Jud Süß (1940)

Director:

Veit Harlan

Writers:

Lion Feuchtwanger (novel) and
J.R. George (novel)

Release Date:

7 February 1941 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In this notorious Nazi propaganda historical costume melodrama, a conniving, ambitious Jewish businessman...

Plot Keywords:

Jew | Propaganda | Nazi Propaganda | Anti Semitism | Demagogy

Cast

Ferdinand Marian	...	Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
Werner Krauss	...	Rabbi Loew / Levy, Oppenheimers Sekretär
Heinrich George	...	Karl Alexander, Herzog von Württemberg
Kristina Söderbaum	...	Dorothea Sturm / Faber
Eugen Klöpfer	...	Landschaftskonsulent Sturm
Hilde von Stolz	...	Herzogin von Württemberg
Malte Jäger	...	Aktuarius Faber
Albert Florath	...	Obrist Röder
Theodor Loos	...	Von Remchingen
Walter Werner	...	Herr Fiebelkorn
Charlotte Schultz	...	Frau Fiebelkorn
Anny Seitz	...	Minchen Fiebelkorn
Erna Morena	...	Frau des Konsistorialrats
Jakob Tiedtke	...	Konsistorialrat
Else Elster	...	Luziana

Also Known As:

Jew Süss

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Norway:16 (1941) | West Germany:(Banned) | Finland:K-16 | Germany:(Banned) | Sweden:(Banned) | Portugal:(Banned) (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Terra-Filmkunst

Trivia:

Leading actor 'Ferdinand Marian' first refused to play Oppenheimer, but was forced to relent when Nazi propaganda minister 'Joseph Goebbels' threatened the safety of his stepson, who was half Jewish.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Aktuarius lays the dead body of Dorothea on the doorsteps and puts his head on her chest, her right eyelid clearly moves for a few seconds.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jud Süß (2010)

frightening movie that would still work today

I am pretty sure that if this film where shown to an unsuspecting audience today, that has no background knowledge of the whole 3rd Reich, and is not trained in seeing manipulation, this movie would still provide the same service nowadays as it did in Nazi Germany. I found it frightening to see how well it actually was made to manipulate exactly the way it is intended to. Because of that I think its quite right for this movie to not be available to anybody. In my opinion it is still a dangerous item of propaganda history, that can easily create antisemitism. I don't really see any good reason why anybody would want to watch this movie nowadays, given the character acting isn't bad. but that is not a good thing in this movie, the portrait of the jews is prone to inflame racial hatred, and by todays standards the movie is in no way entertaining or helpful. If you want to learn about the 3rd Reich watch a couple of the million+ documentaries on the topic. But not an old anti jew propaganda film.