Hitler: The Rise of Evil 

A unique slant, profiling the life of Adolf Hitler as a child and his rise through the ranks of the National Socialist German Workers' Party prior to World War II.

Stars:

Peter Stormare, Friedrich von Thun, Peter O'Toole

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Peter Stormare	...	Ernst Röhm 2 episodes, 2003
Friedrich von Thun	...	General Erich Ludendorff 2 episodes, 2003
Peter O'Toole	...	President Paul von Hindenburg 2 episodes, 2003
Zoe Telford	...	Eva Braun 2 episodes, 2003
Terence Harvey	...	Gustav von Kahr 2 episodes, 2003
Justin Salinger	...	Dr. Joseph Goebbels 2 episodes, 2003
Chris Larkin	...	Hermann Göring 2 episodes, 2003
James Babson	...	Rudolf Hess 2 episodes, 2003
Patricia Netzer	...	Sophie Gerlich 2 episodes, 2003
Harvey Friedman	...	Friedrich Hollaender 2 episodes, 2003
Nicole Marischka	...	Blandine Ebinger 2 episodes, 2003
Julie-Ann Hassett	...	Angela Raubal 2 episodes, 2003
Thomas Brodie-Sangster	...	Adolf Hitler (10 yrs) 2 episodes, 2003
Simon Sullivan	...	Adolf Hitler (17 yrs) 2 episodes, 2003
Robert Glenister	...	Anton Drexler 2 episodes, 2003
Ian Hogg	...	Alois Hitler 2 episodes, 2003
Filip Hes	...	Egon Hanfstaengl 2 episodes, 2003
Brendan Hughes	...	Lieutenant Guffman 2 episodes, 2003
Howard Lotker	...	Hans (soldier) 2 episodes, 2003
Robert Russell	...	Franz von Papen 2 episodes, 2003
David Fisher	...	Georg Bell 2 episodes, 2003
Hana Frejková	...	Frieda 2 episodes, 2003
Wolfgang Müller	...	Gregor Strasser 2 episodes, 2003
Christopher Ettridge	...	General Kurt von Schleicher 2 episodes, 2003
Robert Carlyle	...	Adolf Hitler 2 episodes, 2003
Stockard Channing	...	Klara Hitler 2 episodes, 2003
Jena Malone	...	Geli Raubal 2 episodes, 2003
Julianna Margulies	...	Helene Hanfstaengl 2 episodes, 2003
Matthew Modine	...	Fritz Gerlich 2 episodes, 2003
Liev Schreiber	...	Ernst Hanfstaengl 2 episodes, 2003

Storyline

The movie describes the life of Adolf Hitler from childhood to manhood, and how he became so powerful. It describes his poor childhood in Austria, it describes the first world war from his point of view, and how he became the strongest man in Germany. The movie show us how Hitler turned from a poor soldier into the leader of the Nazis, and how he survived the attempts to kill him. It describes his relationship with his mistress Eva Braun, and his decisions and enemies inside Germany and inside the Nazi party.

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Plot Keywords:

hitler | nazis | reference to adolf hitler | nazi | joseph goebbels character | 

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Taglines:

"The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Details

Official Sites:

CBS

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hitler: The Rise of Evil

Filming Locations:

Brno, Czech Republic

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Technical Specs

Runtime:

179 min (video) 240 min 177 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In March 2003 while shooting the scenes in Prague on Wenceslas Square, near the National Museum, the movie crew had to put some vehicles in the background to hide candles and flowers laid on a pavement in commemoration of Zdenek Adamec, who committed suicide by self-immolation as a political protest several days before the shooting had begun. Exactly in the same place, exactly in the same way and exactly with the same purpose Jan Palach put the end to his life 34 years earlier.

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Goofs

Adolf Hitler is known to have had bright blue eyes. None of the actors portraying him in this movie has blue eyes.

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Quotes

Adolf Hitler: [about his father] Stupid old fool!

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Alternate Versions

Network Seven, in Australia originally aired this as a two part mini series.

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Connections

Featured in Cinemania: I anodos kai i ptosi tou Nazismou (2008)

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Soundtracks

Habanera
(from Carmen)
Music by Georges Bizet
Used as the music for the "Blame the Jews" song

User Reviews

Entertaining, just don't take it as history.

As an amateur historian of WW2/Nazi Germany, I couldn't wait for this to come out on DVD. I missed it when it was first on in 2003. I don't want to repeat what's already been said in the previous 8 pages of comments about the historical inaccuracies. A better job could've been done portraying the "charming" Hitler. I also had a small problem with some of the casting choices, not so much for their acting, but for their appearances. Peter Stormare doesn't look much like Rohm, why didn't they make Babson as Hess wear a wig? And my biggest complaint..so much has always been made of Hitler's striking blue eyes, why didn't they make Carlyle wear blue contacts? On the plus side, I thought the actors who played Goring and Drexler looked pretty good. Again, as long as people watching this understand that this is supposed to be entertainment 1st, history 2nd I don't think a lot of harm will be done.