PROPAGANDA AND

COUNTERPROPAGANDA IN FILM

1933-1945

Retrospective of the 1972 Viennale Film Festival

March 17 - March 24

Austrian Film Museum, Vienna

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Introduction

For eight days in March 1972, I spent several hours a day sitting in a movie theater

underneath the Albertina Museum, less than a block away from the Vienna Staatsoper,

watching propaganda films made from 1933 to 1945. In all, I watched over 80 of these

films, some short, others full length, made in Germany, Great Britain, Austria, and the

United States.

These propaganda films were part of the 1972 Viennale, the film festival of the

Ősterrichische Filmmuseum. They attracted me because they offered a unique history

lesson — the chance to see how different governments tried to influence the opinions of

their citizens and the world in the 1930s and 1940s. Also, they offered the opportunity to

gather further understanding of the inexplicable: why many of the people around me in

Vienna supported a monstrous Nazi regime.

In watching the films, the political scientist in me paid attention to how the different

governments manipulated symbols and myths to stir passions and inspire actions. In

normal times, political leaders (in both dictatorships and democracies) know the words

and gestures to use to reassure the mass public or the arouse its fears. They are skilled

in using symbols linked to deeply held beliefs to evoke strong emotions that make

people willing to sacrifice or take actions against their self interest.

In times of radical change and war, the manipulation of public and world opinion

becomes even more important than in peacetime. Then, the state employs propaganda

to strengthen the resolve of its own people and weaken the resolve of the enemies.

During these times, propaganda is an important weapon of war.

From a less academic viewpoint, I was particularly interested in the Nazi propaganda,

mainly because the ability of this repugnant group to seize power and its catastrophic

use of power are beyond my understanding. I had never had the previous opportunity to

see Nazi propaganda films, so I was curious about why it was, apparently, so successful.

The many hours spent watching these propaganda films were well invested. Watching

these films provided a great learning experience, and long provided food for thought.

Twenty years after watching these films, when working on a Ph.D. in public policy, my

memory of them stirred my interest in a "symbolic politics" model of understanding

policy formation. Borrowing from Harold Lasswell (whose University of Chicago

dissertation in the 1920s was about the use of propaganda in World War I) and Murray

Edelman, I explored how symbols and myths are used in the political process of

democratic policy making.

In this document on the 1972 Viennale, I revisit this Propaganda and

Counterpropaganda film festival by providing the following:

●The Ősterreichisches Filmmuseum program listing the propaganda films and

the time of their presentation.

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●A review of the film festival that I wrote in the days that followed it.

●Two press clipping reviewing the film festival. One is from Die Press, the

other, I think, is from Die Furche.

I have also attached, as an appendix, the names of the propaganda films that were

shown and the year in which they were made.

One final word: As part of the retrospective, the Ősterreichisches Filmmuseum published

a small book of essays titled, Propaganda and Counterpropaganda in Film, 1933-

45. It included essays by Hans Barkhausen and Karl Friedrich Reimers (Erste

Weihnachsfeier Der Reichsbahndirektion Berlim in Dritten Reich), Clive Coultass (British

War Propaganda, US War Propaganda), Friedrich Geyrhofer (Die Demagogische

Phantasie), Gerhard Jagschitz (Filmpropaganda im Dritten Reich), Reinhard Prießnitz

(Die Endlösung Der Meinungsfreiheit), and Michael Siegert (Fritz Hippler -- Goebbels'

Reichsfilmintendant, "Der Ewige Jude).

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The Program for the Retrospective der Viennale 1972

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My review of the Film Festival (March 1972)

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Die Presse Review of the Film Festival

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Clipping from Die Furche (?)

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APPENDIX

PROPAGANDA FILMS SHOWN AT THE 1972 VIENNALE FILM FESTIVAL RETROSPECTIVE, BY YEAR OF PRODUCTION

1934 Aus der Tiefe Empor (GER) Die Erste Weihnachtsfeier der Reichsbahndirektion Berlin Im Dritten Reich (GER) 1935 Metall des Himmels (GER) Triumph des Willens (GER) Bueckeberg (GER) Das Erbe (GER)

1936 Ewiger Wald (GER) Ewige Wache (GER) Das Buch des Deustchen (GER)

1937 Mussolini in Deutschland (GER) Einberufung der 10 Jahriger zur HJ Durch von Schirich (GER)

1938 Gestern u. Heute (GER) Wort und Tat (GER) Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuehrer (GER) Gesunde Frau, Gesundes Volk (GER) Unsere Kinder, Unsere Zukunft (GER) Adolf Hitler Bauten (GER)

1939 Bauten in Neuen Deutschlands (GER) Das Wort aus Stein (GER) Einsatz der Jugend (GER) Die Englishe Krankheit (GER)

The Rape of Czechoslovakia (GB) Dangerous Comment (GB) Now You Are Talking (GB) Hitler Listens (GB)

1940 Feuertaufe (GER) Gentlemen (GER) Der Ewige Jude (GER)

The First Days (GB) Britain Can Take It (GB) Miss Grant Goes to the Door (GB) The Curse of the Swastika (GB)

1941 Deutsche Panzer (GER) Sieg im Westen (GER) Soldaten von Morgen (GER) In Wald von Katyn (Swedish version)

America Speaker Her Mind (US)

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(1941 CONT.) Yellow Caesar (GB) Lambeth Walk (Germany Calling) (GB) The Battle of the Books (GB) Mr. Proudfoot Shows a Light (GB)

1942 Rund um die Freiheitsstatute (GER) Neues Leben in Paris(GER) Dr. Todt --Berufung und Werke (GER)

Battle of Midway (US) Fellow Americans (US)

Listen to Britain (GB) Salute to the Red Army (GB) Killed or Be Killed (GB)

1943 Das Sowjetparadies (GER) Herr Roosevelt Plaudert (GER) Die Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung Muenchen (GER)

Why We Fight #1: Prelude to War (US) Why We Fight #2: The Nazis Strike (US) Why We Fight #3: Divide and Conquer (US) Why We Fight #4: The Battle of Britain (US)

Warwork News Nr. 43 (GB) Invincible (GB) These are the Men (GB) The Silent Village (GB)

1944 Rundfunk im Kriege (GER) Scharfschutenschule (GER) Der Fuhrer schenkt den Juden ein Stadt (GER)

Why We Fight #5: The Battle of Russia (US) San Pietro (US) Memphis Belle (US) With the Marines at Tarawa (US) The Town (US) Brought to Action (US) The Negro Soldier (US)

The True Story of Lili Marlene (GB) Cameramen at War (GB) A Soviet Village (GB) Nazi Atrocities in Poland (GB)

1945 Window Cleaner (US) To the Shores of Iwo Jima (US) Why We Fight #7: War Comes to America (US) Two Down and One to Go (US)

A Barrel Polka (GB) GER = Germany, GB = Great Britain, US (United States)