Hitler's Madman

Back in the 1930s and 40s, several very small film production companies were known collectively as the 'Poverty Row studios'. This is because they made films with the tiniest of budgets and these outfits generally didn't even own studios but rented space on major studios' lots....filming after hours when the staff of the more prestigious studios were finished for the day. Among these tiny outfits was PRC--maker of some of the cheapest and worst films. of the day. However, something strange happened with its film "Hitler's Madman"....apparently it wasn't a bad film after all In fact, it got attention from the largest and most prestigious studio, MGM, and MGM bought the film and released it as one of their own!

The story is broadly based on the assassination of the Nazi governor of Czechoslovakia, Reinhardt Heydrich. Heydrich was among the most evil of all the Nazis, having come up with the plan known as 'The Final Solution', i.e., the extermination of all the Jews. And, because he was such an important figure to the Nazi regime that the people of Ledice, Czechoslovakia were liquidated in retaliation for this killing.

So is this film any good and does it hold up well today? Surprisingly, yes...it is very well made and effective...and still packs a powerful punch. Part of it is that although the film lacks stars (not unusual for a PRC film), it has some excellent and familiar character actors. Additionally, although the film plays a bit fast and loose with the facts, it actually sticks closer than you'd expect and the way the Nazis were portrayed was rather realistic...as most low-budget war films of the era tended to make the Nazis either stupid or ridiculously evil (more like Snidely Whiplash than a Nazi). Overall, I was impressed by this one....much of it because I just cannot believe PRC would be able to make a quality picture!

This film is starts with a deceptive title. Reinhart Heydrich was many things, but mad as in clinically insane was not one of them. In fact among his peers he was known as the man with an 'iron heart'. Cold blooded efficiency in some of the nastiest butchery ever seen on this planet was his stock in trade.

And John Carradine played him that way. In many ways Heydrich was the archetype Aryan superman that Hitler lauded, but this guy scared Hitler and all the other top Nazis.

MGM made this film and even though it is a quickie B picture hurriedly put together to take advantage of current events of the war, Hitler's Madman has that tiffany type gloss that MGM product was noted for.

As was reported and at the time not reported fully, how could it have been since we had little access to the news from the Nazi point of view. But word got out about the bloody reprisals made against the Czech people whom Heydrich was governing even from behind the lines. Lidice was razed to the ground as it was the location of the assassination. If anything we could only guess how bad it was.

There are three other interesting portrayals to note. First is Howard Freeman as Heydrich's superior, Heinrich Himmler. William Shirer said that he looked about as frightening as a schoolmaster and that's how Freeman does him as well. His scene with the dying Heydrich is classic as he tells Heydrich he's going out a hero for the Fatherland and Heydrich just doesn't want to go.

Then there's Edgar Kennedy whom I never knew doing anything else but being the slow burn comedian. He plays a cynical hermit who shunned Czech society, but has no use for the Nazis either. But being and choosing to live alone makes him better able to adapt.

My favorite however was Ludwig Stossel who plays the German mayor of Lidice who is a proud Nazi, but who also hears about the loss of his two sons in Russia. Still when Heydrich is attacked, he's arrested for not doing enough to keep the people down and appreciative of their new masters. All of Stossel's protests about what a good party man he is and how loyal to the Fuehrer he is, avail him naught.

One big star is in this, but Ava Gardner is an extra somewhere in the crowd of Lidice citizens. I couldn't spot her, but you might have better luck.

Despite the deceptive title Hitler's Madman does hold up well for today's audiences. A film about Heydrich's whole career would be a fascinating one for today's audience.

This film story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (titled by the Nazis as Reichs Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, by the Czechs as "The Hangman", and also one of the architects of "The Final Solution")and of the subsequent annihilation of the village of Lidice by the Nazis, really does not do justice to the subject. Although released by MGM, it was actually produced by poverty row Producer Releasing Corporation (PRC). Some of the cast members are old familiars and rather good, but none give a feeling that these are Czechs being murdered by Hitler's minions. As war propaganda, it is a success, and it at least gives the spirit of the tragedy of Lidice, if not historically detailed facts. John Carradine is effective as Heydrich, especially in his deathbed scene.

The facts about the assassination briefly are that two Czech partisans were parachuted into Czechoslovakia from an RAF plane. They managed to ambush Heydrich's open Mercedes, throw a bomb under it, and escape to a church. Heydrich died a few days later from complications arising from the penetration of his spleen by bomb fragments and debris from the car upholstery. Using torture, the Nazis discovered the whereabouts of the two partisans and the SS killed them at once. Lidice was picked more or less at random from among villages known to have anti-German leanings. On Hitler's orders, the men were shot and the women and children removed to camps, while the buildings of the site were levelled. When it became known in the allied world, this made excellent anti-Nazi propaganda, and more than one film was made of the subject. It may be that the massive retaliation backfired somewhat on the Nazis also by stiffening Czech resistance to the occupation.

Although the history portrayed in this little cheapie is not 100% accurate, the power and style of the great director Douglas Sirk shines through all the way. Carradine's death-bed scene is superbly acted, photographed and directed, and the climax, propaganda or not, is unforgettable. It is well worth your time!

This tragic, sad and depressing film made in 1943 depicted the atrocities of the Nazi regime and their supporters in Prague during World War II. Unfortunately, and very sadly, this brutal, sadistic and horrible behavior continues in the world we live in today. Face it, man has made little progress in the area of peace and love since the beginning of time. Sure, we have advanced by leaps and bounds when it comes to technology, medication, etc., but we are still murdering each other day in and day out and in most instances for things as meaningless as cutting someone off in traffic. Is their hope for us as a people. Can mankind live in Peace; sadly, I doubt it.