Hitler: The Rise of Evil  

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Hitler: The Rise of Evil is a Canadian TV miniseries in two parts, directed by Christian Duguay and produced by Alliance Atlantis. It explores Adolf Hitler's rise and his early consolidation of power during the years after World War I and focuses on how the embittered, politically fragmented and economically buffeted state of German society following the war made that ascent possible. The film also focuses on Ernst Hanfstaengl's influence on Hitler's rise to power. The miniseries, which premiered simultaneously in May 2003 on CBC in Canada and CBS in the United States, received two Emmy awards.

The film's subplot follows the struggles of Fritz Gerlich, a German journalist who opposes the rising National Socialist German Workers Party. He is portrayed as to fulfill the essence of the quotation attributed to Edmund Burke, which is displayed at the beginning and at the end of the film:

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Cast

• Robert Carlyle as Adolf Hitler
• Stockard Channing as Klara Hitler
• Jena Malone as Geli Raubal
• Julianna Margulies as Helene Hanfstaengl
• Matthew Modine as Fritz Gerlich
• Liev Schreiber as Ernst Hanfstaengl
• Peter Stormare as Ernst Röhm
• Friedrich von Thun as Erich Ludendorff
• Peter O'Toole as Paul von Hindenburg
• Zoe Telford as Eva Braun
• Terence Harvey as Gustav von Kahr
• Justin Salinger as Dr. Joseph Goebbels
• Chris Larkin as Hermann Göring
• James Babson as Rudolf Hess
• Patricia Netzer as Sophie Gerlich
• Harvey Friedman as Friedrich Hollaender
• Nicole Marischka as Blandine Ebinger
• Julie-Ann Hassett as Angela Hitler
• Thomas Sangster as Hitler age 10
• Simon Sullivan as Hitler age 17
• Robert Glenister as Anton Drexler
• Ian Hogg as Alois Hitler

Plot

The story revolves around Adolf Hitler, from his childhood with his authoritarian father Alois and beloved mother Klara, to his life as a destitute student trying to pursue a career as an artist. It also documents his gradual embrace of anti-semitism.

Hitler is then shown to join the German Workers' Party and befriends Ernst Röhm, leading to the Munich Beer Hall Putsch and finally his quest to become Chancellor of Germany.

In this film, Hitler's rise is largely attributed to Ernst Hanfstaengl, who finances his cause and provides him with political connections. Hitler is shown to harbor romantic feelings for Hanfstaengel's wife, Helene. Hitler's friendship with Röhm is also well highlighted — including the latter's homosexuality — as well as his relationship with his niece Geli Raubal, and her mysterious death.

The film ends with Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and declaring the "1000-year Reich" as his voice is drowned in the chants of "Sieg Heil" from an adoring crowd.

Historical inaccuracies and criticism

Originally, famed Hitler biographer Ian Kershaw had been on board as a consultant in the production of Hitler: The Rise of Evil. Alliance Atlantis, which had purchased the rights to Kershaw's celebrated biography, admitted their intention to adapt his book for film to make it more dramatic, but Kershaw found the miniseries to be so rife with falsehoods and historical inaccuracies regarding Hitler's life that he ultimately chose to have his name removed from the project.

At the beginning of the film, Hitler's father Alois Hitler is shown dying in front of a young Hitler and Hitler's mother Klara, at their home during a meal. In fact, Hitler's father died when he went out for his usual morning drink at his local inn, the Gasthaus Stiefler.

Klara Hitler's doctor, Dr. Eduard Bloch (who diagnosed her with breast cancer) is portrayed as a Hasidic Jew. In reality, like most Jews in Linz at the time, Bloch was fully assimilated into Austro-Hungarian society.

Hitler is shown as fleeing from Vienna on a train bound for Munich in May 1914. In reality, the time of Hitler's departure from the then Austro-Hungarian Empire for Germany was actually exactly one year earlier in May 1913.

One scene shows Hitler beating his dog during World War I. This scene was criticised by historians, and there are no sources that state that Hitler ever beat any animal. Most researches show the opposite: Hitler was often seen as an animal-lover and the Third Reich had the first animal protection laws in the world, with Hitler himself generally following a vegetarian diet. See Animal welfare in Nazi Germany.

Hitler was awarded the Iron Cross for repeated acts of bravery in front line service, and not for the cynical political reasons given in the film. Additionally, there are multiple issues with military awards. For example, Erich Ludendorff is shown wearing a Star of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross. This exclusive medal has been awarded only twice, but Ludendorff was not a recipient. Furthermore, the German Army at the time did not wear Ribbon bars, as is depicted in the film.

When Hitler returns to Munich after the War, communist revolutionaries are shown beheading a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm II. In fact, there were no statues of Wilhelm II in Imperial Germany because it was deemed inappropriate to represent a living person (the only exception being one on the Hohenzollernbrücke in Cologne). Even so, the least likely location would have been the capital of Bavaria, a region whose inhabitants harbored deep resentments against everything and anyone they felt to be "Prussian".

In a scene depicting his first meeting in 1919 with the German Workers' Party, he said he "didn't drink". While Hitler diminished his alcohol intake after coming out of Landsberg Prison in 1925, he would occasionally drink beer and wine, which was ironically later depicted in the film when Hitler officially obtained his German citizenship in a ceremony in 1932.

Anton Drexler is depicted as not wearing glasses or having a moustache; in fact, he had both. Ironically Gottfried Feder is shown as wearing spectacles when in reality he actually did not. Feder is also shown without a moustache when in reality he had a trade-mark Toothbrush moustache.

One scene depicts Feder giving a speech at a beer hall advocating the separation of Catholic Bavaria from the rest of Germany. In reality, he said that the German state of Bavaria and Austria should annex together to form a nation separate from Germany.

In the scene in the Kroll Opera House, Hitler is shown to meet opposition from other parties. In reality the Reichstag largely supported the bill, which passed 444-94 with the only dissenters being the Social Democratic Party.

One brief scene shows Hitler forcefully kissing his niece, Geli. Though he was very close to her, there are no historical documents which say that Hitler actually ever had a sexual relationship with his niece. She is also shown to commit suicide the same night as the 1930 election, but in reality she died more than a year after this event.

Furthermore, General Ludendorff is seen in full uniform when marching towards Odeonsplatz on the second day of the Beer hall Putsch. In reality, he wore civilian clothing, like Hitler.

Other notable inaccuracies include:

1. Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels are minor characters in the story, and so their contributions to Hitler's success is, for the most part, unexamined.
2. Ernst Hanfstaengl is given a prominent role, while Heinrich Himmler is not depicted.
3. Erich von Ludendorff is portrayed in the film as an ignorant, fatuous old man, with whom Hitler severed ties. However, according to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer, Ludendorff abandoned Hitler, even refusing to accept a Field Marshal's baton.
4. Kurt von Schleicher's role in Hitler's rise to power is largely glossed over. Gregor Strasser, Hitler's competitor, was also not portrayed with much importance.
5. Dietrich Eckart was a huge influence on Hitler until the Beer Hall putsch of 1923. Hitler dedicated the second volume of Mein Kampf to Eckart. He is not portrayed or mentioned in the film. In Göring's first appearance in the film, he utters Eckart's words regarding leaders.

Controversy

Ed Gernon, the executive producer, was fired for comparing the climate of fear that led to the rise of Nazism to the war on terrorism. Gernon, an executive vice president at Alliance Atlantis, the production company behind Hitler: The Rise of Evil, was let go after more than a decade with the company. CBS said that his "personal opinions are not shared by CBS and misrepresent the network's motivation for broadcasting this film".

Associates claimed that CBS was prompted to act by a New York Post article that claimed the comment was a sign of Hollywood’s anti-Americanism and stated that Gernon had said President George W. Bush should be looked at “through the prism of Germany’s psychopath.”

"It basically boils down to an entire nation gripped by fear, who ultimately chose to give up their civil rights and plunged the whole world into war. I can’t think of a better time to examine this history than now."

Promotion

In Australia, the film was aired on the Seven Network. The network initially used a promotion which went as follows:
Boy 1: "When I grow up, I want to be a fireman." (shows drawing a fire truck)
Narrator: "Every child needs encouragement..."
Girl: "When I grow up, I want to be a nurse." (shows drawing of a hospital)
Narrator: "But what if you encouraged the wrong child?"
Boy 2: "When I grow up, I want to be much, much more..." (shows child violently drawing a Nazi flag)

The advertisement then proceeded to show the trailer for the film. After some review, the network decided that it was inappropriate to use such a tone to promote a film about Hitler, so the initial scenes were removed and the standard trailer was shown.Template:Citation needed

Facts

• The film was banned in the Republic of Belarus.

See also

Filmed in Barrandov Studios (Prague) Sabaton - Attero Dominatus