The Third Reich's Celluloid War: Propaganda in Nazi Feature Films, Documentaries and Television [Hardcover]

A remarkable new book shows disaster at sea, Jews, Scots, English, Irish and Boers all as grist for Adolf Hitler's propaganda mill......How Goebbels gave Titanic a twist. Author Ian Garden has found that most German movies in the Third Reich were lightweight, but Joseph Goebbels' propaganda ministry co-oped filmakers to shoot anti-Jewish flicks. --Edinburgh Evening News

With this year seeing the anniversary of the sinking of Titanic, you might think you know all there is to know about the tragic ocean liner. But did you know that Nazi Germany made a version of the film to be used as propaganda? It was produced in 1943 and, like the more recent Oscar-winning version with our own Kate Winslet, was the most expensive movie of its time, using cutting-edge special effects..... The German Titanic is one of many amazing stories.... --The Weekly News

Garden introduces his new book on the propaganda films in Nazi Germany, with a screening of scenes from Ohm Kruger, apparently the 'most anti-British film ever produced. --The List

It's a good book that covers a wide range of Nazi film, from blatant propaganda films like 'The Eternal Jew' to films of no overt political content that are still popular in Germany today. The author provides plot summaries, background information, and details on the success or failure of the films. Most of the films covered will be unfamiliar to American readers,and some will be surprising. For example, the Nazis released a film titled 'Titanic' in 1943 that had special effects so good that they were spliced into later films. Even more surprisingly, after investing a great deal of money in the film the Nazis banned it several months after its release. One of the book's major strengths is the wealth of illustrations. There are dozens, some in color. There is no other book available with such an excellent collection of images. The book is not a scholarly treatise, as the author notes. He is aiming at a broad audience and this book is a good introduction to Nazi cinema for those who are curious. I would quibble about a few facts and interpretations in the book, but if someone asks me about the best way to get a sense of Nazi cinema, this is the book I will recommend. --Professor L. Randall Bytwerk (Grand Rapids, MI)

Garden introduces his new book on the propaganda films in Nazi Germany, with a screening of scenes from Ohm Kruger, apparently the 'most anti-British film ever produced. --The List

Most of us are familiar with the sort of propaganda feature films the Allies were screening to their people during the war years - films like 'Casablanca', 'Went the day well?' and 'In which we Serve' but few people today have any idea of the sort of films the Germans were viewing at the same time. More than 1200 feature films alone were produced from 1933 to 1944 - many of these were designed as pure entertainment although, of course, subject to Nazi censorship, but others were deliberately produced to create a negative impression of Germany's enemies - the British, the Americans, the communists, the Soviets, the Jews etc This book anlayses a cross section of the most interesting of these films exploding a number of myths about Nazi film propaganda in the process.Much more information about the book and the subject can be found at my web-site: thethirdreichscelluloidwar.com