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 - Aufstieg des Bösen

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

The producers originally wanted Ewan McGregor to play Adolf Hitler.

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Goofs

When the maid comes down the stairs reading from the newspaper, Helene Hanfstaengl approaches her and starts a discussion about the article. When Helene leaves the room, there is a tape mark on the floor where she stood.

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Quotes

President Paul von Hindenburg: If I appoint you Chancellor, how will I answer to God?
Adolf Hitler: How will you answer to Germany if you don't?

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

Dressur
Written by Friedrich Hollaender and Walter Mehring
Performed by Blandine Ebinger

User Reviews

Oh, no - it's drivel!

If another Hitler ever arises, it will be thanks in part to nonsense like this film, which propagates the absurd notion that he was a visibly deranged lunatic from the start. Far from following such a person and electing him to the highest office in the land, sane people would cross the street to avoid him, and he would have died in a ditch, nameless and unknown.

Anyone who reads the accounts of Hitler's close companions - the autobiography of his secretary Traudl Junge for instance - will be struck by the fact that people found him a kindly, intelligent, generous man. He was also a brilliant orator, and the fact that his speeches seem overblown and ranting to modern ears ignores the times in which they were made, when strutting pomposity was common in political speeches. Ditto the overstated anti-Semitism, which was neither a central plank of the early Nazis - who were primarily anti-communist - nor uncommon or unusual for the times. The film makes it look as though Hitler's sole ambition from the start was the Holocaust.

If you want to identify the next person who will cause the death of tens of millions, you can ignore fleck-lipped ravers life the one portrayed here. Look instead for a charming, charismatic man whose compelling speeches inspire the entire nation, and whose political work visibly and materially benefits the country. I'm afraid his personality will be much more like Barack Obama's than Fred Phelps'.

I hoped for much here, and got nothing but caricature. The fools who made this thing perpetrated a crime against reality. This is the historical equivalent of 'Reefer Madness'.