Evolution of Film Propaganda Throughout World
War II
How Was the Cinema Regulated and/or Freely Used
to Affect the People’s Attitudes toward the War?
Hyemin Koo
<Table of Contents>
1. Introduction
- List of
Representative Propaganda Films
2. The Films
1) Before the War: Subtle Propaganda
◎ Hollywood-
Propaganda in American Cinema
⒜ First Level
Propaganda: The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935)
◎ Nazi Cinema:
the Ministry of Illusion
⒝ Mild Nazi
Propaganda:
◎ The Soviet
Cinema under Stalin
⒞ Aleksandr
Nevskiy (1938): Metaphors for Stalin
2) The War Begins
⒟ Classic
Hollywood Steps In:
⒠ Serious
Nazism: The Eternal Jew (1940)
◎ The
Filmmakers of Nazi
3) The Tide Turns:
⒡ Three Types
of Hollywood Pro-War Propaganda
①
② The Typical
American Attempt at Satire: The Ducktators (1942) & Der Füehrer's Face
(1943)
③
Government Intervention: Prelude to War (1943): Part One of Capra's Why We
Fight Series
⒢ Eisenstein
Strikes Again: Ivan Groznyy I (1944) (Ivan the Terrible)
4) The War Ends
◎ The Italian
Cinema Under Mussolini
⒣ Roma,
Città Aperta (1945) (Open City)
3. Conclusion:
: A Comparison
of Propaganda in American, German, Soviet, and Italian Cinema during WWII
4. Bibliography
1. Introduction
In World War II, some
measures were taken and atrocities committed which we today have difficulty
comprehending. Through what argument could Hitler lead millions of people into
believing themselves to be the "master-race"? What enabled Stalin to
dictate over the biggest country in the world? How could have so many people,
of both the allied and axis powers, been convinced into participating in such
irrational and frenzied mass killing? Of course, these questions cannot be
answered by one factor alone, nor do I attempt to. Although the causes of World
War II, or any war for that matter, can only be determined through a
comprehensive understanding of the political, economic, social and cultural
characteristics of the relevant countries, I do believe that the interpretation
of one element of the complex mosaic can be decidedly useful in gaining a
feeling of the cultural atmosphere of each respective country. Film, a
relatively new medium of art as it was at the time, was a fledging and
flourishing form of mass communication. Many leaders across the globe
considered the cinema a powerful tool for propaganda, and every major power in
the war owned a respectable film industry. Film both reflected and influenced-
it mirrored the society and era it was made in, and affected its viewer either
rationally or emotionally. And by subconsciously conveying a strong message to
its audience, film could be used for all kinds of purposes, from evoking a wide
range of emotions such as hatred, sympathy, and excitement and sparking a
revolution to breeding indifference toward atrocities, or inspiring awe. In
this paper, propaganda films from four different countries, released in the
years before, during, and immediately after the war are weaved together with
their historical and sociopolitical backgrounds in chronological order. Keep in
mind that propaganda here does not refer only to disinformation or direct
appeal for action. I have followed both the dictionary definition of the word-
ideas or statements that may be false or exaggerated and that are
used in order to gain support for a political leader, party, ideal, etc. - and
the better judgments of historians and some of my own in compiling this list of
more or less representative propaganda films of World War II. Note that these
movies are not the most famous or significant WWII propaganda films; rather,
each movie represents the distinctive approach of propagation employed during
the war, from major productions with big-name stars and fancy directors to
obscure, B-level listings.
12 Titles
American:
7
German:
2
Soviet:
2
Italian:
1
1.
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935) –
2.
3. Aleksandr Nevskiy (1938)
–
4.
5.
A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941). –
6.
The Great Dictator (1940) –
7.
Der Ewige Jude (1940) -
8.
9.
Der Fuhrer's Face (1942) & The Ducktators (1942) –
10.
Prelude to War (1943) (Capra's Why
We Fight Series) –
11.
Ivan Groznyy I (1944) -
12.
Roma, Città Aperta (1945) –
2. The Films
Before the War: Subtle
Propaganda
◎ Hollywood- Propaganda in American Cinema
Propaganda films of
⒜ First Level
Propaganda: The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935)
In the January of 1933, Hitler had come into
power, and by March of 1935, he had renounced disarmament and started an air
force. Those against Hitler’s political policy had mostly emigrated
before this time, and one of them was William Dieterle (1893-1971), a German
born American film director. Offered a job in Hollywood to make German versions
of American films in 1930, Dieterle immigrated to America and eventually
directed the The Story of Louis Pasteur
(1935), which started a whole series of ‘pro-French’
biographical films produced by MGM, including The Life of Emile Zola (1937),
Marie Antoinette (1938), and Madame
Curie (1943). The plot of Louis Pasteur
is in keeping with the title, and deals mainly with Dr.Pasteur’s trials
and ultimate success in proving his microbe theory. Throughout the movie,
Pasteur is portrayed as a kindly man with a rare conviction and conscience,
even risking his life to save the lives of Russian farmers. The movie ends on a
heroic note, with Pasteur receiving of a medal of honor from the Russian Czar
and his elevation in status from an ignored chemist to a great contributor to
humanity.
Louis Pasteur was premiered in
November of 1935, and was released nationwide in February 1936. Although this
movie is somewhat deviant from the public’s common conception of
propaganda, the time period in which it was made qualifies Louis Pasteur as subtle propaganda. The release year for
Dieterle was
an exile from Hitler’s Third Reich
◎ Nazi Cinema: the Ministry of Illusion
"The essence of propaganda consists
in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end
they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it." - Goebbels
Many directors and actors fled
Escapism was the main goal of Goebbel's film
policy. Movies, in this era, were produced to distract the population and to
keep everybody in good spirits. Generally it was the documentary films and
newsreels, such as Riefenstahl's Triumph
of the Will,
The following film,
⒝ Mild Nazi Propaganda:
“Politically,
I did not know what was important. I only asked where the best material could
be found, where intensifications might be possible. I concentrated on blending
images and movements.” - Leni Riefenstahl
The 1936 Summer Olympics had been decided to be
held at
The
International Olympics Committee commissioned the making of a film record of
the Olympics. Not surprisingly, Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler’s favorite film
director and hired-hand, was hired for the job. A master filmmaker, she molded
the Berlin Olympics into an artistic achievement,
The
documentary is divided into two parts; Olympia
Part One: Festival of the Nations, and Olympia
Part Two: Festival of Beauty. Each part records the first and second half
of the 1936 Olympic Games, but in the beginning of the first part, there is a
long and sleep-inducing exposition of the ideal Aryan physique. Several healthy
German men and women are shown in the nude, 
posing, running, or throwing javelins.
Riefenstahl opens her
◎ Soviet Cinema under Stalin
“Film is the most powerful weapon” - Lenin
Hitler had agreed with Stalin, and Stalin had
agreed with Lenin that film was the most powerful tool of propaganda. Both visually
and auditorily, film possessed the power to have a profound impact on its
audience. The
Just as in other countries, the extent of
propaganda in films produced in the
⒞ Aleksandr Nevskiy
(1938): Metaphors for Stalin
Aleksandr
Nevskiy (1938) is a biopic of Alexandr Nevskiy, a 13th century Russian
Prince who victoriously led a ragtag army against the Teutonic Knights, a
Germanic people. This is one movie which shows how the importance of timing in
a movie's release, especially in the era of World War II.
Stalin directly requested
Eisenstein for a production this film. His purpose was to make a film which
could warn Soviet citizens to be wary of German aggression. The whole film is
filled with metaphors. The Teutonic Knights, who are Germanic in origin, invade
Eisenstein, who had
experienced unbelievably bad fortune throughout his career, believed that this
film would be his big break. But to his dismay, moments after Aleksandr Nevskiy's release, the
Soviet-German non-aggression pact of 1939 was signed. The film was immediately
pulled out from the theaters and it was only after the 1941 German invasion of
The War Begins
By this time,
the reality of a war one ocean away began to unconsciously register into the
minds of civilians. Although unaware of the details, most parents were
envisioning their sons on a foreign battlefield.
⒟ Classic
The most commonly used starting date for World
War II is September 1st, 1939, the German invasion of
Waterloo Bridge (1940), directed by
prolific director Mervyn LeRoy and starring two of the biggest names in
Hollywood history, Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor, is a classic war romance.
The movie begins with
This tragic
love story occurs during World War I, but the references to the war itself are
indirect. Although the war is fundamentally what brought about the tragedy-
after all, their romance was interrupted because of the war, and
The Great Dictator
(1940)
This film deviates
from the pre-Pearl Harbor list in that its caricature was so blatant. Released
in October 1940, United Artists’ The
Great Dictator spurred the greatest Brouhaha across the nation. Every
mannerism of the Third Reich was mimicked, and Hitler was lampooned as a clown.
Some said it showed the epitome of comedy, satire, and allegory. Others
criticized it for its oversimplification and antiseptic 
naïveté; in some scenes, the horror
of the Third Reich was minimized to buffoonery and slapstick.
Charlie Chaplin
wrote, directed, and produced this movie in which he plays double roles,
Adenoid Hynkel (Dictator of Tomania) and a Jewish barber. During World War I, a
clumsy soldier (the barber) saves the life of military pilot Schultz.
Unfortunately, due to a plane crash, the barber loses his memory, and after
several years in the hospital, is released only to return to his now deserted
barber shop in the Jewish Ghetto. Although the barber is saved from the
concentration camps with Schultz’s help, during his escape he is mistaken
for the dictator Adenoid Hynkel himself, with whom the barber bears an uncanny
resemblance. The small barber now gets the once-in-a-lifetime chance to speak
to the people of Osterlich and all of Tomania, who listen eagerly on the radio.
The film culminates at an elaborate Munich-type rally where the barber-Hynkel
renounces his former positions of aggression and instead advocates brotherhood
and mutual understanding. In this final dramatic speech, Chaplin voices his
criticism of Adolph Hitler, fascism, and patriotic nationalism.
A Jewish Barber: I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor.
That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like
to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to
help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's
happiness, not by each other's misery……The hate of men will pass,
and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the
people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don't give
yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your
lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel!..... Don't fight
for slavery! Fight for liberty!.….Dictators free themselves but they
enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to
free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with
hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science
and progress will lead to all men's happiness. Soldiers, in the name of
democracy, let us all unite!......
World War II
is today a big part of our pasts, and a major event in modern history. Most
people are aware of Hitler’s atrocities and the specifics of his concentration
camps. However, because
A Yank in the R.A.F.
(1941)
A Yank in the
R.A.F. (1941) was released in September, three months before the bombing
of Pearl Harbor and
⒠ Serious Nazism: Der Ewige Jude (1940)
“In cinema, more
than in theater, the spectator must know whom he should hate and whom he should
love.” – Fritz Hippler
A flagrant,
controversial, and politically incorrect piece of infamous propaganda, Der Ewige Jude (which translates to The Eternal Jew) currently requires a
visit to a white superiority website for a viewing. It is not light or suggestive
propaganda, but more a blatant, outrageous, and shameless indoctrination. While
without a story, it is still fiction. Numerous footages are edited together in
a manipulative way, with direct and explanatory narration all throughout; its
director, Fritz Hippler, was known as the most eager and unscrupulous among
Goebbel’s film experts who knew how to arrange the most disparate clips
and most antagonistic arguments into a triumph of “dialectical
destructiveness.” The purpose of the film was to explain to the German
public about the supposed danger posed by the Jews, an ‘evil, scheming,
parasitic race’. The concentration camps and massacres of Jews are never
mentioned, and ‘Aryans’ are portrayed only as happy, healthy, and
diligent people. Though Der Ewige Jude
was released after the war had begun, in 1940, the film was a failure.
Audiences, who had been accustomed to watching the elevated works of directors
like Leni Riefenstahl, or even those who tolerated the anti-Semitic Jud Süß, found this film to
be exaggerated and extreme.
Although
Goebbels and Hitler were serious in the making, the audience of today will be
unable to be so in the viewing. This underlines the importance of context for a
movie or documentary- had Der Ewige Jude
been made in a different time period, or in a different part of the world, its
outrageous judgments and discrepancy in reasoning would have been considered to
be something between psychotic and comedic. Regardless of its box office
failure, the mere fact of the creation and existence of such a docufilm
reflects the state of mind the Nazis tried to promote in 1940. Since the
medieval ages, Jews worldwide were looked upon unkindly by the mainland
Europeans. They were deemed to be cunning charlatans, who made their wealth by
corrupt measures. After the devastation brought about by World War I and the
Paris Peace Treaties, the Nazis needed someone to blame. Hoping to provoke the
long bred European antipathy, the Jews were degenerated into scapegoats and
blamed for the economic crisis.
Some of the
unlikely arguments made in the film are:
Wherever rats
appear they bring ruin, by destroying mankind's goods and foodstuffs - just
like the Jews among human beings.
Wo Ratten auch
auftauchen, tragen sie Vernichtung ins Land, zerstören sie menschliche
Güter und Nahrungsmittel- nicht anders als die Juden unter den Menschen.
This parasitical Jewish
race is responsible for most international crime. In 1932, Jews, only 1 per cent
of the world's population, accounted for ... 47 per cent of crooked games of
chance -
Das Parasitenvolk der
Juden stellt einen grossen Teil des internationalen Verbrechertums. So betrug
1932 der Anteil der Juden, die nur ein Prozent der Weltbevölkerung
ausmachen... an Falsch-und Glücksspielsvergehen 47 Prozent
- 82 percent
of international crime organizations
- an internationalen
Diebesbanden 82 Prozent
- 98 percent of
prostitution.
- am Mädchenhandel
98 Prozent.
The common language of
international thieves comes not without reason from Hebrew and Yiddish.
Die Fachausdrücke
des internationalen Gauner- und Verbrecherjargons stammen nicht ohne grund aus
dem Hebräischen und Jiddischen.
In this
century of industry, Jewish business blooms as never before. The House of
Rothschild is but one example of the Jews' tactic of casting their financial
net over the honest worker.
So blüht in dem
arbeitsamen Jahrhunderts des technischen Fortschritts das jüdische
Zwischengeschäft wie nie zuvor. Das Haus Rothschild ist nur ein Beispiel
für die Taktik der Juden, das netz ihres finanziellen Einflusses über
die arbeitende Menschheit zu spannen.
-Fifty-two out of every
100 doctors were Jews.
Von 100 Ärzten
(waren) 52 Juden.
-The average wealth of
Germans was 810 marks; the average wealth of Jews 10,000 marks.
Das
Durchschnittsvermögen des einzelnen Deutschen betrug 810 Mark. Das
Durchschnittsvermögen des einzelnen Juden betrug 10.000 Mark.
While millions
of established Germans were unemployed and in misery, immigrant Jews acquired
fantastic riches in a few years - not by honest work, but by usury, swindling,
and fraud.
Während Millionen
des eingesessenen deutschen Volkes in Arbeitslosigkeit und Elend gerieten, gelangten
zugewanderte Juden in wenigen Jahren zu phantastischen Reichtümern - nicht
durch ehrliche Arbeit, sondern durch Wucher, Gaunerei und Betrug.
The rootless Jew has no
feeling for the purity and cleanliness of the German idea of art.
Für die Reinheit und
Sauberkeit des deutschen Kunstempfindens hat der wurzellose Jude kein Organ.
What he calls
"art" must titillate his degenerate nerves. A smell of foulness and
disease must pervade it.
Was er "Kunst"
nennt, muss seine entarteten Nerven kitzeln. Ein Geruch von Fäulnis und
Krankheit muss es umwittern.
The
relativity-Jew Einstein, who concealed his hatred of
Der Relativitätsjude
Einstein, der seinen Deutschenhass hinter seiner obskuren Pseudowissenschaft versteckte.
The Jew Curt Bois enjoys
a particularly perverted role.
Der Jude Curt Bois
gefällt sich in einer besonders perversen Darstellung.
The Jew Lorre in the role
of a child murderer. Not the murderer but the victim is guilty, according to
this film, which presents the criminal sympathetically, to gloss over and
excuse the crime.
Der Jude Lorre in der
Rolle eines Kindermörders. Nach dem Schlagwort: "Nicht der
Mörder, sondern der Ermordete ist schuldig", wird versucht, das
normale Rechtsempfinden zu verdrehen und durch mitleiderregende Darstellung des
Verbrechers das Verbrechen zu beschönigen und zu entschuldigen.
Jewish law has
no love and regard for animals in the Germanic sense. Jews refuse to put a
suffering animal out of misery.
Die jüdischen
Gesetzbücher haben für Überlegungen, die aus der germanischen
Achtung und Liebe zum Tier stammen, keinen Sinn. Sie verbieten sogar, den
Qualen des sterbenden Tieres vorzeitlich ein Ende zu machen.
The eternal law of
nature, to keep one's race pure, is the legacy which the National Socialist
movement bequeaths to the German people for all time.
Das ewige Gesetz der
Natur, die Rasse rein zu halten, ist für alle Zeiten das Vermächtnis
der nationalsozialistischen Bewegung an das deutsche Volk.
It is with this spirit
that the unified German people march on into the future.
In diesem Sinne
marschiert die Gemeinschaft des deutschen Volkes in die Zukunft.
Facts were exaggerated or sometimes outrightly
fabricated. Every tired, angry, annoyed, jealous, and spiteful nerve of the
German audience was meant to be stimulated against the eternal Jews. However,
although Der Ewige Jude was shown in
sixty-six cinemas in Berlin alone, Security Service reports on its reception
suggest that audiences were already tiring of anti-Semitic propaganda;
‘Statements like “We’ve seen Jud Süß and we’ve had enough of Jewish
filth” have been heard.’ Nevertheless, in August 1941 the German
authorities in the occupied
◎ The Filmmakers of Nazi
One might
wonder what happened to the numerous filmmakers of the Third Reich after the
war was over. After all, Goebbels’ Ministry for People's Enlightenment
and Propaganda had a separate film office; the filmmakers were undoubtedly in
on the game. The allied powers also employed directors for propaganda purposes,
such as Frank Capra for the Why We Fight
Series, but his works were not essentially politically incorrect, as was Der Ewige Jude. Der Ewige Jude represents both the epitome of anti-Semitic
propaganda and Goebbels’ infamous argumentum ad nauseam, also dubbed the
Goebbels’ Technique of Big Lie. Fritz Hippler had a fairly high position
in the Propaganda Ministry, oversaw its film office, and played a key role in
determining censorship of foreign films. However, as soon as the war was over
he was quick to disavow his role in the party and went untouched until his
death in 2002. During his life he argued that he had only shot some footage for
the film, and Goebbels was the one who had had the upper hand. Hippler claimed
that at the time he was shooting the film he was unaware of that the Holocaust
was taking place, and if it were possible to annul everything about the film,
he would.
The Tide Turns:
On December 7th,
1941, Japanese warplanes attacked
The
⒡ 3 Types of
①
Warner Brothers was the first
Due to its
excessive complexity,
Moreover,
When more
closely looked into, one can find that this amity was a result of the
capitulation settlement between
With the coming of the Second World War, many
eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully or desperately toward the freedom of
the
And so people flocked to
Rick owns a
café in 
arrested by the police and his clients who were
supposed to buy the exit visas come to him. To make matters worse and to
Rick’s dismay, the clients are Ilsa, a woman who had deserted him, and
her husband Victor, a Czechoslovakian Resistance leader. Irritated and hurt by
Ilsa’s appearance with another man, Rick refuses to give them the visas,
stating ‘I'm not interested in
politics. The problems of the world are not in my department. I'm a saloon
keeper.’
However, after
listening to Ilsa’s excuse for her actions, Rick realizes that although
Ilsa is still in love with him, their love can never be realized. For Ilsa, and
for Victor’s cause, Rick betrays the German and pro-Vichy officials and
gives the couple their exit visas, letting them escape. When Major Heinrich Strasser,
a Gestapo commander, tries to stop them, Rick ends up shooting him. Capitaine
Louis Renault, a local
**
The propaganda in this movie is apparent in several points:
1.
However, Rick
and Renault are different cases. In the beginning, Rick is a cynical,
apolitical man who ‘sticks his neck out for no one’. Besides making
money out of his salon, he seemingly has no other intentions in
One touching
scene in the movie explores this subject more directly. While Rick is absent,
Major Strasser and the German soldiers take over the café’s piano
and sing a German Nazi song Die Wacht am
Rhein ("The Watch on the
2.
(Ferrari
offers to buy Sam, the piano player at Rick’s café)
Rick (looking down and
with understatement): I don't buy or sell human beings.
Ferrari: Too bad. That's
Rick: Suppose you run
your business and let me run mine.
Ferrari: Suppose we ask
Sam. Maybe he'd like to make a change?
Rick: Suppose we do.
Ferrari:
My dear Rick, when will you realize that in this world, today, isolationism is no longer a practical policy?
(Remarking
to Sam)
Rick: It's December 1941
in
3.
In
4.
Also,
there are references to the conditions of countries from which these refugees
have come to
Annina: The devil
[dictatorial Tsar Boris III] has the people by the throat. So, Jan and I we -
we do not want our children to grow up in such a country.
Eventually, Rick helps her husband win enough
money from his café’s gambling room to pay for the exit visas.
Annina is infinitely grateful, and here we have a microcosm of the world order
in
Filmed during
a time when Roosevelt wavered between supporting the
② The Typical American Attempt at Satire: The
Ducktators (1942) & Der Füehrer's Face (1943)
Both animated
shorts 7~8 minutes long, Looney Toons’ The Ducktators (1942) and Disney’s Der Füehrer's Face (1943), which translates to ‘The
Leader’s Face’, parody and satirize Nazism and Fascism in similar
ways. Although short, and to those of us today, obscure, these cartoons were
widely circulated at the time of their releases because they were often unalterably
packaged with big-name features at movie theaters.
In The Ducktators (1942), Hitler,
Mussolini, and Hirohito are portrayed as ducks taking over a barnyard.
Throughout the short the ‘Dove of Peace’, which apparently
symbolizes the United States or the allied powers, laments over how evil the
world has become, and at the end, beats up the three ‘ducktators’
in front of a cheering crowd. Definitely not subtle propaganda, the cartoon has
some explicit, witty moments, such as ‘Figaro’ playing in the
background with the appearance of the Mussolini goose, Hitler duck using the
‘treaty tearer uppper’ to shred up his peace pledge, and the
Hirohito duck singing that he is ‘a little crazy’. The Ducktators is aimed not so much at
conveying a pro-war message than to amuse the audience and lighten up the
gloomy atmosphere of 1942.
Der
Füehrer's Face (1943) is better known for the success of the song of
the same title. Originally titled Donald
Duck in Nutziland, the short is about Donald Duck’s nightmare that he
lives in
♬ When Der Füehrer
says, "We ist der master race"
We HEIL! HEIL! Right in Der Füehrer's
face
Not to love Der Füehrer
is a great disgrace
So we HEIL! HEIL! Right
in Der Füehrer's face
When Herr Goebbels says,
"We own der world und space"
We HEIL! HEIL! Right in
Herr Goring's face
When Herr Goring says
they'll never bomb this place
We HEIL! HEIL! Right in
Herr Goring's face
Are we not the supermen
Aryan pure supermen
Ja we ist der supermen
Super-duper supermen
Ist this Nutzi land not
good?
Would you leave it if you
could?
Ja this Nutzi land is
good!
Vee would leave it if we
could
We bring the world to
order
Heil Hitler's world New
Order
Everyone of foreign race
will love Der Füehrer's face
When we bring to der
world disorder
When Der Füehrer
says, "We ist der master race"
We HEIL! HEIL! Right in Der Füehrer's
face
When Der Füehrer
says, "We ist der master race"
We HEIL! HEIL! Right in Der Füehrer's
face ♬
③ Government Intervention: Prelude to War (1943)
: Part One of Capra's Why We Fight Series
Your
boy wants you to see it!
Prelude to War
(1943)
is the first of Frank Capra’s Why
We Fight Series, a set of propaganda documentaries produced by the Army
Service Forces and released through the Office of War Information. It was
originally intended exclusively for the members of the Armed Forces, but the
War Department probably decided after the film’s completion that it was
too effective to keep hidden from the civilian audience. As Capra states in the
beginning of the film, Prelude to War
has its goals in giving factual information as to the causes, the events
leading up to America’s entry into the war, and the principles for which
they were fighting. Every element of the film is blatantly propagandistic, from
the content and tone of narration to the music, pictures and footages used.
Images are interpreted in the most convenient ways, and enemy speeches are
grossly mistranslated. Its axis counterpart would be The Eternal Jew or Jud Süß.
Prelude to War begins with a message
from Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War, complemented by a fluttering star
spangle banner and heroic music in the background: “We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle
our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom
on the one hand... and of overwhelming power on the other (underlines
included).” Then the dramatic narrator enters who explains and
interprets the footage shown every bit of the way. He first asks the
fundamental question, which the series is aptly named after: “Why are we fighting?’ Is it
because of
The
documentary has its basis on Vice President Henry R. Wallace’s words, “this is a fight between and free
world and a slave world.” Two planets are shown, one white and free
and one black and enslaved. “Our world”, or the white and free
world, was inspired by men of vision such as Moses, Mohammed, Confucius,
Christ, Washington, Jefferson, Garibaldi, Lafayette, Bolivar, and Lincoln. 
in a daring and impressive tone, recites the
immortal words of Patrick Henry: “Is
life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and
slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but
as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
But what of
this other world, the dark, evil, enslaved world? Here men were putting out the
lighthouses one by one. The march of history was reversing itself. The key
three countries, Japan, Germany, and Italy, were torn by political unrest, hard
times, unemployment, just like every other country after world war one. Two
courses were available for their people: they could solve their problems in a
free democratic way or let someone else do the solving for them. They obviously
made the tragic mistake of choosing the second course.
The film goes
on for another half hour, explaining the atrocities of the axis forces.
Descriptive maps show the extent of their greed, which is taking over the
entire world. Leaders such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Hirohito are depicted as
satanic demagogues, “Don’t think and follow me” being their
oft-repeated phrase. Provocative images, like some shown below, are intended to
rouse the anger of the American people.
One
interesting point is that the film reveals the real beginnings of the current
war to be the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and Mussolini's
destruction of
Prelude to War ends on a hopeful note,
with the narrator’s voice further elevating its melodramatic tone. He
argues that it is freedom that the Americans are fighting for, and without
freedom, we are as good as dead. “Remember
those who have suffered in Manchuria and those who are currently suffering all around
the world- the subsequent course of history makes it clear that that incident
so many miles away is one of the main reasons that you and millions of others
are in uniform today. It’s us, or them. The chips are down. Two worlds
stand against each other. One must die, one must live. 170 years of freedom
decrees our answer.”
⒢ Eisenstein Strikes Again: Ivan Groznyy I (1944)
Another film by Sergei
Eisenstein, Ivan Groznyy I (Ivan the
Terrible I) was the first edition of an unfinished trilogy. Ivan Groznyy II:
Boyarsky zagovor (1958), although finished in 1946, was disapproved by the
government and wasn't released until 1958, 5 years after Stalin's death. The
third part, which began filming right after the second part's finish in 1946,
was never completed due to Eisenstein's death in 1948. The first part is
another metaphor between Stalin and Ivan the Terrible, called Ivan the Great in
Stalin. Have
you studied History?
Eisenstein.
More or less.
Stalin. More
or less? I am also a little familiar with history. You have shown the
oprichnina incorrectly. The oprichnina was the army of the king. It was
different from the feudal army which could remove its banner and leave the
battleground at any moment - the regular army, the progressive army was formed.
You have shown this oprichnina to be like the Ku-Klux-Klan.
Eisenstein
said that they wear white cowls but we have black ones.
Molotov. This
does not make a major difference.
Stalin. Your
tsar has come out as being indecisive, he resembles Hamlet. Everybody prompts
him as to what is to be done, and he himself does not take any decision... Tsar
Ivan was a great and a wise ruler, and if he is compared with Ludwig XI (you
have read about Ludwig XI who prepared absolutism for Ludwig XIV), then Ivan
the Terrible is in the tenth heaven. The wisdom of Ivan the Terrible is
reflected by the following: he looked at things from the national point of view
and did not allow foreigners into his country, he barricaded the country from
the entry of foreign influence. By showing Ivan the Terrible in this manner you
have committed a deviation and a mistake. Peter Ist was also a great ruler, but
he was extremely liberal towards foreigners, he opened the gate wide to them
and allowed foreign influence into the country and permitted the Germanisation
of
The most
outstanding contribution of Ivan the Terrible was that he was the first to
introduce the government monopoly of external trade. Ivan the Terrible was the
first and Lenin was the second.
Molotov. In general,
emphasis was given to psychologism, excessive stress was laid on internal
psychological contradictions and personal emotions.
Stalin. Ivan
the Terrible was extremely cruel. It is possible to show why he had to be
cruel.
....
Eisenstein. We
are saying that in the first part a number of moments were successful and this
gives us the confidence for making the second series.
Stalin. We are
not talking about what you have achieved, but now we are talking about the
shortcomings.
Eisenstein
asked whether there were some more instructions regarding the film.
Stalin. I am
not giving you instructions but expressing the viewer's opinion. It is
necessary that historical characters are reflected correctly. What did Glinka
show us? What is this Glinka. This is Maksim and not Glinka. [They were talking
about the film Composer Glinka made by L. Arnshtam. The main role was played by
B. Chirkov.] Artist Chirkov could not express himself and for an artist the
greatest quality is the capability to transform himself. (Addressing Cherkasov)
- you are capable of transforming yourself.
Contrary to
its fame as a propaganda film, Ivan
Groznyy I was apparently not Stalin's favorite movie. Most of the criticism
is directed at historical errors and the indecisive and unclear depiction of
the czar. Stalin finishes off by lightly ignoring Eisenstein and offering
unfaltering praise for his favorite actor.
The War Ends
◎ The Italian Cinema under Mussolini
In
There were continuous efforts for the
nationalization of Italian cinema. In 1925, LUCE (L’Unione
Cinematografica Educativa) was formed, a board for overseeing films produced in
The following year, Freddi headed the Direzione
Generale Per La Cinema, a state controlled censor board made up of Fascists and
War Minister officials. Their job was to read and censor scripts and foreign
films. Unlike other dictator-ruled countries, not all movies disagreeing with
Fascist ideology were banned; only those with defiant or incitant messages were
due to modification. Also, the incentive to make Fascist propaganda films were
given in an oddly capitalistic way- a script judged to be pro-Fascist by the
Direzione Generale Per La Cinema could receive up to 100% funding by the state.
In 1937, Mussolini established
⒣ Roma, Città
Aperta (1945)
Certainly not Fascist
propaganda and released months after the war was over, Roma, Città Aperta (1945) is one of the films which
straddled the war and post-war era. It began filming at the end of 1943, after a
chain of events which occurred after the American defeat of
Pursued by the Gestapo,
Giorgio Manfredi, one of the leaders of the Resistance, hides in his friend
Francesco's apartment. Giorgio must deliver some funds in his possession to
Pietro, a priest and a secret helper of the resistance, but wary of the danger
he is in, asks Francesco. The Nazi officers, suspecting Francesco, raid his
apartment and arrest every male in the building. Giorgio manages to save his
friend and other member of the resistance, but due to his girlfriend's
betrayal, they are all arrested again and conditioned to atrocious torture. Don
Pietro is also executed in the witness of the town children, who, after seeing
their beloved priest's death, walk silently back to
One of the most interesting
scenes in the film was of two Nazi officers having a conversation about the
validity of their cause. Probably shot near or after the end of Nazi rule in
(While Giorgio
is being tortured, Hartmann is in the lounge, waiting for him to talk)
Major Bergman:
Strenuous evening?
Hartmann: Not
very... but interesting. I've got a man who must talk before dawn... and a
priest who's praying for him.. He'll talk
Major Bergman:
And if not-?
Hartmann:
Ridiculous!
Major Bergman:
And if not-?
Hartmann: Then
it would mean an Italian is worth as much as a German...!
It would mean
there's no difference in the blood of a slave-race and a master-race...!
And no reason
for this war!
Major Bergman:
25 years ago, I commanded firing squads in
I was a young
officer. I believed then, too, in a German "master-race".
But the French
patriots also died without talking.
We Germans
simply refuse to realize people want to be free.
Hartmann:
You're drunk, Hartmann!
Major Bergman:
Yes, I'm drunk. I get drunk every night to forget... It doesn't help. We can't
get anywhere.. but kill... kill.
We have sown
Hate... everywhere!!
We are being consumed by hatred...without hope...
Hartmann:
Enough!
Major Bergman:
We will all die.. without hope...
Hartmann: I
forbid you to continue!
Major Bergman:
...without hope...
Although clearly an
anti-Nazi movie, it is doubtful that anyone, maybe except for the staunchest pacifist, would have been inclined to refer
to Rossellini's film as "propaganda", for the necessity to combat Nazism had become a forgone conclusion for most
people
in the closing of 1945. However, some critics point out that the film "effectively propagandizes for Italian unity." Giorgio
Manfredi, the resistance leader, is identified in the film as a communist. In
spite of this fact, the priest Don Pietro refuses to reveal him to the end and
eventually meets his death. Solidarity and mutual sacrifice prevails for all
who resist against an essential evil, regardless of their beliefs or religions.
Now that the war is over, it is time to tolerate one another and unite for a
better
3. Conclusion
A Comparison of Propaganda in American, German, Soviet, and Italian Cinema
during WWII
As much as the ideals of these nations differed, so
did their approaches and styles of propaganda. Nazi controlled
Although only one country on the allied side, the
4. Bibliography
Chambers
II, John Whiteclay and Culbert, David. World
War II: Film and History.
Fyne,
Robert. The
Giesen,
Rolf. Nazi Propaganda Films: A History
and Filmography.
Hoffman,
Hilmar. The Triumph of Propaganda: Film
and National Socialism 1933-1945.
Taylor,
Richard. Film Propaganda: Soviet
Dirks,
Tim. "
Gonzato,
Franco. "
Handman,
Gary. “Propaganda and Disinformation.”
Hanson,
Patricia King. "World War II." History
Through a Filmmaker's Lens. American Film Institute. 12 Jun. 2006 <http://www.fathom.com/course/21701723/session4.html>
Hornshoj-Moller,
Stig. "Still Images from Der ewige Jude." Holocaust-History.org. 13 Sep. 1998. 16 Jun. 2006 <http://www.holocaust-history.org/der-ewige-jude/stills.shtml>
Jha,
Sumana. “J.V. Stalin: The Discussion with Sergei Eisenstein on the Film Ivan
the Terrible.” Revolutionary
Democracy. Vol. III, No. 2, September 1997. 14 Jun. 2006 < http://revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv3n2/ivant.htm>
"Leni
Riefenstahl." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
11 Jun. 2006,
"
"Aleksandr
Nevskiy (1938)." The Internet Movie
Database. 14 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029850/>
"
"Der
Ewige Jude (1940)." The Internet
Movie Database. 11 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156524/>
"Der
Fuehrer's Face (1942)." The Internet
Movie Database. 13 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035794/>
"The
Ducktators (1942)." The Internet
Movie Database. 13 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034685/>
"The
Great Dictator (1940)." The Internet
Movie Database. 15 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/>
"Ivan
Groznyy I (1944)." The Internet
Movie Database. 14 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037824/>
"
"
"Prelude
to War (1943)." The Internet Movie
Database. 16 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035209/>
"Roma,
Città Aperta (1945)." The
Internet Movie Database. 17 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038890/>
"The
Story of Louis Pasteur (1935)." The
Internet Movie Database. 9 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028313/>
"
"A
Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)." The
Internet Movie Database. 10 Jun. 2006 <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034405/>
Aleksandr
Nevskiy.
Dir. Sergei M. Eisenstein. Perf. Nikolai Cherkasov,
Nikolai Okhlopkov et al.
Mosfilm. 1938
Warner Bros.
Pictures. 1942
Der Ewige Jude. Dir. Fritz
Hippler.
Deutsche
Filmherstellungs- und -Verwertungs-
Der Fuehrer's Face. Dir. Clarence
Nash. Perf. Jack Kinney et al.
Walt Disney
Pictures, 1942
The Ducktators. Dir. Norm
McCabe. Perf. Mel Blanc et al.
Leon
Schlesinger Studios, 1942
The Great Dictator. Dir. Charles
Chaplin. Perf. Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard et al.
Charles Chaplin
Productions. 1940
Ivan Groznyy I. Dir. Sergei M.
Eisenstein. Perf. Nikolai Cherkasov, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya et al.
Alma Ata
Studio. 1944
International
Olympic Committee. 1938
Prelude to War. Dir. Frank
Capra
Roma, Città Aperta. Dir. Roberto
Rossellini. Perf. Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani et al.
Excelsa Film
1945
The
Story of Louis Pasteur. Dir. William Dieterle. Perf. Paul Muni,
Josephine Hutchinson et al.
Warner Bros.
Pictures. 1935
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(MGM). 1940.
A Yank in the R.A.F. Dir. Henry King.
Perf. Tyrone Power, Tim Baker et al.
Twentieth
Century-Fox Film Corporation. 1941
<Image Sources>
<Image 1>
Poster for The
Story of Louis Pasteur <http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/85/116385.jpg>
<Images 2- 1~ 3>
Poster and Still Images
of
<Image 3>
Poster for
<Image 4>
Still Image of The
Great Dictator < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Great_dictator_1024.jpg>
<Image 5>
Poster for A
Yank in the R.A.F. <http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/51/192551.jpg>
<Images 6- 1~13>
Still Images of
Der Ewige Jude <http://www.holocaust-history.org/der-ewige-jude/stills.html>
<Images 7- 1~3>
Poster and
Still Images of
<Image 8>
Still Image of The
Ducktators < http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/duck.html>
<Image 9>
Still Image of Der Füehrer's Face: <http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/user_images/pics/1/9481000/ngbbs44b17621d154d.jpg>
<Images 10- 1~10>
Still Images of
Prelude to War: Captured from VCD