The Nazis Strike
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Walter Huston
Capt. Anthony Veiller
Lt. Henry Berman
Lt. Col. Frank Capra
Anthony Collins
Sidney Cutner
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
This second Army orientation film in the series focuses on Adolf Hitler's early political and military achievements. After first describing Germany's inborn "love of conquest," manifested by such leaders as Otto von Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm II, the film discusses Hitler's specific scheme for "reshaping the world" through the spread of National Socialism. Recalling the twelfth century invasions of Genghis Khan, the film defines Hitler's strategy in terms of geopolitics. Hitler's ultimate target, according to the film, is the "World Island," that is, all of Europe, Asia and Africa. In order to conquer the "World Island," the "Heartland," or Eastern Europe, must first be taken. Hitler's long-term "softening up" practices, which include instilling pro-German sentiments in German-Americans and other immigrants around the world, are discussed. His disregard for peace treaties, including the Versailles Treaty, which greatly restricted Germany's rearmament potential after World War I, and his incursion into the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland are described. Also shown are Hitler's March 1938 march into Austria, and the take-over of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, an event precipitated by the September 1938 "Peace in Our Time" treaty, which was signed by Lord Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain and Eugene Déladier of France. Attacks on poorly equipped Poland, Hitler's next target, are described in terms of overall strategy and in specific battles, including the September 1939 capture of Warsaw. After a brief, general discussion of Hitler's policy toward prisoners-of-war and his treatment of peoples not of the "master race," the film concludes with the Soviet Union's blockade of eastern Poland, which halted Hitler's advance, and the taking up of arms in France and Great Britain.
Crew
Lt. Henry Berman
Lt. Col. Frank Capra
Anthony Collins
Sidney Cutner
Leigh Harline
Maj. Eric Knight
Sgt. Arthur Kramer
John Leipold
Alfred Newman
Edgar Peterson
Clem Portman
Morris Stoloff
Dimitri Tiomkin
Dimitri Tiomkin
Capt. Anthony Veiller
Roy Webb
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film was subtitled "Project 6001; Information Film #2." The opening of this film includes the following statement: "The scenes contained in this picture came from authenticated sources such as American newsreels, official United Nations' films, and enemy motion pictures now possessed by the War Department." The film ends with a quotation from Chief of Staff George C. Marshall (see entry for "Prelude to War" for complete quotation) and a "V for Victory" symbol. According to government records housed at NARS, work began on the scenario on April 1, 1942, and an answer print was submitted for approval on January 5, 1943; the production cost $54,728. Charles Boyer recorded narration for a French version in the Spring of 1943, and Columbia Pictures Corp. provided services and materials necessary for cutting sound effects, scoring and dubbing the film. In addition to newsreel footage, Hollywood stock shots, captured German films and material provided by Allied governments, the film included footage shot by Lt. Col. Anatole Litvak at the Twentieth Century-Fox studio and footage from Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. Maj. William Hornbeck and Maj. Samuel J. Briskin were also involved in the production. According to Film Daily, the first public showing took place May 4, 1943 at the inaugural meeting of the Cinema Lodge of B'nai B'rith in New York. In its review of the fourth film in the Why We Fight series, The Battle of Britain, Variety notes that the datedness of The Nazis Strike negated its commercial value.
