Hitler and Film: The Führer's Hidden Passion

Described by his bodyguard as a "film addict," Hitler reportedly watched films every day at his mountain retreat until the eve of World War II, sometimes repeatedly. His few documented opinions about films indicate a preference for pretalkie cinema that valued image over voice. Niven (contemporary German history, Nottingham Trent Univ.; Facing the Nazi Past) judges Hitler's film tastes "both predictable and surprising," and not necessarily anti-Semitic or anti-American: he loved Fritz Lang's 1924 silent German classic The Nieblungs as much as the early Mickey Mouse cartoons and Laurel & Hardy comedies. Considering how Hitler's movie viewing might have influenced his mood during consequential geopolitical events, Niven also examines every conceivable way the Führer interacted with the cinema of his time and place. This includes Hitler's presence in Nazi wartime newsreels, his direct intervention in the German film industry (whether through politically motivated cuts or outright bans), and his infamous collaboration with filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl for the 1935 propaganda film Triumph of the Will.