Holocaust and Hollywood_An Annotated

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Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies [japa] PP370-366728 January 24, 2002 11:12 Style file version Nov. 19th, 1999

Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2002 ( C© 2002)

Film and Theater Review and Commentary

Holocaust and Hollywood: An AnnotatedFilmography

Salman Akhtar,1,3 Nadine Rogers,2 and Randi Plotkin2

This paper offers a list of Hollywood movies pertaining to the Holocaust.Its aim is to facilitate the access of individuals, libraries, foundations, filmclubs, and Holocaust-related study groups to this powerful material. Thesemovies enhance empathy and knowledge regarding the Holocaust and thusserve an important psychoeducational function for all, but especially for thosenot directly affected by this great human tragedy.

KEY WORDS: Holocaust; movies; empathy; psychoeducation.

The Holocaust is the greatest calculated and most ruthless, governmentsponsored act of man’s cruelty to his fellow human beings. A macabreculmination of sustained anti-Semitic prejudice, Nazi concentration campsleft profound, pervasive, and persistent effects upon their victims andtheir generations to follow (e.g., Bergman & Jucovy, 1982; Kestenberg &Brenner, 1996; Kogan, 1995). A burgeoning literature, including wartimedocumentaries and later interview material and trial transcripts, seeks todocument this. The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. provides asoul-wrenching encounter with what Hitler’s lieutenants did to millions ofinnocent civilians.

The legacy of trauma in this context is accompanied by a parallel em-phasis upon the value of remembering. We know that memory supportsvigilance. In one or the other form, memory is integral to signal anxiety nec-essary for avoiding retraumatization. It is to sustain this useful function of

1Professor of Psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College; Training and Supervising Analyst, Psycho-analytic Center of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2Resident in Psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.3Correspondence should be directed to Salman Akhtar, M.D., 833 Chestnut East, Suite 210-C,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107; e-mail: [email protected].

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136 Film and Theater Review and Commentary

memory and knowledge that we offer a listing of Holocaust-related movies.It is our hope that familiarity with them will enhance empathy and knowl-edge about the Holocaust, especially for those not directly affected by it.Watching movies, we believe, offers a unique opportunity for partial egoregression and identification with the subjective elements of a narrative.Knowledge thus gained, rather like the empathic immersion in a patient’smaterial, is authentically felt and renders deep conviction.

To foster such conviction and dispel any remnant shreds of denial inthis realm, we began a search for Holocaust-related movies. We consultedmovie catalogs (e.g., Connors et al., 2000) and computerized data bases in-cluding those complied by the Fritz Bauer Institute (http://dalzer.de/fh/) andthe Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archives (http://sites.huji.ac.il.jfa/jfa/htn).We also obtained relevant information from the Holocaust Museum inWashington, D.C. As we undertook the compilation, editing, and synthe-sis of this material, we were inundated with questions. Should we restrictourselves to movies in the English language? Should we include documen-taries or focus upon feature films? Should we list only the movies producedin Hollywood or include foreign films as well? How direct a reference tothe Holocaust should a movie have to qualify for being in our list? (To wit,we ourselves had not actually seen all the movies and were guided by theabstracts provided by the various catalogs). What about short films? And,so on.

In the end, we took the route of humility and pragmatism. We restrictedourselves to English language, Hollywood produced, overtly Holocaust-related movies. Our sacrificing comprehensiveness in this regard reflected adepressive position (Klein, 1940) acknowledging the limits of time, resources,and knowledge available to us. We were aware that we were ending up witha list that is a bit short on subtlety. Furthermore, it includes movies where thespecter of Nazi atrocities plays a secondary role in the plot (e.g., The Soundof Music) and excludes those where the motivations of a particular characterare subtly hinted to have arisen from the Holocaust-related trauma (e.g., thefather in Shine). Our compilation thus lacks both an omnipotent coverageas well as the watercolors of nuance. Nonetheless, we believe that what weoffer here is quite useful.

THE FILMS

All Through the Night (Warner Bros., 1942, directed by Vincent Sherman).Spy spoof and crime thriller in which a gambler takes on a Nazi spy ring.

Apt Pupil (Tristar Pictures, 1997, directed by Bryan Singer). A high schoolsenior persuades a concentration camp commander and Nazi war criminal

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Film and Theater Review and Commentary 137

to tell him what he did during the war, and gets an up close and personallesson about the nature of evil.

Background to Danger (Warner Bros., 1943, directed by Raoul Walsh). AnAmerican agent travels to Turkey to receive secret documents, which aNazi master spy and some Russian spies also want.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Walt Disney Productions, 1971, directed byRobert Stevenson). A novice witch and three British children use magicto stop the Nazis from invading England during WWII.

Betrayed (MGM, 1954, directed by Gottfried Reinhart). A woman suspectedof being a Nazi informer is sent to Holland for a last chance at redemptionunder cover as a nightclub performer.

Boys From Brazil (20th Century Fox Film, 1978, directed by FranklinJ. Schaffner). A young Nazi hunter tracks down a group of SS officersled by Dr. Mengele in Paraguay. When the Nazi hunter is murdered, aninvestigation begins and a plot to resurrect Hitler and establish the 4thReich is uncovered.

Cabaret (American Broadcasting Company/20th Century Fox Film, 1972,directed by Bob Fosse). While Hitler is rising to power and anti-Semitism isgrowing, a group of performers try to laugh, drink, and pretend tomorrowwill never come. Based on the Broadway musical.

Casablanca (Warner Bros. 1942, directed by Michael Curtiz). The owner ofa gin bar in Nazi occupied Morocco meets an old flame but finds romanceand politics don’t mix.

Clipped Wings (Monogram Pictures, 1953, directed by Edward L.Bernds). The Bowery Boys accidentally join the army and uncover a Naziplot.

Commandos Strike at Dawn (Columbia Pictures, 1943, directed by JohnFarrow). Norwegian villagers fight the invading Nazis and help the BritishNavy in battle.

Dawn Express (M&A Alexander Productions, 1942, directed by AlbertHerman). Nazi spies infiltrate the U.S. in search of a secret formula toenhance the power of gasoline.

Edge of Darkness (Warner Bros., 1943, directed by Lewis Milestone). A fish-erman leads the local underground movement during the Nazi takeoverin Norway.

Enemies, A Love Story (20th Century Fox, 1989, directed by Paul Mazursky).A post-Holocaust Jew living in Coney Island can’t choose between threewomen—his wife who hid him during the war, his tempestuous lover, andhis reappearing wife from before the war whom he thought was dead.Based on the novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Enemy of Women (Monogram Pictures, 1944, directed by Alfred Zeisler).The life and loves of Nazi propagandist Dr. Joseph Goebbels.

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Five Fingers (20th Century Fox, 1952, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz).The true story of an Albanian who joins an espionage ring and sells con-fidential British war papers to the Germans during WWII.

Five Graves to Cairo (Paramount Pictures, 1943, directed by Billy Wilder). ABritish soldier is stranded in a desert town after the defeat of his garrisonby General Rommel. He assumes the identity of a dead waiter who wasa Nazi spy and attempts to learn where the German supply depots arehidden. However, he may be betrayed by a French maid in an attempt towin the freedom of her brother who is in a German POW camp.

Forced March (Atkins Pictures, 1990, directed by Rick King). An actor por-trays a poet who fought in WWII and became a victim of the Holocaust.Reality and illusion blur as he gets deeper into his role.

Foreign Correspondent (United Artists, 1940, directed by Alfred Hitchcock).A reporter is sent to Europe during WWII where he makes friends witha diplomat and becomes romantically involved with the daughter of thefounder of a pacifist group in London. When the diplomat is kidnapped,the reporter uncovers a Nazi spy ring headed by his future father-in-law.

Ghosts on the Loose (Monogram Pictures, 1943, directed by WilliamBeaudine). The Bowery Boys take on Nazi spies.

Hangmen Also Die (Arnold Pressburger Films, 1942, directed by Fritz Lang).Franz Svoboda, a member of the Czech resistance, assassinates ReinhardHeydrich. The Nazis seek revenge by executing Czech citizens aided by aCzech traitor. Svoboda seeks to turn the tables on the traitor and makehim appear to be the assassin.

Hitler (Three Crowns Productions, 1962, directed by Stuart Heisler). Reen-actment of the Nazi dictator’s rise to power and his historic downfall.

Hitler: Dead or Alive (Ben Judell, 1943, directed by Nick Grinde). Threeexcons devise a scheme to gain a million dollars reward for capturingAdolf Hitler.

Hitler’s Children (RKO Radio Pictures, 1943, directed by Edward Dmytryk).A German boy and an American girl have opposite reactions to Hitlerand Nazism in German. The boy is attracted, and the girl is repelled.

House on 92nd Street (20th Century Fox, 1945, directed by Henry Hathaway).A German-American student sought by Nazi spies plays along with themand reports their activities to a Federal agent, who realizes that one of thescientists working on the atomic bomb project is actually a Nazi agent.

Invisible Agent (Universal Pictures, 1942, directed by Edwin Marin). Thegrandson of the Invisible Man uses his Grandfather’s secret formula tooutwit the Nazis.

Judgement at Nuremberg (United Artists, 1961, directed by Stanley Kramer).In 1948, a chief justice must resist political pressures as he presides overthe trials of high-level Nazis for war crimes.

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Julia (20th Century Fox, 1977, directed by Fred Zinnemann). A woman risksher life smuggling money into WWII Germany for the sake of her child-hood friend who is working in the Resistance. Based on Lillian Hellman’sbook.

Lassiter (PanPacific Productions, 1984, directed by Roger Young). A jewelthief is asked to steal diamonds from the Nazis for the FBI.

Law of the Jungle (Monogram Pictures, 1942, directed by Jean Yarbrough).A female scientist and a fugitive team up to uncover a secret Nazi radiobase in the jungle.

Lifeboat (20th Century Fox, 1944, directed by Alfred Hitchcock). When aGerman U-boat sinks a freighter during WWII, the eight survivors seekrefuge in a lifeboat. Tension mounts after they take in a stranded Nazi.Based on a story by John Steinbeck.

Marathon Man (American Film Theatre, Paramount Pictures, 1976, directedby John Schlesinger). A graduate student training for the Olympic mara-thon is reunited with his secret agent brother and becomes entangled ina plot involving a Nazi fugitive who is seeking jewels taken from concen-tration camp victims.

Master Race (RKO Radio Pictures, 1944, directed by Herbert Biberman). AGerman officer escapes retribution when the Nazis collapse and continuesto hold control over a small town through intimidation.

Me and the Colonel (Columbia Pictures, 1958, directed by Peter Glenville).A satire in which a Jewish refugee tries to get out of Paris to Spain beforethe Nazis occupy the city, and ends up traveling with an anti-Semitic Polishcolonel who is also trying to escape the Nazis. Based on the Franz Werfelplay “Jacobowsky and the Colonel.”

Ministry of Fear (Paramount Pictures, 1944, directed by Franz Lang). A manjust released from an insane asylum visits a carnival which is fronted bya Nazi organization and is mistaken as an agent, becoming embroiled inespionage. Based on the novel by Graham Greene.

Mother Night (New Line Productions, 1996, directed by Keith Gordon). AnAmerican writer poses as a Nazi sympathizer in broadcasts to Americantroops, but his anti-Semitic diatribes are actually coded information forthe Allies. After the war both Israeli Nazi hunters and neo-Nazis searchfor him. Based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut.

Northern Pursuit (Warner Bros., 1943, directed by Raoul Walsh). A CanadianMountie disguises himself to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring. Based on LeslieWhite’s book “Five Thousand Trojan Horses.”

Once Upon a Honeymoon (RKO Radio Pictures, 1942, directed by LeoMcCarey). An American radio broadcaster tries to expose a Nazi andsave the Nazi’s new bride who is not aware of her husband’s secretidentity.

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Pressure Point (Larcas Productions, 1962, directed by Hubert Cornfield). Ablack prison psychiatrist treats an inmate who is a racist Nazi.

Raid on Rommel (Universal Pictures, 1971, directed by Henry Hathaway).A British soldier poses as a Nazi to try to infiltrate Rommel’s brigade.

Reunion in France (MGM, 1942, directed by Jules Dassin). A Parisian dressdesigner sacrifices her lifestyle to help an American flier flee France afterthe Nazis invade.

Rio Rita (MGM, 1942, directed by Sylvan Simon). Abbott and Costello areworking on a ranch and become involved with Nazi spies.

Schindler’s List (Universal Pictures, 1993, directed by Steven Spielberg).Oscar Schindler, a German businessman and aspiring war profiteer, getsthe Nazis to let him employ Jews in his Polish factories during WWII andthereby saves over a thousand Jews.

Shining Through (20th Century Fox, 1992, directed by David Seltzer). Afemale spy and a male spy are sent behind enemy lines in Nazi WWIIGermany and are romantically attracted to each other.

Snow Treasure (Sagittarius Productions, 1967, directed by Irving Jacoby). InNazi occupied Norway, children smuggle gold out of the country with thehelp of an underground agent. Based on the novel by Marie McSwigan.

So Ends Our Night (United Artists, 1941, directed by John Cromwell). AGerman who hates Nazi ideology flees from Austria and meets a youngJewish couple seeking refuge. Based on the Erich Maria Remarque novel“Flotsam.”

Son of Lassie (MGM, 1945, directed by Sylvan Simon). When an Americanplane is shot down during WWII, a stowaway dog goes to get help butbrings back two Nazis.

Sophie’s Choice (Universal Pictures, 1982, directed by Alan J. Pakula). APolish Auschwitz survivor settles in Brooklyn after WWII, where she hasintense relationships with a mentally ill, sometimes sadistic genius and anaspiring writer, and tries to forget the terrible choice she had to make inthe concentration camp.

Stalag 17 (Paramount Pictures, 1953, directed by Billy Wilder) During WWII,a group of American soldiers in a German POW camp suspect that theyhave a spy in their midst. Based on the play by Donald Bevan and EdmundTrzcinski.

Sundown (United Artists, 1941, directed by Henry Hathaway). In Africaduring WWII, a local girl aids the British against a German plot to giveguns to the native people and start a rebellion.

Swing Kids (Walt Disney Productions, 1993, directed by Thomas Carter).A group of teenagers using swing music as a way to rebel against theconformity of Hitler’s Germany find their friendships strained as Naziismincreases.

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13 Rue Madeleine (United Artists, 1946, directed by Henry Hathaway). Aspy infiltrates Gestapo headquarters in Paris in order to find the locationof a German missile site.

36 Hours (MGM, 1964, directed by George Seaton). An army major is cap-tured by the Germans during WWII who try to brainwash him into be-lieving the war is over so that he will divulge Allied plans.

The Counterfeit Traitor (Paramount Pictures, 1962, directed by GeorgeSeaton). A suspense thriller based on the true adventures of Eric Erickson,a spy in WWII who was captured by and escaped from the Gestapo.

The Devil’s Brigade (United Artists, 1968, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen).A special commando brigade is trained to fight the Nazis in Scandinavia,but when their assignment is cancelled they meet them in the Italian Alps.

The Diary of Anne Frank (20th Century Fox, 1959, directed by GeorgeStevens). In June 1945, a liberated Jewish refugee returns to the secretthird floor of a home in Amsterdam where his family hid from the Nazis.There he finds the diary of his daughter, which documents their years inhiding. Based on the diary of Anne Frank.

The Dirty Dozen (MGM, 1967, directed by Robert Aldrich). An army majoris assigned to train and command 12 hardened convicts offered absolutionif they participate in a suicidal mission into Nazi Germany in 1944.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (MGM, 1962, directed by VincenteMinelli). The members of a German family find themselves fighting onopposite sides during WWII. Based on the book by Vincente Blasco-Ibanez.

The Great Dictator (United Artists, 1940, directed by Charlie Chaplin). Asatire on Nazism in which Chaplin plays a Jewish barber with amnesiawho is mistaken for a Hitler-like dictator.

The Great Escape (United Artists, 1963, directed by John Sturges). AlliedPOW’s join forces to forces to make a single mass break for freedom froma Nazi escape-proof camp. Based on a true story retold in the novel byPaul Brickhill.

The Hiding Place (World Wide Pictures, 1975, directed by James F. Collier).The true story of two Dutch Christians sisters sent to a concentration campfor hiding Jews during WWII. Based on the book by Corrie Ten Boom.

The House On Carroll Street (Orion Pictures, 1988 directed by Peter Yates).In 1951, a young woman overhears a plot to smuggle Nazi war criminalsinto the U.S. and tries to persuade an FBI agent that she knows what she’stalking about.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet (Warner Bros., 1964, directed by Arthur Lubin).A bookkeeper is transformed into a fish, falls in love with another fish,and helps the U.S. Navy find Nazi submarines during WWII. Based on theTheodore Pratt novel.

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The Keep (Associated Capital, 1983, directed by Michael Mann). At theheight of Nazi onslaught, several German soldiers unleash an unknownpower for a medieval stone fortress.

The Longest Day (20th Century Fox, 1962, directed by Bernhard Wicki, KenAnnakin, Andrew Marlton, Darryl F. Zanuck, Gerd Oswald). The storyof D-Day as seen through the eyes of the American, French, British, andGerman participants.

The Man in the Glass Booth (American Film Theatre, 1975, directed byArthur Hiller). A Jewish businessman is suspected of being a Nazi warcriminal and is put on trial. An adaptation of Robert Shaw’s play, basedloosely on the life of death camp commandant Adolf Eichmann.

The Mortal Storm (MGM, 1940, directed by Frank Borzage). Two younglovers risk everything to escape the country after their families are tornapart by the Nazi takeover. Based on Phyllis Bottom’s novel.

The Music Box (Carolco Pictures 1989; directed by Constantin Costa-Gavras). An attorney defends her father against accusations that he wasa Nazi and committed inhumane war crimes.

The North Star (Goldwyn Pictures Corp., 1943, directed by Lewis Milestone).Courageous Russian villagers fight against Nazi invasion.

The Pawnbroker (Allied Artists, 1965, directed by Sidney Lumet). A Jewishpawnbroker in Harlem is haunted by the horrors of his experiences in aNazi camp during the Holocaust.

The Salzburg Connection (20th Century Fox, 1972, directed by Lee Katzin).A vacationing American lawyer is caught up in the battle for a list of Nazicollaborators discovered in Austria. Based on the Helen MacInnes novel.

The Secret War of Harry Frigg (Universal Pictures, 1968, directed by JackSmight). A nonconformist WWII private is promoted to general as partof a scheme to help five Allied generals escape from the Germans.

The Seventh Cross (MGM, 1944, directed by Fred Zinnemann). When sevenmen escape a Nazi concentration camp, the commandant nails sevencrosses to seven trees, intending them to be used for the escapees oncethey are caught.

The Sound of Music (20th Century Fox, 1965, directed by Robert Wise). Thetrue story of how the singing von Trapp family flee Austria and escape theNazis just before WWII. Based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

The Stranger (RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 1946, directed by Orson Welles). Awar crimes judge lets a Nazi go free hoping he will lead him to his superiorofficer.

The Substance of Fire (Miramax, 1996, directed by Daniel Sullivan). AHolocaust survivor and publisher is obsessed with publishing a four-volume history of Nazi medical experimentation which will bankrupt the

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family company. He slowly slips into madness when his children oust himfrom the firm.

This Land is Mine (RKO Radio Pictures Inc., 1943, directed by Jean Renoir).A French schoolteacher courageously defies the Nazis when they attemptto occupy his town.

Tiger Fangs (Producers Releasing Corp., 1943, directed by Sam Newfield).When Nazis threaten the Far East rubber production with man eatingtigers, a big game hunter comes to the rescue.

To Be or Not To Be (Romaine Film Productions, 1942, directed by ErnstLubitsch). A Polish couple heading an acting troupe use their talents tothwart invading Nazis.

To Be or Not To Be (20th Century Fox, 1983, directed by Alan Johnson).Remake of the 1942 film of the same name.

Triumph of the Spirit (Nova International Films, 1989, directed by RobertM. Young). True story of the boxer Salamo Arouch who became a cham-pion in matches between prisoners in Auschwitz conducted for the amuse-ment of Nazi officers.

U-Boat Prisoner (Columbia Pictures Corp., 1944, directed by Lew Landers).An American sailor is captured by and defeats the crew of a Nazi U-boat.

Watch on the Rhine (Filst National Pictures Inc., 1943, directed by HermanShumlin). A couple involved with the anti-Nazi underground escapes thecountry but is pursued by Nazi agents. Based on Lillian Hellman’s play.

Waterfront (Producers Releasing Corp., 1944, directed by Steve Sekely).Nazis coerce German-Americans into helping them in WWII era SanFrancisco.

COMMENT

Our listing of Holocaust-related movies in a kaleidoscopic fashion offersa glimpse of this most atrocious and horrible event in human history frommany different perspectives. Some movies (e.g., The Longest Day) depictthe Holocaust in the broader context of the Second World War. Others (e.g.,Julia) portray the Jewish resistance movement. There are movies (e.g., ThePawnbroker) that depict the long-term effects upon the concentration campinmates, effects that have lasted long after their liberation from these camps.There are movies (e.g., The Music Box) that are about Nazis and how theydenied their atrocities and attempted to live “normal” lives after the war wasover. There are courtroom dramas (e.g., Judgement of Nuremberg), scenariosfor hunting escaped war criminals and Nazis hiding in far away lands (e.g.,Law of the Jungle), and portrayals of heroic rescue efforts by exceptional

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individuals (e.g., Schindler’s List). And, so on. Regardless of their specificvantage points and the proportion of fact versus fiction in them, togetherthese movies form a powerful celluloid gestalt. An encounter with it canhave salutary effects. It can educate the audience and sharpen their empathyfor the millions of individuals whose bodies and souls were tormented andcrushed by those who dared to regard themselves a “superior race.”

We hope that individuals, libraries, film clubs, and study groups in hu-manities will reach out to this material and encourage people to watch thesemovies. Certainly, the audience will be pained, but we remain convinced thatthe fluid wisdom derived from this anguish will ultimately water the plant ofempathy!

REFERENCES

Bergman, M. S., & Jucovy, M. E. (Eds.). (1982). Generations of the Holocaust. New York:Basic Books.

Connors, M., Brelin, C., & Schwartz, C. (Ed.). (2000). Video Hound’s Golden Movie Retriever.Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press.

Freud, S. (1926). Inhibitions, symptoms, and anxiety. Standard Edition, 20, 75–174.Kestenberg, J., & Brenner, I. (1996). The last witness: The child Survivor of the Holocaust.

Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press.Klein, M. (1940). Mourning and its relation to manic-depressive states. In Love, guilt, and

reparation and other works, 1921–1945 (pp. 344–369). New York: The Free Press.Kogan, I. (1995). The cry of mute children: A psychoanalytic perspective of the second generation

of the Holocaust. London: Free Association Books.

Documents

Holocaust and Hollywood_An Annotated