The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I

Jan 1, 1998

1h 1m

★ 0.0

Overview

In this film essay, critic Peter Buchka explores the German cinema of the 1920s, ranging from the disquieting images of Fritz Lang's Metropolis to the castrating sexuality of Marlene Dietrich in Die Blaue Engel. The program provides an introduction to Weimar cinema, with Buchka's essay narrated over the images from film clips of 1920s era German films.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Kick Film

The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

Greg Benzow

On April 30, 1945, while the Russian Army surrounded Berlin, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker. His body was discovered a few days later by the Soviets. He would be positively identified after a top secret inquest in which Hitler's personal dentist would play a central role. And yet, at the same time, Stalin publicly declared that his army was unable to find the Führer's body, choosing to let the wildest rumors develop and going so far as to accuse some of his Allies of having aided the monster's probable escape. What secrets were hidden behind this dissimulation? What happened then to the two ladies involved in the identification of Hitler’s body?

0.0

Hitler's Best Kept Secret: The Eva Braun Tapes

Jan 1, 2020

Eva Braun. Hitler’s mistress and eventual wife. A woman with a passion for photography and film, documenting the daily ongoings among Hitler’s inner circle. Now, a haunting look behind closed doors, uncovering the Eva Braun tapes.

8.0

June 1940, the Great Chaos

Jun 14, 2010

From May 10, 1940, France is living one of the worst tragedies of it history. In a few weeks, the country folds, and then collapsed in facing the attack of the Nazi Germany. On June 1940, each day is a tragedy. For the first time, thanks to historic revelations, and to numerous never seen before images and documents and reenacted situations of the time, this film recounts the incredible stories of those men and women trapped in the torment of this great chaos.

5.7

Breakthrough

Mar 1, 1979

Starting in late May 1944, during the German retreat on the Eastern Front, Captain Stransky (Helmut Griem) orders Sergeant Steiner (Richard Burton) to blow up a railway tunnel to prevent Russian forces from using it. Steiner's platoon fails in its mission by coming up against a Russian tank. Steiner then takes a furlough to Paris just as the Allies launch their invasion of Normandy.

5.7

Who was Hitler

Nov 16, 2017

Hitler's biography told like never before. Besides brief historical localizations by a narrator, only contemporaries and Hitler himself speak: no interviews, no reenactment, no illustrative graphics and no technical gadgets. The testimonies from diaries, letters, speeches and autobiographies are assembled with new, often unpublished archive material. Hitler's life and work are thus reflected in a unique way in interaction with the image of the society in the years 1889 to 1945.

7.3

Die guten Feinde

May 11, 2017

An intimate quest by a son to understand the identity of his father; a look back at the Berlin of the 30s and a special group of friends who loved life and, in the darkest hours of German history, ultimately chose good over evil.

6.7

Pollock

Sep 6, 2000

In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has fittingly been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock began a downward spiral.

10.0

The Tea Coffee Experiment

Dec 27, 2017

A group of friends come up with the brilliant idea of testing the non-existent drink known as "Tea Coffee".

6.9

Schtonk!

Mar 12, 1992

Schtonk! is a farce of the actual events of 1983, when Germany's Stern magazine published, with great fanfare, 60 volumes of the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler – which two weeks later turned out to be entirely fake. Fritz Knobel (based on real-life forger Konrad Kujau) supports himself by faking and selling Nazi memorabilia. When Knobel writes and sells a volume of Hitler's (nonexistent) diaries, he thinks it's just another job. When sleazy journalist Hermann Willié learns of the diaries, however, he quickly realizes their potential value... and Knobel is quickly in over his head. As the pressure builds and Knobel is forced to deliver more and more volumes of the fake diaries, he finds himself acting increasingly like the man whose life he is rewriting. The film is a romping and hilarious satire, poking fun not only at the events and characters involved in the hoax (who are only thinly disguised in the film), but at the discomfort Germany has with its difficult past.

7.2

Is Paris Burning?

Oct 26, 1966

Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces.

0.0

After Mein Kampf?

Aug 1, 1961

By combining actual footage with reenactments, this film offers both a documentary and fictional account of the life of Adolf Hitler, from his childhood in Vienna, through the rise of the Third Reich, to his final act of suicide in the waning days of WWII. The film also provides considerable, and often shocking, detail of the atrocities enacted by the Nazi regime under Hitler's command.

7.5

Fascism in Colour

Jan 1, 2006

After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he founds the National Fascist Party in 1921 and assumes political power in 1922, becoming the Duce, dictator of Italy. His success encourages Hitler to take power in Germany in 1933, opening the dark road to World War II. (Originally released as a two-part miniseries. Includes colorized archival footage.)

7.9

Downfall

Sep 16, 2004

In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.

6.9

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

Jun 6, 2018

The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.

7.2

Hitler's War on Oil: Objective Baku

May 4, 2015

This film tells the story of World War II as experienced by the inhabitants of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, at the time a satellite of Moscow. The very rich oil deposits of the region aroused the covetousness of Hitler who needed the oil from Baku to carry out his program of world domination. His entire campaign of 1942-1943 was aimed at seizing them. But the Soviets and the Allies were determined to prevent him from doing so, by all means, including the most radical, even if it meant wiping the city off the map.

7.2

Labyrinth of Lies

Nov 6, 2014

A young prosecutor in postwar West Germany investigates a massive conspiracy to cover up the Nazi pasts of prominent public figures.

0.0

The Eichmann Trial

Oct 22, 2025

In 1961, history was on trial... in a trial that made history. Just 15 years after the end of WWII, the Holocaust had been largely forgotten. That changed with the capture of Adolf Eichmann, a former Nazi officer hiding in Argentina. Through rarely-seen archival footage, The Eichmann Trial documents one of the most shocking trials ever recorded, and the birth of Holocaust awareness and education.

The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I Trailers