The Master Race

Director Biberman is remembered today, if at all, for being one of The Hollywood Ten – film people who defied the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and ended up in prison: consequently, his career numbered very few films – two ‘B’ thrillers made previous to this and two more (albeit higher-profile) titles after it; I myself had watched the best-regarded of the lot, SALT OF THE EARTH (1954), some time ago.

The two films clearly state where his political sympathies lie – given their celebration of collectivism during periods of turmoil (in the case of THE MASTER RACE, it obviously deals with WWII and, specifically, the ferreting of Nazi criminals and local collaborationists in Belgium once the Allies turn up to liberate the country). Unsurprisingly, all of this gives way to a lot of speechifying – though the war elements render the whole more palatable than was the case with SALT OF THE EARTH (which concerned a prolonged strike at a New Mexico mine-field); the narrative, in fact, throws in everything but the kitchen sink (with plenty of twists and turns along the way) – and, while the characters may come across as stereotypes at times, solidly professional production values (the film was made by RKO at its prime) carry it through.

The cast is modest yet effective – principally George Coulouris in one of his best roles as the Nazi Colonel (the film starts off with him disbanding his chain of command when it becomes clear that the Germans were losing the war) who passes himself off as the patriotic brother of a traitor who has been executed (in this respect, it’s the Hollywood equivalent of Britain’s WENT THE DAY WELL? [1942]). The latter’s surviving wife and daughter are having a hard time coping with this fact, being themselves under a cloud of suspicion – and the German is thus able to observe both sides with relative ease (since he obviously now professes to denounce Nazism, while at the same time rousing gullible locals into resisting the Allies’ help by making them out to be just another group of tyrants!). The more prominent among the ranks of the latter are Stanley Ridges as the American Major in command of the country’s reconstruction and Carl Esmond as a rugged but cheerful Russian officer with medical experience.

One other important female character is that played by Osa Massen, a local girl who succumbed to the advances of a German officer – a relationship which has even produced a child – while her fiancé and brother (Lloyd Bridges, himself in love with the niece of the man Coulouris has replaced!) went to war. There’s much conflict and heartache at the core of such sensitive issues – but understanding, forgiveness and hope for the future eventually prevail. Incidentally, we also get a repentant Nazi (now being held in the same concentration camp where the Belgians had been incarcerated not long before) and it is he who brings about Coulouris’ downfall; the latter had already committed murder and also ordered the destruction of the prison, ostensibly as an act of retribution against the Nazis but really to blame the locals for it – thus causing discord between them and the Allies! The film remains interesting today for its uncompromising and intimate look at the ravages of war, made with relatively few concessions to Hollywood conventions – displaying instead courage, conviction and a passion rarely felt in this type of genre offering.

This film unfortunately is a corny and inferior one, which is a terrible shame, because the subject deserved an excellent treatment. The subject is the fate of Nazism at the end of World War II. From 1944, Nazism began a process of planned 'metastasis', a word which I take from oncology to compare its spread to that of cancer cells when the central tumor is abandoned as the main base of the disease and the cancerous cells spread throughout the body. This is shown in this prescient early film, at the beginning of the story, where officers of the Wehrmacht are given sealed instructions and false identities to spread themselves throughout the world and work in secret for the restitution of Nazi ideals in the future. George Coulouris plays the wicked Colonel von Beck who presides over this, and is the villain of the film. It was not the Wehrmacht officers who did this in reality, but the SS. And the process was set up and presided over by Heinrich Himmler and Martin Bormann. Some conspiracy theorists suggest that Bormann got away and that his 'skull' which was found was not really his. We do not need to concern ourselves with that issue here. When the Allies got to Berlin they found the Berlin Treasury empty. All the gold of conquered Europe had been stored there. It was never found. Its value today would be trillions of dollars. The ingots had apparently been hidden in poisonous chemical tanks of the chemical company I. G. Farben (the main foreign 'front' for the Gestapo throughout the 1930s and the War), since gold cannot be damaged by any chemicals, and only the unstable mixture of two separate acids known as aqua regia can dissolve it. The gold was shipped out to safe havens like Sweden, Chile, and Argentina, over a period of time. Nobody opens poisonous chemical tanks to inspect what might be at the bottom. Apparently, ten percent of the gold was meant to be permanently stored as a 'backup' and still is stored. The rest has over the decades been used by the metastasized Nazis to buy international corporations and banks and attempt to achieve economic dominance and power, with a collection of bribed 'tame politicians' to assist them along the way. Many of their collaborators do not even know that they are working for metastasized Nazis, because all the collaborators care about is the money. The new Nazi Internationalists threw the Hitler cult overboard, just as shown in this film. The film was written and directed by Herbert J. Biberman, an inferior writer and director in Hollywood who had been a member of the Communist-leaning theatrical group in New York known as 'the Group'. He was later blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. It appears that he was a member of the Communist Party. Certainly, the corny creation of a hero of the Soviets as a character in this film is the kind of nonsense one expects of political hacks when they get too carried away making movies, and cannot resist inserting some propaganda into a film which then makes the story partially absurd. I mention all of this because it appears that Biberman was given some accurate information about what the SS were up to in their programme of 'Planned Metastasis', and I believe it must have come to him from the Soviet agents by way of Party contacts. How else could he possibly have concocted this story so early on, as even today people are still figuring out what really happened? Therefore, Biberman was performing a genuine service by informing the public of the process at this early date. But he did so with such lack of skill and talent, and with such adolescent propagandistic fervour, that the film has made no lasting impact, and its message was lost. The unlikely spot of Kolar, Belgium, is chosen as the supposed location of all the action, if you can call it action. The film contains a fine performance by the Danish actress Osa Massen as a German woman who has been raped by German soldiers and borne a child who has no name because of the shame. Lloyd Bridges plays her husband who returns and struggles to come to terms with the situation, but his performance is mediocre, as there is not much in the script and even less in the direction to give him much to do other than to wrinkle his brow and look earnest from time to time. This film could and should have been an impressive one, but it is not. Someone should try this theme again, and make it work this time.

Herbert Biberman (1900-1971) is the writer and director of this 1944 film. Biberman was a member of the left wing theatre group in New York City and was married to Gale Sondergaard. Both Biberman and Sondergaard were victims of the HUAC "red scare" – Biberman served time in prison and both were blacklisted.

This was his third film as director, fifth as a writer.

Lloyd Bridges (1913-1998) has a minor role in the film. Bridges too was briefly blacklisted but turned around and would be a staunch right wing presence.

(Doc) Robert Golden produced the film. He also produced "Hitler's Children" (1943) which was directed by Edward Dmytryk, another director imprisoned during the HUAC trials. "Hitler's Children" was the most successful film for RKO, even surpassing King Kong, and led to this film being made.

From the film there aren't many obvious communist themes, but there is a sympathetic Russian soldier and there is a lot of emphasis on people working together. The film is ardently anti-Nazi.

George Coulouris (1903-1989) gives the best performance of his career. Osa Massen (1914-2006) is excellent.

1944 and the Allies are pushing the Germans back on all fronts. In a last-ditch attempt to prolong the Third Reich and impose their will upon the world, the Nazis come up with a diabolical plan. Agents are sent to soon-to-be-liberated towns with the intention of blending in with the local population and turning them against the Allied liberators. One such agent is Colonel Frederick Von Beck. His aim is to sow seeds of distrust and revolution among the inhabitants of a small Belgian town.

Very original central plot, giving the movie heaps of potential. However, unfortunately, the year of release gives away how things develop from there. Being made during WW2 meant this was going to be a propaganda film. This doesn't have to be the death knell for a film - it is possible to make a propaganda film that remains watchable decades after the war has ended.

Unfortunately, this is not an example of such a movie. Incredibly one-dimensional and heavy-handed in its propaganda, there is no subtlety here. The Germans are evil to the nth degree. Even the Russians are portrayed as angels - anything for the war effort. Quite over-the-top in the extremeness of the propaganda.

This isn't the worst of it. A stark black-and-white good vs evil film could still have been entertaining. However, there's really not much action. Instead, we have speeches upon speeches, none of which say anything new or edifying - it's all stuff we already know: the Nazis are bad, fascism is bad, people need to be free, etc. Yet, every chance is grabbed to jam in a speech. What should have been one line in a dialogue turns into a several-minute monologue.

It's all so tedious and preachy.

George Coulouris is nazi Colonel von Beck, near the end of WW II. as a high official, he is sent off to hide in Belgium, hopefully to re-ignite the nazi mission again, by turning the liberated town folk against the americans, and each other. it's even more interesting that this was made in 1944, while the war was still going on! co-stars thirty year old Lloyd Bridges, as Frank Bartoc, and Nancy Gates as Nina. Pretty good film! von Beck tries to stir up mistrust, some of the locals seem to go along with him. some religion. talk of hope. rebuilding. allegiance. faith in beliefs and trust. One of only five films directed by Biberman. he was caught up in the House Un-american Activities Committee actions, in the 1940s. he, his wife Gale Sondergaard, and many others were blocked from working in hollywood, as they refused to testify before the committee. This one is pretty good... could have been great, but I think because the war was still going on, a lot of it is "propaganda" acting, to give hope to those back home, and to prove to the audience that we were on the side of right.