The Man Who Crossed Hitler

Hitler on Trial (as this docudrama is called in North America) is a bit smart, a bit funny, a bit suspenseful, but also quite a bit dry. The first half especially feels like a stuffy attempt to dramatize the people shown, mainly by putting what they feel into the script instead of into the scene. For this part of the movie, the fact that the actors are painfully British and not at all German makes the film even harder to enjoy.

As the titular intrigue begins, however, things become more suspenseful and engaging. With Hitler in the courtroom, the fact that the scene is played out by clearly British, English-speaking actors allows the English world to experience Hitler's rhetoric in a new way and try to imagine what it would be like to confront.

What says a lot about this film is that the 1-hour documentary included on the DVD is exponentially more interesting and moving than the film itself. Nonetheless, Hitler on Trial makes a good effort to bring an often forgotten part of Nazi Germany's history - the time Hitler was confronted with his contradictions in court - to life.

This film is somewhat entertaining, but should certainly not be classified as "non-fiction." It is a propaganda film, not a historical film, and is fraught with countless inaccuracies and historical errors. For one thing, the time period is said to take place between 1930 and 1931, long before Hitler became Chancellor of Germany - and yet he is repeatedly referred to as "Der Fuhrer." Hitler was not referred to as Fuhrer until after 1934, when that became his official title as Chancellor and Head of State. And this was just in the first 5 minutes of the film. There is little reason to rehash all of the rest of the errors and historical inaccuracies.

This film was shown on the BBC recently and I've always been keen on history and specially on why Hitler got to become Chancellor. This is based on a real story and you get an insight into Germany pre-WWII which explains a lot about the man but also the people who followed him. However it will still baffle you. After hearing Hitler's responses in court one could only doubt the intelligence and rationale of this man. Unfortunately we all know what happened next. This is the story of a courageous man who wanted to fight for tolerance and got to subpoenaed Hitler to do so. Quite an impressive feat. The acting is very good, from the judge down to the prosecutor but specially the actor portraying Hitler. Well worth watching. The BBC films never disappoint.

This was an intensely moving film about an almost unknown moment in history.When Hitler was challenged on his views in court.It just raised so many questions.How did a nation such as Germany think that by allowing this man power that they could tame him.How did they think that they think that they could show him up to be the crazed individual with murderous ambitions in court when the Judge was cowed by the nature of Hitler.All of the performances were impressive and this is a film that deserves constant repetition to show how tyranny can win if you don't stand up and fight.The ending was so poignant.One knew what the end would be as the attorney clearly had his card marked and Hitler was not the sort of man to forget a slight.You just end up wondering how and why it was allowed to happen.

I'm sure the court transcript is mostly fictional here as it likely doesn't exist anymore, but it's based on truth. It's overly provocative and I can't imagine Litton overtly accusing Hitler as much as he does in this TV drama and getting away with it as much as he did here, but the dramatisation overall makes a point. Hitler was challenged by the law in this historical case, so it's symbolic and based on a true story. That's enough for me. A bit better than I expected, well acted and dramatised. A hidden gem, if you can suspend actual legal transcript a bit. Litton was arrested after the Reichstag fire and suffered for 5 years at Dachau before despair finally cost him his life. A sad symbolic story of the fall of the law in Nazi Germany. 9/10.