Our Flags Lead Us Forward (1933)
"Hitlerjunge Quex: Ein Film vom Opfergeist der deutschen Jugend" (original title)

A Nazi propaganda film based upon the life and death of Hitler Youth Heini Volker, killed while distributing flyers in a Communist neighborhood.

Director:

Hans Steinhoff

Writers:

Bobby E. Lüthge, K.A. Schenzinger (novel),

Stars:

Jürgen Ohlsen, Heinrich George, Berta Drews

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jürgen Ohlsen	...	Heini Völker
Heinrich George	...	Vater Völker
Berta Drews	...	Mutter Völker
Claus Clausen	...	Bannführer Kaß (Brigade Leader Kass)
Rotraut Richter	...	Gerda
Hermann Speelmans	...	Stoppel
Hans Richter	...	Franz
Ernst Behmer	...	Kowalski
Hansjoachim Büttner	...	Arzt (doctor)
Franziska Kinz	...	Krankenschwester (nurse)
Rudolf Platte	...	Moritatensänger (carnival singer)
Reinhold Bernt	...	Ausrufer (barker)
Hans Deppe	...	Althändler (furniture dealer)
Anna Müller-Lincke	...	Eine Nachbarin Völkers (Völkers' neighbour)
Karl Meixner	...	Wilde

Storyline

A Nazi propaganda film based upon the life and death of Hitler Youth Heini Volker, killed while distributing flyers in a Communist neighborhood.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi propaganda | propaganda | hitler youth | hitlerjugend | nazism | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

19 September 1933 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Our Flags Lead Us Forward

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Herbert Norkus was nicknamed "Quex" as "...he carried out his orders faster than quicksilver..." (Quecksilber).

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Quotes

Heini Völker: Hi, mother.
Mutter Völker: Hi, Heini.
Mutter Völker: Did you spend the night someplace? What did you do?
Heini Völker: It was wonderful mother.
Mutter Völker: Did you stay with Stoeppel and his boys?
Heini Völker: Stoeppel?
Mutter Völker: What then?
Heini Völker: No, I was with the others.
Mutter Völker: What others?
Heini Völker: Those with the crooked cross.
[...]

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Connections

Edited into Double Headed Eagle: Hitler's Rise to Power 1918-1933 (1973)

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Soundtracks

"Das ist die Liebe der Matrosen"
(uncredited)
Written by Werner R. Heymann & Robert Gilbert
sang on the camping trip of the communists and later in the movie by a Hitlerjunge

User Reviews

Mystifying, but enlightening political history (and pants)

I've just seen the film in a special showing at Tate Modern (London's modern-art gallery). The print was evidently made for educational purposes, in the 1950s one guesses, with explanatory intertitles written by a film academic in English. (These are actually quite amusing with their po-faced analysis, with some very silly diagrams, but do interrupt the action clumsily. However, the print has no English subtitles, so the crackly soundtrack with thick Berlin accents is tough to follow for non-German natives.) What struck this viewer was, briefly:

1. Utter bewilderment at its propaganda value; the Communists seem to modern eyes to have far the best deal, with beer, food and sex high on their agenda, yet the young Heini - and presumably the 12-year-olds in the audience - are won over totally by the promise of shiny shoes, cups of tea, boy scout uniforms, cold morning dips and strident community singing. Beats me. 2. No comedy or light relief in any way: no town drunk, sly spiv, amusing slapstick with planks, etc. Was 1930s Berlin really that humourless? 3. What a rabble the Nazi youth seemed - gawky and indisciplined, far from the ruthlessly efficient robots of our imagination. 4. The only two decent actors in the whole thing are the two Commie blokes. Heini's dad turns in a convincing performance as the drunken old bully who personifies the Red Menace. 5. Getting short trousers to fit evidently beyond scope of even the well-organised Hitlerjugend. Every pair two sizes too small. 6. Chilling role played by gas. As a film "it's pants", as modern 12-year-olds might say (possibly echoing point 5). But as a grim piece of political history it is indeed quiet fascinating - and mystifying, as well as enlightening.