Enemy of Women (1944)

Director:

Alfred Zeisler

Writers:

Alfred Zeisler (story) and
Herbert O. Phillips (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 November 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

MYSTERY GIRL! The home of this alluring blonde was known to be one of Dr. Goebbles' favorite haunts!

Plot:

Young Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, an unsuccessful playwright, is forced, in order to support himself,...

Plot Keywords:

Playwright | Tutor | Hitler | Actress | Propaganda

Cast

Claudia Drake	...	Maria Brandt
Wolfgang Zilzer	...	Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (as Paul Andor)
Donald Woods	...	Dr. Hans Traeger, MD
H.B. Warner	...	Col. Eberhart Brandt
Sigrid Gurie	...	Magda Quandt
Ralph Morgan	...	Mr. Quandt
Gloria Stuart	...	Bertha
Robert Barrat	...	Wallburg the Publisher
Beryl Wallace	...	Jenny Hartmann
Byron Foulger	...	Krause, Brown Shirt
Lester Dorr	...	Hanussen the Medium
Crane Whitley	...	Hanke, Gobbels' Secretary
Charles Halton	...	Uncle Hugo, Radio Performer
Marin Sais	...	Frau Bendler
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lotte Palfi Andor	...	Housekeeper (uncredited)
Stephen Roberts	...	Informer (uncredited)
Gene Roth	...	Gestapo Announcer (uncredited)
Erskine Sanford	...	Levine (uncredited)
Ben Taggart	...	News Chief (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Gestapo Man (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Brieger - Radio Station Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Zeisler

Writing credits
Alfred Zeisler		(story) and
Herbert O. Phillips		(story)
Alfred Zeisler		(screenplay) and
Herbert O. Phillips		(screenplay)
Elizabeth Perdix		(additional dialogue)

Produced by
W.R. Frank	....	producer
Fred W. Kane	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Artur Guttmann		(as Arthur Guttman)

Cinematography by
John Alton

Film Editing by
W.L. Bagier		(as Douglas Bagler)

Art Direction by
Stanley Fleischer

Set Decoration by
Glenn P. Thompson		(as Glenn Thompson)

Costume Design by
Kay West		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Ted Larsen	....	makeup artist
Scotty Rackin	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Bartlett A. Carre	....	production manager (as Bartlett Carre)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Barton Adams	....	assistant director

Sound Department
William H. Lynch	....	sound

Music Department
Artur Guttmann	....	conductor (as Arthur Guttman)
Artur Guttmann	....	orchestrator (as Arthur Guttman)

Other crew
Marshall Edson	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• W.R. Frank Productions

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astor Pictures Corporation (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (re-titled) (re-release)
• Alpha Video Distributors (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinémathèque Suisse (????) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Nostalgia Collectibles (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Nostalgia Collectibles (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Roan Group, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Teakwood Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"The Mad Lover" - USA (reissue title)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Company:

W.R. Frank Productions

Trivia:

This was one of the few films Monogram Pictures released that it didn't produce in-house. This was an independent production picked up by Monogram for distribution.

Soundtrack:

Die schöne Galathée Overture

Brings the basics to the light

The story of this Monogram movie is loosely based on the life and times of Nazi criminal and German propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. Viewers who have the habit of first checking if every button and leather strap of the actor's different Nazi Uniforms are the right size and in the right place will have reason to be displeased. The movie does not aim at historical or geographical accuracy.

Despite of its shortcomings – or maybe just because of them – the basic message is plain and clear: Tyranny means the abolition of law and order and the arbitrary, unabashed invasion of any kind of private sphere and individual freedom. And unhealthy characters will enjoy unlimited power. Goebbels is depicted as a randy „suck-upper". First he quite literally sucks up to the daughter of his landlord, an aspiring actress with whom he reads Roemo and Juliet helping her to prepare for the part of Juliet. The girl pushes the heated up guy away, Goebbels stumbles backwards and falls over a chair. The girl laughs at him lying there as her father, a general, enters and without further ado kicks him out.

This slight brings on Goebbel's lifelong persecution of the girl. He leaves the general's house, crosses the street, gets into a beer hall and – what do you know? – there is a guy there (only seen from a distance) giving a clumsy speech about the Fatherland, Germany's humiliation etc. Freshly humiliated Goebbels instantly sucks up to him, inventing the Hitler salute on the way. His rise to power has begun and soon he can do with the girl whatever he pleases. And he doesn't miss the opportunity. She is for him just a trophy to own, the tragic final scene that shows her in a kind of a golden cage, just helplessly standing there as bombs fall on Berlin make that plainly clear.

Enemy of Women succeeds in making the viewers understand the mechanics of tyranny – it is closer to Charles Chaplin's The Great Dictator than to movies made later, when the USA had larger war experience. Even the heroine's flight to Free Austria is reminiscent of Chaplin's movie. John Alton's camera-work of course is a major asset, he was a true master of shadow and light. One scene of bliss for the girl and her future husband is remarkable as sticks as being extremely bright, almost blinding. I don't know how much the editing is responsible for the effect, in any case, I will not forget it. I also wondered if the director or the cameraman (or both) fell in love with Claudia Drake. Especially in the second part of the movie she is stunningly beautiful and gets a lot of screen time in the most favorable light.

The small Cinémathèque suisse recently released a DVD with its oldest treasures ("Il était une fois... la Suisse" Images cinématographiques des années 1896-1934). The last item is a newsreel report of Dr. Goebbels after a visit to the League of Nations in Geneva in 1934. Before boarding a waiting Junkers 52 he delivers a short speech saying that the German people want nothing but peace and that the German government will do anything in its power to secure it forever. He really was an unscrupulous, intelligent and eloquent liar. The final speech in Enemy of Women struck me as having exactly the same tone and phrasing. The makers of this movies must have studied the „original" carefully.