would be unavailable,

was assigned. However, Holt did play the lead role and Smith moved to a supporting role. Originally ''Hitler's Children'' was directed by

Irving Reis Irving Reis (May 7, 1906 in New York City – July 3, 1953 in Woodland Hills, California) was a radio program producer and director, and a film director. Biography Irving Reis was born into a Jewish family.http://www.hillsidememorial.org/pdfs/Di ...

, but he fought with producer Edward A. Golden and was replaced by Edward Dmytryk.Stafford, Jeff
"Articles: 'Hitler's Children'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: August 10, 2016.Hedda Hopper Says: "New Picture Brings Fame to Producer" ''Los Angeles Times'' 28 Mar 1943: C2.

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

considered the melodrama to be "obvious, conventional" and noted: "

, who directed, has set the whole thing in an oratorical style and has given it the quality of a philippic rather than a credible story from life." Despite lukewarm critical reviews, ''Hitler's Children'' was a great financial success, earning RKO a profit of $1.21 million.Jewell 2016 It was the fourth-highest grossing film of the year and RKO's most successful film of the year. Dmytryk and writer

were awarded $5,000 bonuses for their work.Jewell and Harbin 1982, p. 181. The film's great success led RKO to hire Dmytryk to direct other war films. He directed ''

Back to Bataan ''Back to Bataan'' is a 1945 American black-and-white World War II war film drama from RKO Radio Pictures, produced by Robert Fellows, directed by Edward Dmytryk, that stars John Wayne and Anthony Quinn. The film depicts events (some fictionalize ...

,'' ''

The Young Lions ''The Young Lions'' (1948) is a novel by Irwin Shaw about three soldiers in World War II. Plot Christian Diestl is at first a sympathetic Austrian drawn to Nazism by despair for his future but willing to sacrifice Jews if necessary. Noah Acke ...

'' and the smash hit ''

The Caine Mutiny ''The Caine Mutiny'' is a 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk. The novel grew out of Wouk's personal experiences aboard two destroyer-minesweepers in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Among its themes, it deals with the moral ...

''. The last war film that he made was ''

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...

'' (1968).

References

Bibliography

* Jewell, Richard B. ''Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures''. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2016. . * Jewell, Richard B. and Vernon Harbin. ''The RKO Story''. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. .

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1943 films American World War II propaganda films Anti-fascist propaganda films American black-and-white films Films scored by Roy Webb Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Edward Dmytryk RKO Pictures films Sterilization in fiction Films set in Germany Films about Nazi Germany American drama films 1943 drama films 1940s English-language films