Approaches to the Study of Film in the Third Reich: A Critical Appraisal

Abstract

There is more than a touch of irony in the recent scandal surrounding the publication of Adolf Hitler's alleged diaries. In a bizarre way, the riveting of public attention on the banal musings of the greatest propagandist of the Third Reich seems to corroborate the nazis' cynical conviction that the 'media' is a vital instrument in the shaping and manipulation of popular emotions and attitudes. Nowhere was this more evident than in the attitude of the Third Reich towards film. Biographers of nazi leaders have often emphasized the obsession which men like Hitler and Goebbels had with movies. As a regime committed to an irrational ideology, the Third Reich was drawn naturally to a medium whose appeal lay in its ability to alter reality to create the proper emotional effect. Not surprisingly, the Reichsfilmkammer or State Film Agency was one of the first bodies established by the Ministry of Propaganda soon after the nazis' accession to power in 1933. Yet despite their significance in shaping the attitudes and actions of nazi leaders and their supporters, films produced during the Third Reich have until recently received little scholarly attention by historians. Practical problems have been a major stumbling block. Many films have chemically decomposed after years of neglect. Others simply