film: The Top Five Hitler Movies

Film makers can’t get enough of Adolf Hitler. I think it’s because he’s the perfect villain. He looked absurd, he committed some of the worst crimes in history and he…actually…existed. Naturally, Herr Hitler’s behaviour lends itself to tragedy of the most touching variety. But - as so often happens with these things - it’s also marvellous for comedic purposes as a well. All that goose-stepping, camp saluting and oh-so-shiny shiny boots.

Did you know that there are 118 films with the name Hitler in the title? These include Not Without My Hitler, Hitler Stole My Ideas, Hitler Superstar, Son of Hitler and the wonderful 2004 epic Punching Hitler. But my personal favourite title has to be Jacques Peretti’s 2006 documentary: Hitler: The Comedy Years. Enough said. Welcome to my Five Favourite Films Featuring the Fuhrer!

Marching into fifth place is the hugely entertaining Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Lightyears ahead of the recent Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this 1989 picture was memorable for combining the acting talents of Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.THE NAMES JONES. HENRY JONES. But what the hell does Hitler have to do with the Crusade – you’re probably wondering. Well in the movie Indy is disguised as a German officer while trying to retrieve his father’s Grail diary. Pushed backwards by the crowd, he bumps into Hitler who, not recognizing the significance of the diary, signs his name in it, thinking the “officer” wanted his autograph. Despite the brevity of the cameo, It’s a typically deft ouch from the masterful hand of director steven spielberg.

Strutting into fourth it’s Mel Brooks’s masterpiece The Producers. Later adapted into a musical, this 1968 comedy tells the story of producer Max Bialystock and accountant Leo Bloom’s attempt to cheat theatre investors of their money by producing a flop. They attempt to find the worst play in the world and do so when the come across Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden. It’s a deranged musical which Bialystock describes as “a love letter to Hitler,” written in total sincerity by insane ex-Nazi Franz Liebkind. The play opens with a lavish musical number called “Springtime For Hitler,” but rather than upsetting the audience they love it, leaving Max and Leo in poverty.

Goosestepping into third, we’ve got 1937’s The Great Dictator. Now although sound had been introduced in films ten years before, this was actually Charlie Chaplin’s first ever talkie. Satirising Hitler and their obvious physical similarities, writer/director/performer Chaplin plays two roles: one as dictator Adenoid Hynkel and the other as an amnesiac Jewish Barber in this blatantly silly but wonderful romp. Indeed, the Hitler character is made to look so absurd that the film was banned by Hitler, Mussolini and Franco on its release. It didn’t go down to well at home either, as Chaplin was criticised for turning the Nazi’s rise to power Into comedy. Chaplin himself said he wouldn’t have done it had he known the truth about the Holocaust.

Invading second position is the 1955 documentary Night and Fog, a must see for any adult who wants to understand what happened in the Nazi concentration camps. Using a mixture of colour and black and white footage, the 30 minute film punches well above its running time by mixing footage of Hitler, Heydrich and Himmer with the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Birkenau and Struthof. But it’s the haunting images of the prisoners and dead victims that will stay with you ever. To say that this film is ‘powerful’ would be trite. Writtten by camp survivor Jean Canany, the film show us the realities of war atrocity for what they really are.

And dictating the top spot it’s the stunning 2004 film Downfall. Downfall depicts the last 12 days of Hitler’s life. Shot mostly in the Fuhrer’s Berlin bunker, the German/Austrian movie challenged film convention by casting Hitler as the central character. Not only that, but director Oliver Hirchbiegal decided to show the human side of Hitler rather than characaturing him as a blatant monster. The film’s lead actor Bruno Ganz delivers one of the greatest performances in world cinema by playing a man broken by defeat but also capable of terrible and ultimately unforgivable actions. Outrageously denied an Oscar, The film could arguably have no greater 21st century compliment than being relentlessly spoofed on YouTube,with fans replacing Hitlers subtitles to voice their problems with their football teams, X-boxes or marital woes. And on that somewhat trifling note, I bid you goodbye.