Hitler's Children

I stumbled across this film on cable and was immediately hooked. Created as a propaganda film to show the horrors of living in Nazi Germany, it seems quite naive in retrospect, as the full atrocities of the Holocaust were not yet public knowledge. Subtle, it is not, but it is definitely interesting as a historical novelty.

A Nazi officer (Tim Holt) falls in love with a freedom-fighting American girl (Bonita Granville) in WWII Germany. Very dated (of course) but still worth seeing. The film pulls no punches is showing how horrible life in Germany was during the war. I especially like them showing German citizens as being against Hitler and unhappy also. It is naive (concentration camps are mentioned once and very casually) but, at the time this was made, that's all we knew about Germany. A big hit in its day--it's easy to see why.

Holt and Granville are good in the leads--especially Holt who has a powerful speech at the end. Also the film moves quickly and is never dull. A very good look at Germany during WWII. Well worth catching.

Gripping WW2 movie about a young Gestapo officer (Tim Holt) who must choose between his loyalty to Hitler and the American girl he loves (Bonita Granville). Well-photographed and directed, it's a powerful and fascinating movie that has a lot to chew on for history buffs but is also an entertaining dramatic picture. It was pretty shocking stuff at the time, which led to it being a big hit at the box office. Tim Holt is fantastic in this. Definitely in his top three roles. He was a good actor who's largely forgotten today except among classic film fans. Bonita Granville has one of her meatiest parts here. This is a far cry from Nancy Drew. Kent Smith has a nice role as a sympathetic teacher. He narrates the first part of the movie. Otto Kruger and Hans Conried are two of the Nazis. As with a lot of WW2 era films on IMDb, you'll notice the reviews here are full of the word 'propaganda.' Try to ignore that. The problem isn't with the word itself but some use it to cast aspersions or impugn the honesty of a film. People these days have so many axes to grind and so much anger towards the wrong things. It's unsettling to me but, frankly, I'd rather not unravel that thread.

The very much critically acclaimed Hitler's Children is still quite a powerful film today. Potential lovers Tim Holt and Bonita Granville can never quite get together because of the Nazi ideology that Tim espouses.

The film has certain similarities to MGM's The Mortal Storm though without the A list cast of that one. The two go to different schools across the street from each other. Bonita is German born, but a naturalize American living with her grandparents while she attends the American school run by Kent Smith. Tim goes to the German all boys school for the new Hitler Youth and it was new when this film's action starts in 1933.

It's no accident that this was a boys school for the German youth. The Nazi ideology was firmly patriarchal and eloquently expressed the fact that women were child bearing vessels and nurturers of future Nazis and nothing more. No accident when you see Nazi rally newsreels for the young and old it's an all male cast. Hitler's Children explores that issue far more than most wartime films made by the Allies.

Kent Smith has the Nick Carroway narrative part in the story, we see it through his eyes up to the moment he departs for Paris and knowing full well the Nazis will be there shortly.

Holt and Granville are an attractive pair. Hitler's Children has aged far better than most American war films of the World War II era.

I can see how this film would have created a stir when it was released in 1942.World War II was being fought and the Germans dominated Europe. The film is the story of two star crossed lovers: an American girl with German blood and an unfortunate young man who rises from the Hitler Youth and becomes a colonel in the Gestapo. Kind of an unusual take on the boy meets girl story but a good film just the same. Recommended for history buffs and Tim Holt fans.