Hitler's Children (1943)

This lurid exposé of the Hitler Youth follows the woes of an American girl declared legally German by the Nazi government.

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Emmet Lavery (screenplay), Gregor Ziemer (book)

Stars:

Tim Holt, Bonita Granville, Kent Smith

Cast

Cast overview:
Tim Holt	...	Lieutenant Karl Bruner
Bonita Granville	...	Anna Miller
Kent Smith	...	Professor Nichols
Otto Kruger	...	Colonel Henkel
H.B. Warner	...	The Bishop
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Franz Erhart
Erford Gage	...	Dr. Schmidt
Hans Conried	...	Dr. Graf
Gavin Muir	...	Nazi Major
Nancy Gates	...	Brenda

Storyline

This propaganda piece starts in 1933. Prof. Nichols' American school in Berlin is next door to a school for the Hitler Youth. Karl, from the latter, is attracted to German-American Anna, but events lead to their separation. Six years later, near the outbreak of war in Europe, Anna is removed from Nichols' school on presumption of German citizenship. Nichols becomes obsessed with finding her, as Anna undergoes a rather lurid odyssey through the Nazi nightmare.

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Plot Keywords:

school | nazi | german | hitler youth | propaganda | 

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Taglines:

ALL BABIES BELONG TO THE STATE! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Os Filhos de Hitler

Box Office

Budget:

$205,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie was studio RKO's second-biggest box-office movie of the 1943 - 1944 financial year, just behind the Cary Grant starrer Mr. Lucky. Overall, some reports state that it is the biggest grossing movie of all time for the RKO Studios, grossing more than even Top Hat and King Kong.

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Goofs

In the 1930s Lieutenant Karl Bruner would have never called Großdeutsches Reich Nazi-Germany.

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Quotes

Lieutenant Karl Bruner: [to Anna] Blood runs to blood, and German blood runs deep.

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Crazy Credits

During opening credits, the camera zooms in on a German book burning, and the book on top of the pile is "Education for Death" by Gregor Ziemer. That was another book by the same author of the novel on which this film is based.

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Connections

Version of Education for Death (1943)

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Soundtracks

"My Country 'Tis of Thee"
(uncredited)
Music by Muzio Clementi (Symphony #3)
Lyrics by Samuel Francis Smith (1831)

User Reviews

Love among the Nazis

This film must have been rather shocking at the time, as it revealed many Nazi practices which would have offended American morality:

• They forced single women to have babies "for the Fuehrer"



• They sterilized women who were undesirables, either because of their

race or their ideas

• They raided churches and preached the destruction of Christianity



• They brainwashed young people and encouraged them to violence against

their enemies

Of course, mixed in among the propaganda is a love story between a Hitler Youth member and an attractive German/American girl attending an American school in Germany (which is conveniently situated across from the humorously-named "Horst Wessel School"). Besides having solid lead players, this film also boasts a strong supporting cast including H. B. Warner, Hans Conried, and Erford Gage (who would soon be killed in action during WW2).

The quality of this film is higher than other similar propaganda movies of the time, and has some touching (although predictable) scenes of love and sacrifice. And the opening scene of a Hitler Youth rally may serve as a warning against what happens when a politician with a cult of personality tries to control the minds of young people.