Rentschler, Eric, "The Testament of Dr. Goebbels,"

FilmHistory,Volume 8, pp. 316-326,
Thje
Dr.
Ites
ta
m
entt
1996. Copyright ?John Libbey & Company
ISSN: 0892-2160. Printedin Australia
.1
G.ebbels
EricRentschler
Big brotheror brave new world?
cheerfully introducedas fond memories or old
standards;announcersrarelysay anythingabout
S
iegfried Kracauer'sFromCaligari to Hit- these films'historical
provenance.
ler presented the films of the Weimar
Film sociologist Gerd Albrecht'spositivistic
Republic as previews of coming Nazi
compendium,NationalsozialistischePolitik,docuattractions. About National Socialist feaments just how prominentlygeneric productions
tures themselves, however, Kracauer had very little
figuredin the ThirdReich;they constituted941 of
to say.1 IfGerman films prefigured Hitler, how they
its 1094 featurefilms,including295 melodramas
actually figured once Hitler rose to power is a
and biopics, 123 detective films and adventure
contested matter. The Third Reich's productions,
Almosthalf of all features- to be precise:
administered byJoseph Goebbels' Ministryof Pub- epics.6
523 - were comedies and musicals (what the
lic Enlightenment and Propaganda, remain today
Nazis termed'heitere', i.e. 'cheerful'films),light
at once widely reviled and yet undeniably resonfare directedby ever-activeindustrypros likeErich
ant.2 'Never before and in no other country', Wim
E.W. Emo,CarlBoese, HansDeppe,
Wenders wrote in 1977, 'have images and lan- Waschneck,
Georg Jacoby and Hans H. Zerlett,peopled with
guage been abused so unscrupulously as here,
widely revered stars like Hans Albers, Marika
never before and nowhere else have they been
Heinz Ruhmannand IlseWerner,as well as
debased so deeply as vehicles to transmit lies'.3 In Rokk,
characteractorssuchas PaulKemp,FitaBenkhoff,
many minds, Nazi cinema is an infamous and
Theo Lingen,Grete Weiser, Paul H6rbigerand
abject entity: its most memorable achievement is
HansMoser.Suchworksseem to demonstratethat
the systematic abuse of film's formative powers in
the Nazi regimecreated space for innocentdiverthe name of mass manipulation, state terror and
sions; they reflect, claim revisionisthistorians,a
world-wide destruction.
public sphere not completelysubjugatedby state
Despite its adversaries, Nazi cinema has had
institutions.
Manyof these filmsreceiverecognition
and continues to have many apologists and adas noteworthyachievements,as grand hallmarks
mirers. Outraged voices may have demonised this
of Germancinema, in some cases even as bearers
corpus of film in the hopes of exorcising Goebbels'
of oppositionalenergies. Were these illusionsinlegacy, but their interventions have in decisive
deed harmlessor were they malevolentor were
ways gone unheeded.4 Nazi features are anything
they
perhaps both at the same time? Were they
but universally proscribed or detested; they are still
sometimessubversiveor as ideological critics inshown today in many places. Most of the era's
sist, always affirmative?
films exist and remain in circulation. Films of the
Third Reich have played an integral role on German television, for example, on the Second Channel (ZDF)and particularlyon the Bavarian regional
station (BR). In 1980, Nazi films comprised 8.7
per cent of all features aired on West German
stations, a total of 1 13 titles. By 1989 the number
had risen to 169.5 Invariably, these selections are
Eric Rentschler is Professorof FilmStudiesat the
Universityof California,Irvine.He is authorof The
of Illusion:
Nazi Cinemaand ItsAfterlife.
Ministry
Please address all correspondencec/o Programin
FilmStudies, 340 HumanitiesHall, Universityof
California,Irvine,CA 92717, USA.
The testament of Dr. Goebbels
Goebbels317
Seekinganswersto these questions,one turns
to sweeping panoramasand comprehensivesurveys, all of which leave muchterritoryuncharted.
Thestandardaccountsof the subjectrange in tone
fromdismissiveto indulgentand in any case, they
seem moreconcernedwiththematicstructures
than
withformalshapes.7 Previousbooks on cinema in
the ThirdReichhave littleto say about Nazi film
aesthetics, about the look and textureof these
features,about the propertieswhich made some
of them so resonantand well-regarded.8Oddly,
historianstypicallyconcentrateon the makingand
partakingof filmsduringthe ThirdReich,actingas
if its productionsno longer existed. Crucialquestions receive only partialanswers or go unasked
altogether.Inwhat ways did the Germandream
factoryof the 1930s and 1940s appropriateand
consciouslyrecycleHollywoodfantasies?What is
the place of Nazi cinema in Germanfilmhistory
as well as filmhistoryat large?What lessonsdoes
filmunderGoebbels impartregardingthe use and
abuse of the mass media, and are those lessons
perhapstimely?
Untilrecently,it has been customaryto describecinema in the ThirdReichas a functionof a
'1984' ratherthana 'BraveNew World'.Thiswas
particularlyeasy to do as long as commentators
could equate the Ministryof Propagandawith a
Ministryof Fear.Goebbels, it was claimed, relied
on 'doublethink'and institutionalised
cynical reason, manipulatingthe flow of information,lording
over all sectorsof the publicsphereand infiltrating
the private realm. Nazi Germany, in this understanding, resembledOrwell'sdystopia:a regime
in whichtherewas no free space, a societywhere
ultimatelyeven one's dreamswere monitored,an
order that allowed no alterity.Big Brotherrepresented a collective projection,the political constructionof a party that demanded total and
unquestionedallegiance.
Examiningthe era's mass culturemore carefully, however, one does not encounteronly the
duty-bound,no-nonsenseand angst-riddensociety
of lore. Photographsfromthe period (bothofficial
images and privatesnapshots)oftendisplayedthe
cheerfulfaces and animatedphysiquesof an invigoratedGermanpopulace.Thisbuoyantcondition
was, to be sure, not enjoyed by everyone.Contingencies of birth, political convictions or sexual
317
preferencesresultedin manypeople being denied
membershipin the Aryannation.Forthose marginalisedby NationalSocialism,lifeand being were
an altogetherdifferentexperience. These individuals were ostracised and persecuted;they were
forced to leave Germanyor to lead a shadow
existence; many of them were incarcerated,tortured and executed. This racial state disciplined
bodies in a variety of ways; under its auspices,
euthanasia, sterilisationand genocide coexisted
witha vastarrayof creaturecomfortsand material
compensations. Fear and loathing were crucial
partsof the system,but National Socialismcould
not- and did not - ruleby terroralone.
Hitler'sGermany, similarto Huxley'sBrave
New World, was also an exercise in emotional
engineering, a political order that openly profferedtourism,consumerismand recreationas dialecticalcomplementsto law orderand restriction.
Fascismhad a sinistervisage, but it also had a
pleasingcountenance-and cinemaembodiedthe
agreeable facade in its mostscintillatingincarnation. Veryfew Nazi featuressimplyrantand rave;
most of them appear to have nothingto do with
politics.The distinctionbetween politicaland unpoliticalfilmsis in fact one thatthe Nazi administrators implemented and which postwar
commentatorshavecontinuedto employ.TheNazi
film industrywanted its cinema to appear both
nationaland international,open and regulated,
modernand eternal.FilmunderGoebbels was to
become a Volkskunstthat would foster an imA popuagined community,a Volksgemeinschaft.
lar mediumand a vehicle of mass culture,film
preservedold forms of identitywhile offering a
new (and powerful)vehicleof consensus-building.
As we scrutiniseNazi films more than fifty
years since the end of World War II,we need to
take pause and re-evaluateconventionalwisdom.
We cannot reduce all Nazi filmsto hate pamphlets, partyhagiographyor mindlessescapism.This
cinema, in fact, is neithersingularnoraberrant;its
consciousrelianceon classicalHollywoodconventions has virtuallygone unnoticedas has the recourse of so many productionsand so muchof
Nazi mass cultureto Americantechniquesand
populargenres.9Muchof its fatal appeal derived
froma modernpopulace'sdesires fora betterlife.
The utopianenergies tapped by the featurefilms
318
318
Eric Rentschler
Quex (UFA,1933). 'Fascism
Fig. 1. Theheroreceiveshis Nazi uniformin HansSteinhoff'sHitlerjunge
had a sinistervisage, butit also had a pleasingcountenance...
of the ThirdReichin a crucialmannerresembled,
indeed consciouslyemulated, Americandreams.
In this endeavour, I would like to offer some
propositionsabout Nazi Germany's society of
spectacleand ponderits relationshipto the mediadrivenculturewhichsurroundsus and the worldof
mass-producedimages in which we live.10
Thedream of a dominantcinema
Featurefilmsin theThirdReichwere principallythe
functionof a genre cinema, which in turnwas part
of an elaborate mass culture.Thiscinema sported
titles,figuresand materialswell-knownto Weimar
film which would persist in the postwar era.11
Indeed, untilthe early 1960s and the revoltof the
Oberhausenactivists,mostWest Germanfilmsdid
not take leave of yesterday;they continuedas the
endeavours of directors, scriptwritersand casts
who had worked underGoebbels.12 Filmsin the
Nazi epoch employed well-knownstars, readymade formats,standardisedproductionsand studio economies. Goebbels sought to create a
populardomesticcinemawhichwould be notonly
profitableand entertaining,butalso ideologically
effective and politicallyuseful, both a stabilising
force and an animatingenergy. The Ministerof
Propagandaannounced his grand designs forthrightly: he wanted German cinema to be the
dominant cinema. Speaking in 1940, he declared:'We mustgive filma taskand a missionin
orderthatwe mayuse itto conquertheworld.Only
then will we also overcomeAmericanfilm. Itwill
notbe easily overcome.Butitcan be overcome'.13
Afterthe beginning of World War II, Nazi
film became an extremelypopularand lucrative
entity,enjoying large audiences and enthusiastic
followings. 'The financial success of our films is
altogetheramazing', Goebbels noted soon after
Germantroops invaded Poland.'We are becom-
The
testamentof
of Dr.
Goebbels
Dr. Goebbels
The testament
ing real war profiteers'.14In October 1940, he
wrote, 'I shall not relax untilthe entire European
film industrybelongs to us'.15Goebbels and the
Ministryof Propaganda waged an all-outwar
against Hollywood,seeking to win over domestic
viewers, overwhelmforeigncompetitorsand conquerinternationalmarkets.Inhis diaryentryof 19
May 1942, Goebbels reiteratedhis resolve:'We
musttake a similarcourse in our film policy as
pursuedby the Americanson the NorthAmerican
and SouthAmericancontinents.We mustbecome
thedominantfilmpowerin Europe.Filmsproduced
by other states should be allowed to have only
local and limitedcharacter'.16
UnderGoebbels' administration,cinema became centralisedand consolidated;by 1942, four
state-ownedstudios (Bavaria,UFA,Terra,Tobis)
dominatedthe scene. Inan attemptto controlthe
articulationof fictionalworlds, only a small proportionof filmswas shot outdoorsor on location.
Directorsfunctionedabove all as facilitators,not
as distinctiveauteurs. Filmwas to be artfuland
accessible, not intellectualor esoteric. Featuresof
the ThirdReichfavouredcarefullycraftedartificial
realms and showed a predilection for studio
spaces, costume design and script logic. Films
made under the Nazi regime amounted to an
other-directedcinema, administeredby a state
apparatuswhich determinedevery aspect of production from a script treatmentto a film's final
shape, fromits release and exhibitionto its circulationin the publicsphere.
In contrastto its Weimar counterpart,Nazi
cinema denigratedthe filmof the fantasticas well
as filmicrealism.The one remainedtoo open to
irrationalforces;the rightfulplace of the fantastic
was to be an everydayof brightuniforms,hypnotic
ritualsand dazzling spectacles. The Weimar legacy of workers'filmswas likewiseforsakenand
leftbehind. Nazi cinema shunnedthe extremesof
Weimar's'hauntedscreen' (Das Cabinetdes Dr.
Caligari/TheCabinetof Dr.Caligari[1920], Nosferatu[1922], Metropolis[1927]) and its socialist
realism(MutterKrausensFahrtins Glick/Mother
Krause's Trip to Happiness [1929] and Kuhle
Wampe [1932]), assuming a middle ground of
historicalperiod pieces, costumedramas,musical
revues, light comedies, melodramas and petty
bourgeois fantasies. The filmcultureof the Third
319
319
Reichallowed at best a limitedspace for experiments.Tradepapers and filmjournalsspoke only
rarely about avant-gardeinitiatives.Modernism
persistedin Nazi cinema, to be sure, not in features, but ratherin short subjectsand non-fiction
films (for instance, in the documentariesof Leni
Riefenstahl,Willy Zielkeand WalterRuttmann).
Film narrativesof the Nazi era generally
privilegedspace over time, compositionover editing, design over movement, sets over human
shapes. Compared to Hollywood movies, most
features of the ThirdReich appeared slow and
static. Theywere more prone to panoramasand
tableaus than to close-ups, decidedly sparing in
theirphysicaldisplays(verylittlenudity,few stunts
and actionscenes). Nazi filmtheoristsstressedthe
importanceof kineticimages as well as galvanising soundtracks.17Music worked together with
visualsto make the spectatorlose touchwith conceptual logic and discursiveframeworks,pulling
'listener and viewer from act to act, from impression to impression ever more overwhelmingly'.18The ideal filmwould spiritpeople away
fromthe real worldand grantviewersaccess to a
pleasant, compellingand convincing alternative
space.
Only a minorityof Nazi featuresdisplayed
what one might speak of as overt propaganda.
There were two waves of films with manifestly
stridentovertones:the 'movementfilms'of 1933
and the anti-Semitic,anti-Britishand anti-Soviet
productionsof 1939-42. Butto grasp how Nazi
filmscaptivatedspectatorsand promulgatedpoliticalmeanings,one mustcomprehendthe way in
which filmsinteractedwith and resonatedwithin
larger social constellations.Ideology more often
than not came sugar-coated,in gripping, engagwhich
ing and pleasantpackages of entertainment
coexisted with other emanationsof everydayculture. Filmswere not isolated experiences in the
dark; they circulatedwithin a vast complex of
orchestrated and high-tech efforts to control
thoughtand meaning.TheThirdReichconstituted
the firstfull-blownmedia dictatorship,a political
order that sought to occupy and administerall
sectors of perceptualpossibility,to dominatethe
humansubject'severy waking and sleeping moment.
Fromits quality featuresto its run-of-the-mill
320
320
Eric Rentschler
die Sterne(Tobis,1938) on the coverof Illustrieter
Fig. 2. HansZerlett'sEsLeuchten
no. 2777.
Film-Kurier
products,Nazi film reflectedthe workingsof the
classical cinema with its deference to character
motivation,the codes of realism,the stricturesof
dramatic development and closure. It was a
cinema dedicated to illusionism.'The task that I
have posed for myselfas a director',claimedVeit
Harlan,'consiststo a great partin makingspectators forget that they are sitting in cinemas'.19
Goebbels saw himself as a German David O.
Selznickand sought to create a filmworld every
321
The testament of Dr. Goebbels
bitas alluringas Hollywood.Nazi filmsto a great
degree seemed unexceptional and resembled
Anglo-Europeanfeatures of the era. They were
steeped in Old World values and fond of traditional formulas;their favouritesites were urban
localities, bourgeois interiorsand lower middleclass settings. Governmentfilmadministratorsas
well as studio executiveseschewed filmsthat put
National Socialism directly on display. In so
doing, they carefullyfosteredthe impressionthat
cinemawas a worldapartfrompartyagendas and
state priorities.
Filmsof the ThirdReichoftenallowed viewers
vacations fromthe presentin fancifulspheres so
that they could forget politicsand civic responsibilities. With its utopian spaces sponsored by
Goebbels's Ministryof Propaganda,Nazi cinema
notonlycreatedillusionsbutoftenshowed illusionistsat workand, on occasion, self-reflectedabout
the power of illusions (Capriccio (1938), Der
Florentiner
Hut/TheFlorentineHat(1939), Munchhausen (1943)). Many filmsthematisedthe fascination of aesthetic illusion (ViktorTourjansky's
1941 film, Illusion,offersa programmmatic
title),
on
mesmerisers
and
concentrating
performersas
well as offeringglimpsesbehindthe scenes at film
studios(Esleuchtendie Sterne/TheStarsAre Shining (1938), Die gute Sieben/The Good Seventh
Wife (1940)) or revealingtricksof magic (Truxa,
1937). Nazi film illusionscoexisted with governmentoppression, politicalterrorand after 1939,
a world war and the Holocaust.Screen illusions
cushioned people against grim realities,offering
the solace of worlds which were in order and
seemed to allow unencumberedmovement,safe
havens and playgroundswhere one could dream
freely. Nazi escapism, however,offered only the
illusionof escape fromthe Nazi statusquo.
Despitethe postwarclaimsof filmmakersand
revisionistcritics,one finds very few examples of
open resistanceto the partyand state in thisera's
productions.Such films either did not find their
way into productionor were banned after initial
showings. Nonetheless,not all meaningcould be
controlled and various films lent themselves to
alternativeappropriations.20To a large degree,
suchresponsesdid not reallyruncounterto official
designs. Goebbels and his coworkers allowed
filmson occasion to transgressborders,exploring
seeminglyresistantpotentialand apparentexceptions to the rule, even subversivecontents and
oppositionalpositions,all the betterto discipline
distraction.
Postmodernity'ssecret sharers
Nazi illusionscontinueto exercise a decided hold
on postwarimaginations,bothin how people view
Nazi images and in what they make of National
Socialism.The fantasy productionsof the epoch
are still very much with us today - in matinee
screenings,televisionshowings,festivalprograms,
video catalogues and universitycurricula.They
offer testimonyfromthe ThirdReichwhich would
seem to suggesta less oppressiveeveryday.Many
of themabide as classics and evergreens,objects
of reveryand nostalgia;they circulatewidely and
remainproblematic.Goebbels's tools of political
affirmation have undergone transformationto
become nationalmonumentsand vehicles of subversion. Nazi films such as Glickskinder(Lucky
Kids, 1936), la Habanera (1937) and Minchhausenas well as memoriesof UFA'sgrandeurfuel
fond German dreams; they energise reassuring
fantasiesof how, even in a cinema watched over
by Hitlerand his minions,the better part of the
nation resistedthe ThirdReich.Many criticsand
observerspersisttoday in holdingon to National
Socialism'sprimeillusions,namelythatthe imaginary worldsand fantasyscenarioscreated undera
filmindustryhad littleto do with
state-administered
thatstate'soperations.
Young GermanFilmand its extension, New
German Cinema, once turnedagainst the Nazi
legacy and 'itsdemagogic treatmentof images'.21
TheNew Germandirectorsdeclaredwar on their
elders, seeking to liberate German film history
from a fatal heritage of abuse. Over the years,
though, as the history of the Third Reich was
integratedintoa largerGermanhistory,a rapprochementbetweenNew GermanCinemaand Nazi
cinema became increasinglyapparent. HansJirgen Syberbergrecycled UFAstars, Werner Herzog sought to revive Arnold Fanck's mountain
films, Helma Sanders-Brahmscelebrated Leni
Riefenstahl'sTiefland(Lowlands, 1954), Edgar
Reitzaffectionatelycited CarlFroelich'sHeimatof
_~~~~~~~~~
322
322
Eric Rentschler
.-i
_
_
.........
::::::
....
........
. ._ .A
3i
Fig.3. ZarahLeandercentrestage in Die GrosseLiebe(UFA,1942). WorldWar IIas a movieof the
week.
1938 in his own Heimatof 1984 and a recent
Wim Wenders feature (In weiter Ferne, so
nah!/Far Away and Yet So Close, 1993) poignantly exonerated the Nazi collaborator Heinz
Ruhmann.NiklausSchillinginsistedon maintaining a sense of Germantraditionwhich incorporated filmsmade duringthe ThirdReich. 'Without
them',Schillingasserted, 'we ignore an important
part of our filmtradition'.22In Reitz'sDie Nacht
der Regisseure(TheNight of the Directors,1995),
LeniRiefenstahltakes her place amidstcontemporary Germany's most prominentdirectors. Even
filmmakers- and critics - whose look back in
anger spawned a New German Cinema have
increasingly come to gaze on the sights and
soundsof theThirdReichwitha kinderand gentler
regard.
WatchingJud SR3 (JewSuss, 1940) today is
unlikelyto turnanyone intoan anti-Semite,people
oftenclaim, so why shoulditbe bannedalong with
several dozen other feature films from the Third
Reich? No official list of these proscribedtitles
exists;sucha listcould only dem(Vorbehaltsfilme)
onstratethattheGermangovernmentconsidersthe
populace of its democracy in crucialways politiRight-wingradicalsand neo-fascally immature.23
cist groups stillpartakeof Nazi filmsand there is
a substantialGermanblackmarketforbannedwar
movies, newsreels and Hitler documentaries.24
One wonders how these filmsnow resonate in a
climateof violencetowardsforeigners,in a nation
casting about for a new collective self-understanding.
Surely the continuing and largely unquestioned presence of entertainmentfilms from the
Nazi era in the German public sphere shapes
testamentof
The
of Dr.
Dr. Goebbels
Goebbels
The testament
popularfeelings about that past. Comedies with
Heinz Rihmannand Hans Moser hardlythreaten
to underminecivic values, but they do influence
how people look back at the ThirdReich.Filmsof
the Nazi era are easy to enlist in campaigns to
normaliseand neutralisethe Nazi legacy. 'We are
what we remember',says the narratorof Don
DeLillo'sAmericana.'Thepast is here, inside this
blackclock, moredeviousthan nightor fog, determining how we see and what we touch at this
irreplaceableinstantin time'.25Filmscan preserve
memoryand functionas vehicles of history.They
can also serveas a meansof forgetting,a medium
to stylise,distortor erase the past.
Cinemaunderthe aegis of Goebbels blended
sensoryplenitudeand sensual deprivation.26Film
images defined the good and the beautifulwhile
vitiating the capacity for spontaneity and the
desire for experience. Perhapsthe most striking
thing about life in National Socialism was its
vicarious quality. A vanguard site, Nazi mass
culture reformedthe living in the shape of the
mediated;the everydaywas defined by mechanically reproducedsights and sounds, by simulationsand special effects meantto generate strong
emotions while systematicallymilitatingagainst
the capacity to thinkin termsof continuities.Nazi
cinema exploitedthe limitationsof humanimagination, seeking to obliteratefirst-personconsciousness and to replace it with a universal third
person.27 Even as a leisure being, this otherdirected creature was to remain a loyal state
servant, a modern golem cast in the shape of
mass-produced images. The Nazis used the
cinemaas the fictionalCagliostroof Minchhausen
employed magic; they granted Germans their
dreams, butat a usuriousinterest.
The Nazis recognised well that political effects could neverderivefrompoliticalexpressions
alone. Entertainment,
spectacle and diversionlent
themselves remarkablyto instrumentalendeavours. Hitlerand Goebbels were consummatenarcissistsenamouredof theirmediaimages,theThird
Reicha grand production,the worldwar a continuing movie of the week. Standardisedmass culture,Goebbels realised,was the secretformulafor
successfulmass manipulation.Mass culturealso
became a crucial preconditionfor mass murder.
The media enabled Germansto withstandawful
323
323
truthsand ignore hideous presentiments,serving
as a shield and a blindfold,audio-visualinstrumentsthatensuredupliftingfictionsno matterhow
bitterthe realities. Nazi feature films- both as
entitiesthatcirculatedin Germancinemas during
the ThirdReichand as entitiesthatstillenjoy much
public attentiontoday - teach us above all one
can be far morethaninnocent
thing:entertainment
pleasure.
Nazi media culturedemonstratedjust how
potent and destructivethe powers of fascination
and fantasy can be, especially when systematically appropriatedby a modernstateand strategically implementedby advanced technology. A
nationfaced withmaterialhardshipand a spiritual
void hailed Hitler'spromisesof a betterlife while
shunningenlightenedrhetoric.The Fijhrer'sorder
proppedup spiritswithartificialmeansand strived
to hyperstylisethe subjectsof a new Germany.
Simulationssupplanteddirectexperienceand illusions superseded reality. In this endeavour, the
Third Reich granted a preview of postmodern
attractions.Abusing the utopian possibilitiesof
mass-producedrepresentations,the Ministryof
Propagandaalso exhibitedtheir dystopic potential. The National Socialist state's productionof
death and devastation would not have been
possiblewithoutGoebbels's dream machinery.
The unprecedentedhistoricalexample of the
Nazi media dictatorship lingers as a very
disturbingprospect, especially now, as sophisticated and pervasive technologies for the transmissionand manipulationof audio-visualmaterials
increasinglydefinewho we are and how we exist.
We referto Hitlerand Goebbels as madmenand
demons, consigning them to the shadows. No
matterhow studiouslywe cloak these figures in
darkness,however,theyare clearlymorethanjust
ghouls or phantoms.Indeed, one mightspeak of
Nazi Germany's irrepressibleimage-makersas
secret sharers,as graspingentrepostmodernity's
preneurs who profited from the industrialised
means of enchantment,as mastershowmenwho
staged extravagant spectacles as the ultimate
political manifestations.These real-lifeMabuses
have enacted the worst nightmaresof any communitywhose social viabilityand collectiveidentity depend on the media and mass culture.More
than fiftyyears since the demise of National So-
EricRentschler
324
cialism, the testament of Dr. Goebbels continues
to haunt us.o
6.
Gerd Albrecht, NationalsozialistischeFilmpolitik
Enke,1969), 96-97. Ingeneratingthese
(Stuttgart:
figures,Albrechtchieflyrelieson the generic deHe distinscriptionsof the Nazi Reichsfilmarchiv.
guishesbetweenfilmswithmanifest(intendedand
recognised)and latent(neitherintendednorrecognised)propaganda,thatis, betweenpoliticalfilms
and non-politicalfilms.Incrucialand problematic
ways, Albrecht'sstatisticsreflectNazi categories
and conceptions.
7.
The most-oftenused synopticworks, besides Albrecht'sNationalsozialistische
(see note
Filmpolitik
6), includeDavid StewartHull,Filmin the Third
Reich (Berkeley:Universityof California Press,
1969); FrancisCourtadeand PierreCadars,Histoiredu CinemaNazi (Paris:Losfeld,1972); Erwin
Leiser,Nazi Cinema,trans.GertrudManderand
David Wilson (New York:Collier, 1975); David
Welch, Propaganda and the German Cinema
1933-45 (Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Press,1983);
and BoguslawDrewniak,DerdeutscheFilm193845. EinGesamtriberblick
(Dusseldorf:
8.
Droste,1987. See historianDavidWeinberg'scommentsregardingcrucialgaps in Nazi filmstudies:
'Therehave been few attemptsat indepthanalysis
of filmcontent... Thereis a need to go beyondthe
manifestmessagesof filmsproducedundernazism
to exploretheirsubtleimpactuponthe psychology
of the individualviewer. Such an exploration
of the filmdianecessitatesnot only interpretation
logue butalso an awarenessof the variousvisual
to createspetechniquesemployedby filmmakers
cificaudienceresponses'('Approachesto theStudy
of Filmin the ThirdReich:A CriticalAppraisal',
Journalof ContemporaryHistory19.1 (January
1984): 117).
9.
was
The Germannotionof the Gesamtkunstwerk
even extendedto describethe totalisingeffect of
Hollywoodmovies. See, for instance,H. Ch. M.,
'Amerikanische
Filme',Die Tat28.2 (May 1936):
'WhereasGermanfeaturesonlymanageto present
withcinematic
a few good dramaticperformances
allure,good Americanfilmsare totalworksof art.
Thespiritualquality,the richnessof sensibilityand
emotionin a singleroleof a Germanfilm,is larger
and deeper thanan entireAmericanfilm.Butbecause Americanfilmsare totalworksof art,even if
very primitiveones, they have a significancethat
deserves futureconsideration'(151). The author
concludeswith a discussionof the overwhelming
effectof LeniRiefenstahl's
short,Tagder Freiheit!Unsere Wehrmacht(Day of Freedom,1935). Its
high drama and artisticpyrotechnicsachieve the
same ends as its Hollywoodcounterparts,but remain decidedly less subtle. 'As a means of ex-
Notes
1.
2.
SiegfriedKracauer,FromCaligarito Hitler:A PsychologicalHistoryof the GermanFilm(Princeton:
PrincetonUniversity
Press,1947). Thevolumedoes
on 'PropagandaandtheNazi
containa supplement
War Film',a studyof newsreelsand documentaries
(273-331).
Between30 January1933 and 7 May 1945, 1086
Germanfeaturefilmspassed the censorsand preered in the Reich'scinemas.(Threeof these represented films made prior to 1933 which were
re-releasedbetween 1933 and 1935.) A further
to thecensorspriorto 30
eightfilmswere submitted
January1933, butwerenotreleaseduntilafterthat
date.Thetotalof 1,094 featuresencompassesa few
filmswhichwouldbe bannedaftertheirfirstpublic
screenings.Thisfigure does not include26 films
whichwere bannedand neverpremiered;nordoes
it take in 67 internationalco-productions,films
made in Austriabeforethe Anschlu3,northe films
which were banned in Germanybut premiered
abroad.
3.
Wim Wenders, 'That's Entertainment:Hitler
on Film:Vi(1977)', in WestGermanFilmmakers
sions and Voices, ed. Eric Rentschler (New
Holmes&Meier,1988), 128.
York/London:
4.
An impassionedrecentexampleis RebeccaLieb's
'Nazi Hate Movies Continue to Ignite Fierce
Passions',New YorkTimes,4 August 1991. Do
Nazi propagandafilms,asks Lieb,stillpossessthe
power to stir up hate? 'Are they dangerous or
shouldtheybe shown?Iftheyare to be shown,who
Is
will show themand underwhat circumstances?
thereanythingto be learnedfromthemor are they
Morethantwo
evento contemplate?'
too horrifying
decades ago, AmosVogel posed similarlyimpassioned questionsregardingthe receptionand exfilmsin hisessay, 'Can
hibitionof LeniRiefenstahl's
We Now Forgetthe EvilThatShe Did?'New York
Times,13 May 1973. Fora Germancontribution
whicharticulatessimilarconcerns,see HilmarHoffmann,Es ist noch nichtzu Ende:SollenNazikunst
und Nazifilmewieder 6ffentlichgezeigt werden?
Oase, 1988).
(Badenweiler:
5.
AlfonsArns,'DiehalbeWahrheit:ZumUmgangmit
NS-Spielfilmenin Fernsehenund Kritik',Medium
21.4 (1991): 35. See also Friedrich
Knilli,'"Perlen"
ZurRezeptionvon NS-Filmenin der
der Leinwand.
Filmund Fernsehen8.8 (1980):
Bundesrepublik',
20-22.
325
Thetestamentof Dr. Goebbels
Angels, 1956, a spinoffof HelmutWeiss's Die
Feuerzangenbowle/ThePunchBowl,1944, which
itselfhad been drawnon So ein Flegel/Sucha Lout
from 1934), Der Maulkorb(TheMuzzle, 1958,
afterthe politicalcomedyof 1938) and Robertund
Bertram(1961, a remakeof the anti-Semiticfarce
of 1939).
pression,filmsurelycomesmuchmoreeasilyto the
American'(153).
10.
Thesereflectionsderivefromthe conclusionof my
study,TheMinistryof Illusion:Nazi Cinemaand Its
Afterlife(Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniversity
Press,1996).
11.
VariousWeimarfilmswereremadeduringtheThird
Reich, includingDie Finanzendes GroBherzogs
(TheGrandDuke'sFinances,1934), Der Student
von Prag (TheStudentof Prague, 1935), SchloB
Vogelcid(TheHauntedCastle,1936), Das indische
Grabmal(TheIndianTomb,1938), Die Geierwally
(VultureWally, 1940) and KohlhieselsT6chter
(Kohlhiesel's
Daughters,1943). WilliForstandViktor Tourjanskyprovidedersatz Lubitschfare and
passages of KarlRitter'sVerrater(Traitors,1936)
resembledLang'sDas Testamentdes Dr. Mabuse
(TheTestamentof Dr. Mabuse, 1933). Numerous
Weimargenericlegaciescontinuedwithouta break
in theThirdReich:Prussiafilms(especiallymilitary
the Greatand starring
dramasfeaturingFrederick
Otto Gebuhr),Heimat- and mountainfilms,costume films with historicalsettings, musicalswith
matineeidols like LilianHarveyand WillyFritsch,
and
action filmswith HarryPiel, UFA-Kulturfilme
big citysymphoniesby WalterRuttmann.
12.
13.
JosephGoebbels, 'Redevor den Filmschaffenden
am 28.2.1942 in Berlin',quotedin GerdAlbrecht,
Nationalsozialistische
(Stuttgart:Enke,
Filmpolitik
1969), 500.
14.
The Goebbels Diaries: 1939-41, trans. and ed.
York:Penguin,
FredTaylor(Harmondsworth/New
1984), 26.
15.
TheGoebbelsDiaries:1939-41, 149.
16.
The Goebbels Diaries 1942-43, ed. and trans.
LouisP. Lochner(GardenCity, NY: Doubleday,
1948), 221.
17.
See HermannWanderscheck'slead article, 'Die
19 January
Machtder Musikim Film',Film-Kurier,
1942. Manyscenes in popularfilmsprove,claim
the author,'thatmusicoftencan be moreessential
than dialogues, actorsor visuals. It can compete
with the soul of the image - the image remains
silent,but musicresounds,roars,paints,ringsout
in majorand minorkeys,spreadingitselfout likea
upwardlikea flame
rugovertheimageor flickering
to providethemostpowerfulexpressionof redemptionand liberation'.
im deutSee Hans-PeterKochenrath,'Kontinuitat
in Deutschland:
schenFilm',inFilmundGesellschaft
DokumenteundMaterialien,ed. Wilfriedvon Bredow and Rolf Zurek(Hamburg:Hoffmannund
Campe, 1975), 286-292. Remakesof Nazi films
duringthe 1950s, forinstance,includedWolfgang 18.
Liebeneiner's
... und ewig bleibtdie Liebe(Loveis
Forever,1954, based on Johannisfeuer/MidsummerNight'sFire),Urlaubauf Ehrenwort
19.
(Leaveon
Word of Honour,1955, a recastof KarlRitter's
1938 production),Waldwinter(Forest Winter,
1956), Franziska(1957, based on HelmutKiutner's film of 1941, Auf Wiedersehen, Franziska!/Goodbye, Francisca!).Hans Deppe redid 20.
Uwe Karsten(CountrySchoolHeideschulmeister
masterUwe Karsten,1933) in 1954 with Claus
and KatharinaMayberg.
Holm, BarbaraROtting
Carl Froelich'sblockbusterof 1934 KrachumJolanthe (Troublewith Jolanthe) became Rudolf
Schundler'sDas fr6hlicheDorf(TheHappyVillage)
of 1955. Someotherretreadswere Belami (1955,
based on WillyForst'shitof 1939), Dunja(1955,
Josefvon Baky'svariationon GustavUcicky'sDer
Postmeister/The
Postmaster,1940), Das Bad auf
den Tenne(TheBathintheBarn,PaulMartin,1956,
derivedfromVolkervon Collande'scolourfilmof
1943), Kittyunddie grof3eWelt(Kittyand the Big
World,1956, based on Kittyunddie Weltkonferenz/Kittyand the InternationalPeace Conference,
1939), Wennwiralle Engelw6ren(IfWe All Were
LeniRiefenstahl,
Hinterden Kulissendes Reichspar(Munich:Eher,1935), 28.
teitag-Films
Veit Harlan,'Der Farbfilmmarschiert',Der DeutscheFilm1943/44: KleinesHandbuchfurdie deutsche Presse, ed. Karl Klar (Berlin: Deutsche
Filmvertriebs-Gesellschaft,
1943), 77.
AmongthefilmsmadeduringtheThirdReich,there
were,however,a fewnotableexceptions:filmsfrom
the transitionera betweenthe end of the Weimar
and Hitler'sriseto power,Austrianfilmsbeforethe
AnschluB(especiallythe work of WernerHochbaum),bannedand proscribedfilms(fromTheLast
Testamentof Dr. Mabuse [1933] and Liebelei
[1933] to Titanic[1943] and Grof3eFreiheitNr.
7/Great FreedomNo. 7[1 944]), isolatedinstances
of aestheticresistanceafter1942 (HelmutKdutner's
RomanzeinMoll/Romancein a MinorKey[1943],
Wolfgang Staudte'sAkrobatsch6-6-6-n[1943],
PeterPewas'sDerverzauberteTag/TheEnchanted
Day [1944]) and filmsproducedduringthe confused last monthsof World War II(Unterden
the Bridges[1946] and Via Mala
Brucken/Under
[1948]).
EricRentschler
326
21.
Wim Wenders, 'That's Entertainment:Hitler
on Film,128.
(1977)', in WestGermanFilmmakers
22.
Traditionim Kino, 15.10.78', Filmforum
(Dusseldorf),December1978, 61.
23.
24.
The Allies initiallybanned 700 Germanfilms in
1945. (Thisfigure includesdocumentaries,short
25.
subjectsand some productionsmade before 1933
as wellas Nazi features.)Duringthepostwaryears,
authorities(the Freiwillige
Germanself-censorship
founded in July 1949) assumed 26.
Selbstkontrolle,
responsibilityfor the removalof individualfilms
fromtheproscribedlistand theircommercialre-release, respondingto the requestsof petitioners.
Some titleswould be takenoff withoutconditions,
othersonly if offensiveor questionablepassages
weredeleted.InJune1953, 340 Germanfilmsfrom
1930-45 appeared on an updatedinventory.By
January1954, 275 filmsremainedon the list;by
August 1977 there were 176. As of late 1995,
featurefilmsfromthe 27.
betweenthirtyand thirty-five
ThirdReichare stillbarredto the Germanpublic,
available only for special screeningsand closed
seminars.Thisfigureis misleadinginsofaras some
for
titlesstay on the listonly because rightholders,
whateverreasons,have not petitionedfor the release of films.
See AndreGerely'ssurvey,'Rechter
Geschmackam
NS-Film',Medium13.10 (October1983): 35-37.
DonDeLillo,Americana(1971; reprint,New York:
Penguin,1989), 299.
See, forinstance,WalterBerten,'MusikdurchFilm,
Funkund Schallplatte',Der Deutsche Film 1.7
(January1937): 'Withoutquestionthe majorityof
and
the populacefindsitsdesireforentertainment
its hungerfor musicto a great degree satisfiedby
radio, filmsand records'.Thepossibilitiesof mass
reproduction,though,would not be fullyrealised
until the popular media succeeded in 'freeing
people fromtimeand space so as to free up more
timefor spiritualand intellectual
life'(200).
See thediscussionaboutmodernmediaadvertising
in Americana,270-271.