The 1945 winner of Best Documentary Short Subject is intended as an indictment of Nazism, but goes overboard in demonizing Germany. "Hitler Lives" would have been better had it looked at the roots of Hitler's rise to power. I will give the documentary credit for noting that there were people in the US who wanted to use racism as a wedge issue, and that there were those who wanted to have even more wars (it's worth noting that Franklin Roosevelt was negotiating with the Soviet Union to ensure that there would be no future wars, but then he died and Harry Truman ditched that prospect; as a result we've had a near continuous state of war ever since). The documentary also says to beware of people who don't believe in the American ideals of freedom (i.e., it predicted McCarthyism).
So, "Hitler Lives" is OK but very much an example of wartime propaganda. The director was Don Siegel, later the director of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Dirty Harry".
So, "Hitler Lives" is OK but very much an example of wartime propaganda. The director was Don Siegel, later the director of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Dirty Harry".
