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IMAGINARY WITNESS: HOLLYWOOD AND THE HOLOCAUST (TV)

Summary

This documentary, narrated by Gene Hackman, examines how Hollywood has dealt with the Holocaust over a sixty-year period, interweaving scenes from movies and newsreels with input from filmmakers, historians, and survivors.

The program begins by discussing the American film industry's early relationship with Germany and how this led to it treating the early days of Nazism with "kid gloves." Historian Michael Berenbaum details how he believes Nazi propaganda "captivated" Hollywood, with studio heads determined not to offend Germans. Historian Neal Gabler details how many of the Hollywood moguls were themselves Jews. Meanwhile, production codes forced Hollywood to treat all political views fairly -- even those of Adolf Hitler. Mogul Harry Warner, however, was obsessed with fascism as his studio tried to deal with the "nitty gritty" of life, from Depression-based stories to tales of "a growing domestic threat."

In 1938, Warner Brothers released "Confessions of a Nazi Spy," based on a true story, the first of a handful of anti-Nazi features. Film editor Stanley Frazen details how this highly controversial movie was held tightly under wraps during its production phase. "The Mortal Storm," released in 1940, was another rare exception to Hollywood's reluctance to make anti-Nazi films. However, it failed to address anti-semitism as the word "Jew" is never spoken in the movie. Germany reacted swiftly to the film's release, claiming that those that were involved with the picture would be "remembered" after a German victory in the war. Soon, Joseph Kennedy, ambassador to England, engineered a meeting amongst studio heads, urging them to not get involved with the war.

The most notable anti-Nazi film of the era was Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" (1940). Film historian Annette Insdorf discusses the significance of Chaplin's "brave" film. Sidney Lumet details how "The Great Dictator" was the first time he ever heard the word "Jew" mentioned in an American movie. Soon, the Nye/Clark Committee was formed to examine whether Hollywood was inciting anti-German bias in an attempt to lead America into war, using "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" and "The Great Dictator" as prime examples of problematic cinema. Steven Spielberg disagrees with the investigation's findings, noting the "power" of one especially memorable scene from "The Great Dictator." By 1941, more than a million Jews had been shot by Nazi firing squads as leaders in the Jewish community pleaded for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to take action.

In 1940, "I Married a Nazi" and "Underground" were early films to mention German concentration camps, though neither expounded on the horrors. Ernst Lubitsch's "To Be or Not to Be" (1942) was a poignant, comedic attack on Nazi ideology. Other films of the era were more titillating, but still innocent compared to the growing body of information about what was really occurring. After the German bombing of Pearl Harbor, America joined the war, though Hollywood movies still lagged behind in examining the true issues. Others simply focused on the war in the Pacific.

Surprisingly, it was B pictures by refugee directors that offered a more realistic examination of German Nazism. Soon, A-list Hollywood directors such as Frank Capra, John Huston, George Stevens, and Billy Wilder were enlisted as documentarians for the U.S. Army's Signal Corps motion picture unit, capturing shocking footage of concentration camps throughout Europe. Eventually, newsreels revealed Nazi atrocities to stunned audiences. In 1947, "Crossfire" and "Gentleman's Agreement" were hailed for their "courage" in attacking anti-semitism, though neither addressed concentration camps or atrocities. Gabler details why Hollywood was so reluctant to make more pointed attack films on Nazism in the post-war era.

It was network television that first broached the issue head-on, as when Auschwitz survivor Hanna Bloch Kohner appeared on "This is Your Life." In the late-1940s and early-1950s, some of those who testified for the House Un-American Activities Committee invoked Nazism as a defense, leading the general public to believe that Jews, Hollywood, and communism were in cahoots. In 1959, Hollywood addressed the Holocaust again with "The Diary of Anne Frank." The film was directed by Oscar-winner Stevens, one of the most significant filmmakers of the era. His son, George Stevens Jr., discusses his father's feelings on what he should show in the film, and why he chose not to depict Anne in a concentration camp. That same year, a live "Playhouse 90" performance of "Judgment at Nuremberg" aired on television, offering a much harsher look at the Holocaust, though mentions of the gas chambers were deleted due to demands of the show's American Gas company sponsor. Two years later, a feature film remake of "Judgment at Nuremberg" offered a different point of view on the subject. Even more shocking was that year's televised trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

In 1965, Lumet's "The Pawnbroker" depicted a Holocaust survivor still haunted by his past experiences, and unable to get past them. Lumet details how he depicted the Holocaust remembrances of the main character, Sol Nazerman. Rod Steiger discusses having played Nazerman and his memorable "silent scream." By the late 1960s and 1970s, films such as "Ship of Fools," "The Producers, "Harold & Maude," and particularly "Cabaret" featured storylines informed by Nazism and/or the Holocaust. In 1977, the miniseries "Roots" scored incredibly high ratings, allowing Americans to become more introspective about its past.

By the next year, a nine-hour miniseries, "Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss," was aired, evoking strong emotions. NBC also aired "a postscript" to "Holocaust," with experts debating the merits of the program. "Holocaust" also had a huge impact when it aired in Germany. In response to the miniseries, news crews and documentarians began approaching survivors, getting them to tell their stories in such films as "Kitty: Return to Auschwitz." In 1982, "Sophie's Choice" told the fictional story of a Holocaust survivor, played by Meryl Streep, who reveals her secrets. By 1988, ABC's "War and Remembrance," a thirty-hour miniseries, dealt with the Holocaust story in a far more graphic manner. Director Dan Curtis discusses taking on the project and recalls its intensity. In 1993, Spielberg's "Schindler's List" illuminated the Holocaust for mainstream audiences, going on to win the Best Picture Oscar. Gabler discusses the "shock" of the film, after which Spielberg and producer Branko Lustig detail how they made the film. Spielberg further discusses why he chose to shoot in black and white (with one notable exception) and eliminated certain cinematic devices.

Then, the program examines why Hollywood always gives Holocaust movies a hopeful ending. The great success of "Schindler's List" inspired a wave of Holocaust-themed movies to be produced, including Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" and, on TV, "Anne Frank: The Whole Story" which follows Frank to the concentration camp. Finally, Lustig details the significance of the fact that he may be the last Holocaust survivor left in the film industry.

Details

  • NETWORK: AMC
  • DATE: April 4, 2005 9:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:32:13
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:85759
  • GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Film Industry
  • SERIES RUN: AMC - TV, 2005
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Jessica Falcon Shreeve … Executive Producer
  • Diana Holtzberg … Executive Producer
  • Jan Rofekamp … Executive Producer
  • Daniel Anker … Producer, Director
  • Ellin Baumel … Producer
  • Susan Kim … Co-Producer
  • Nate Smith … Associate Producer
  • Andrew Barrett … Music by
  • Gene Hackman … Narrator
  • Michael Berenbaum
  • Frank Capra
  • Charlie Chaplin
  • Dan Curtis
  • Adolf Eichmann
  • Anne Frank
  • Stanley Frazen
  • Neal Gabler
  • Adolf Hitler
  • John Huston
  • Annette Insdorf
  • Joseph Kennedy
  • Hanna Bloch Kohner
  • Ernst Lubitsch
  • Sidney Lumet
  • Branko Lustig
  • Roman Polanski
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  • Steven Spielberg
  • Rod Steiger
  • George Stevens
  • George Stevens
  • Meryl Streep
  • Harry Warner
  • Billy Wilder