Gretchen sans uniforme

This one was a little bit of a surprise to me. It's another of those delicate and tasteful films that fell under the nazisploitation sub-genre. These films still cause a shudder in many even forty years after they were released. The mixing of the Holocaust with sadistic horror and salacious sexploitation being a combination that continues to trouble today; if nothing else, the nazisploitation sub-genre is one of the few types of genre cinema that remains shocking decades after its heyday. But I digress, as I mentioned earlier this one shocked me. And the reason wasn't the usual one when it comes to this kind of thing, in that it wasn't the salacious content that struck me, it was the fact that when watching it I thought to myself could this possibly be an actual German movie? It seemed incredible that the German nation, so directly associated with the evils of Nazism would ever have the brass neck to produce a film remotely in the ballpark of nazisploitation. The Germans would spend decades trying to shrug off the Nazi association so had they gone insane in 1973 and made a Nazi sex film? Well, as it turned out, no they had not. This movie had been produced by none other than Germany's 'neutral' neighbours, the charming Swiss! But given the shared language, this is the nazisploitation film that feels most 'German'. Which certainly gives it a whole new aspect of wrong-headedness.

During the last days of World War II a battalion of female Nazis are sent to the eastern front to service battle weary soldiers fighting the relentless Soviet advance. There's really not very much more plot to it than that and what there is really serves as no more than a framework for a succession of soft-core sex scenes. This one came out very early in this cycle of films and in fact was a year ahead of the movie that is often considered to be the template in this genre, Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS (1974), so its perhaps unsurprising that it seems a bit different. Unlike that film, or all of the subsequent outrageous offerings from the Italians, this one focuses on Nazi women, as opposed to female victims of the Nazis. There is no death camp setting, nor is there any real violence to speak of. Its sex, sex and more sex in this one; although I found it oddly unerotic (thank god). Somewhat unusually, the Nazis are presented as essentially sympathetic and not really the baddies we are used to them being, which is unsurprisingly not something you see very often! It also seems to possess higher production values than these types of movies normally have, with more sets and some battle scenes too. But it ultimately is kind of boring too. It lacks the sheer excess that the later nastier films still radiate. It's really a soft-core sex film with Nazi iconography, which makes it very odd, that much I will admit. Its worth at least checking out if you are interested in the seamier side of 70's exploitation cinema but there are more entertaining nazisploitation movies out there, and yes I know that is a strange thing to say.

Actually the alternate title of Frauleins out of Uniform is a better one.

Young girls join up to help Hitler's army and end up having lots of sex with soldiers and each other while trying to fight for the Nazi way.

Swiss made (for a German audience) exploitation soft-core war film that is more interesting for the nonjudgmental attitude toward the Nazis and its lack of any real violence -certainly nothing happens thats too exploitive -then anything then happens on screen. There is some attempt at a story, but it doesn't really go anywhere since the whole excuse for the film is for the women to get naked and to have simulated sex. Actually its not even that its pretend simulated sex (which is an oxymoron, which describes much of this film). Its all so nice that you really are never stimulated or titillated by anything on screen. Its like watching a bland TV show or Hogan's Heroes where people periodically undress. Its so bland as to inoffensive. I have never seen any film so asexual despite its best attempt to be sexual.

Words fail me.

Its not bad, its dull and so bland that you just don't care. I wish I could express how nonplussing this film is, its amazing.

Should you see it? Only if you want to see some cute girls disrobe. Other than that I'd watch something else.

Probably one of the weirdest Naziploitation films I've ever seen, which is not to be taken as a recommendation.

As an accurate portrayal of World War II Nazi Germany, SHE DEVILS OF THE SS (aka: FRAULEINS IN UNIFORM) is surpassed only by ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS.

It's a quasi documentary about those brave fighting women of the Third Reich, able to disrobe for action in mere seconds. Who knew the war was this much fun?

In spite of its setting and rampant nudity, it's impossible to be offended, due to the utter lunacy / idiocy of the entire project!

Filmed in the blissful, early 1970's, it's difficult to imagine such a movie being made today...

With World War II rapidly coming to an end several young women volunteer to join the German army to show their support for their beloved Fuhrer. However, one of the doctors charged with helping them enlist comes into conflict with the Gestapo and as a result he and his two daughters are subsequently drafted and sent to the Russian Front. That said this film essentially tells the story of the ordeals that these three people encounter as the Russian army begins to close in from the east. Now as far as the overall movie is concerned, although it is billed as a comedy I have to say that I didn't find much humor anywhere. What it did have however were a lot of naked women and scenes of simulated sex, which not only lacked both passion and eroticism, but also lacked any tangible story to make any of these scenes interesting or worthwhile. Additionally, the characters lacked depth and the acting was quite second-rate as well. In short, this was a pretty bad film all around and I have rated it accordingly.

In most ways this fits in with the Nazi-sexploiters made in Italy or by Eurocine, except in one: this was made for the German market and consequently we do not get all the usual stereotypes: (i) all Germans are Nazis, (ii) all Nazis are evil, (iii) all Nazis are sexual predators. We just get (ii) and (iii). The film is also less violent and downright nasty than its foreign genre rivals, partly to accommodate the German censors (who always shunned the connection sex/violence) and partly because their target audience would not have been expecting that - for the aforementioned reason.

The supposed identification figures of the film are Dr Kuhn and his daughters, who suffer from not playing Nazi-ball with the required conviction. I qualify this as "supposed", because this is no more than a McGuffin. After a while the film focusses on its real purpose: ogling at beautiful young women in the nude, with some added spice caused by the dangerous surroundings. If this were an accurate description of the going-ons at the Eastern front then the Wehrmacht should not have had much trouble getting volunteers.

Obviously, this isn't complying with historical accuracy, or political correctness. But then, neither are 'Salon Kitty', 'Love Camp 7', 'Train spécial pour SS', 'Ilsa, she-wolf of the SS', or any of the other films of this ilk. One should not expect more of these pictures than a 1970s version of a roughie.