This film follows two German brothers through the history of Nazi Germany from 1931 to 1945. The film seemed pretty much to be historically accurate although there are a few points, which are arguable. What is different about this war movie is that you watch the rise to power of the Third Reich, the war, and the interaction of ordinary people from the perspective of two German brothers who take different paths in life. It's a very interesting and thought provoking movie that keeps your attention throughout. My only problem with this movie is that it touches on so many issues I wish the movie could have been longer so they could have gone into them more in depth. This movie is more about the lives and relationships of people and does not show as many fighting and battle scenes as most war movies would. If you like a lot of military action, this may not be for you although the movie does have some of this. Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil is an excellent movie, under rated and for those interested in the history of World War II, is a must see movie.
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ChuckStraub29 November 2004
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ma-cortes25 February 2015This is a splendid drama set on Nazi time with thoughtful plot and slick direction by Jim Goddard . The tale of Helmut (Bill Nighy) and Karl Hoffmann (John Shea) , their turbulent relationships , brotherhood , their loving with same girlfriend , a nightclub Singer called Mitzi Templer (Lucy Gutteridge) and final confrontation . Both come of age at the start of Hitler's power in Germany and experience misfortunes , pains and sufferings . Helmut joins the ¨SS¨ commanded by Heinrich Himmler (John Normington) and eventually becomes a successful flag rank officer thanks to Heydrich . Karl (John Shea) joins the SA commanded by SA Chief Ernst Röhm (Michael Elphick) and suffers the darker side of Nazism after the SA is disbanded and Karl is thrown into prison and later conscripted into the German army. Helmut meets Heydrich (David Warner reprised his role of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich , whom he previously portrayed in Holocausto ,1978) and appoints him as second-in-command . The story also deals with a family formed by father (Robert Urquhart) , mother (Carrol Baker) and their three sons . Brother is pitted against brother under the shadow of the Third Reich until their relationship finishes at the end . As in 1945 Berlin stands in ruins staying both brothers battling against Russian invasion .
The movie talks about various historic events , such as the confrontation between ¨SA¨ and ¨SS¨ , taking place ¨The Night of the Long Knives¨ , it was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from June 30 to July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders. Leading figures of the left-wing Strasserist faction of the Nazi Party, along with its figurehead, Gregor Strasser, were murdered, as were prominent conservative anti-Nazis . Many of those killed were leaders of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary Brownshirts . Adolf Hitler moved against the SA and its leader, Ernst Röhm, because he saw the independence of the SA and the penchant of its members for street violence as a direct threat to his newly gained political power . At least 85 people died during the purge, although the final death toll may have been in the hundreds, and more than a thousand perceived opponents were arrested. Most of the killings were carried out by the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei), the regime's secret police .Röhm was held briefly at Prison in Munich, while Hitler considered his future. In the end, Hitler decided that Röhm had to die . On July 1, at Hitler's behest, Theodor Eicke, later Commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, and SS Officer Michel Lippert visited Röhm and killed him . Furthermore , ¨The night of the broken glass¨ , as the night of November 9, 1938, when terror attacks were made on Jewish synagogues and stores. Two days earlier, Vom Rath, Third Secretary of the German Embassy in Paris , had been assassinated by Grynszpan, a Polish Jew. In retaliation, Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the SD, ordered the destruction of all Jewish places of worship in Germany and Austria . The assault had been long prepared , the murder provided an opportunity to begin the attack. In fifteen hours 101 synagogues were destroyed by fire and 76 were demolished . The pillage and looting went on through the night , streets were covered with broken glass , hence the name Kristallnacht . Reinhard Heydrich artificer of the meeting of senior officials of Nazi Germany, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference, called by director of the Reich Main Security Office; RSHA, SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, was to ensure the cooperation of administrative leaders of various government departments in the implementation of the final solution to the Jewish question, whereby most of the Jews of German-occupied Europe would be deported to Poland and murdered . Later on , Heydrich leaves Berlin to take up a new posting as Nazi Governor of Bohemia and Moravia (Czechoslovakia) and there happens Heydrich's assassination, which being well recreated . Other events being finely narrated are the followings : Destruction radio station incriminating Polish rebels and subsequent Poland encroachment (1939) , siege and defeat Stalingrado (1943) , battle and fall Berlin (1945) . -
bkoganbing5 May 2008Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil tells the story of this para-military force. the personal enforcement arm of Adolph Hitler in the Nazi movement and the Hoffman brothers and their connections.
Bill Nighy is the cleverer of the two brothers, recognizing the Nazi Party as the coming force in Germany in 1931 and decides to join this elite group. His brother John Shea likes a good time which includes a brawl every now and then. The SA under Ernest Roehm seems like his place in the Nazi movement.
Well we all know what happened to Roehm as his ambitions began to exceed even Hitler's. Shea gets himself tossed into Dachau for a little Nazi style rehabilitation. During the Thirties before the war, places like Dachau were not yet the systematic slaughter camps they later became. Shea eventually is released and is drafted into the army.
In the meantime Nighy becomes an upwardly mobile guy in the S.S. and a special favorite of Reinhard Heydrich, very chillingly played by David Warner.
Through all this Carroll Baker their mother worries about her boys. She's never been crazy about the Nazi movement, she sees what it's doing to Germany and her family. She's most of all concerned with her youngest son who is played by three different juvenile actors who is an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth.
What becomes of the Hoffman family is a tale tragically told many times over in Germany of that period. In this most British cast film, Tony Randall as a German comedian with trenchant observations of the time and Jose Ferrer as a Jewish professor have two excellent cameo roles.
No new ground is broken here, but this is a story that deserves retelling thousands of times over. -
This was a rather good film. It artfully tells the story of the days just after the Nazi "Machtergreifung", and the power struggle between Himmler's SS (with Heydrich's SD an important part) and Ernst Röhm's SA, through the Hoffman family. Karl, a seeming true-blue National Socialist, joins the SA. His brother Helmut, an opportunist, joins the SS for career advancement, and deluding himself into believing that by being in the SS, he could "Do good on the inside".
This film does an excellent job in examining the motivations of Nazis, and of human feelings through Karl and Helmut's sibling rivalry. The acting was excellent, featuring Jose Ferrer as Helmut's old teacher, who is a Jew. However, I found the actress playing Mitzi to be repulsively vacuous. Tony Randall's cameo appearance was brilliant, among others.
Where this film fails is that it tries to do too much. Ity tries far too hard to address every issue involved in discussing the Third Reich, from Anti-Semitism, to the cause of the war, to the Hitler Youth, to propaganda, and so forth. This causes much superficiality, so that none of these topics is thoroughly addressed. The largest strength to this film, is that it so bravely and accurately portrays a historic episode, known as the Night of the Long Knives, in which Hitler has Röhm, and his SA leadership killed, presumably because they were planning a Putsch against Hitler. It re-examines an old issue, and it does it cunningly. -
planktonrules10 March 2020In order to understand and appreciate "Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil" I should probably explain the context for this made for TV movie. Back in the years before the Nazis took control of Germany, the devoted followers of the party often joined the SA, also known as the 'Brown Shirts' because of their uniforms. These were the enforcers of the party....crazed Nazis who were not averse from using violence or even killing to further their cause. They helped Hitler and the Nazis rise to power by 1933 and were organized thugs. In its prime the SA was huge....and loyal to the gay leader of the organization, Ernst Röhm. But Hitler felt Röhm posed a threat to his power and ordered the smaller but more ruthless SS to depose Röhm and the rest of the leaders of the SA. Certainly the SS was evil (as well as being the architects and foot soldiers who instituted the 'final solution'), but the SA wasn't exactly a group of boy scouts....they were vicious thugs...just not as well organized or quite as ruthless as the SS.
When the story begins, you see that two brothers gravitate towards joining the SA (John Shea) and SS (Bill Nighy). Now Karl (Shea) didn't make a lot of sense...he was not a violent or vicious person yet he joined the SA...but Helmut (Nighy) was a better fit with the SS as he craved power and money. Ultimately, you KNOW that their being on different sides in the struggle for power will ultimately lead to problems....but what exactly you'll have to see for yourself.
This story is not one about the 'good brother and bad brother'. It's not a struggle over good and evil...it's a struggle for power. This is a subject you rarely hear about in films or even documentaries..and it does represent an amazing period in German history.
So is it worth watching? Well, it is well made and quite interesting...and makes an interesting accompaniment if you first watch the mini series "Holocaust" or a documentary about the Nazis circa 1932-1934. The acting and costumes are quite good as well. My only major is that the film makes the SA look a lot nicer than they were...and it's hard to imagine a nice guy like Karl even fitting in with these degenerates. A minor complaint is that the film might have benefited from some editing, as it does drag a bit in spots and the latter portion seemed a bit episodic. -
Handsomely produced TV film is an ambitious project in that it follows the rise of the Third Reich while telling the story of a German family, in particular, two brothers (BILL NIGHY and JOHN SHEA) who are swept into the wartime problems when the oldest joins the SS in 1931 and becomes a good Nazi (until he sees the scope of the horror) and the other eventually joins because he's under the illusion that he can change things from the inside.
Although it covers a span of '33 to '45, none of the actors age noticeably, the one weakness in an otherwise carefully detailed production.
This is not the first time this sort of subject has been handled. A less epic, more narrowly focused melodrama of two brothers with opposing viewpoints was made in the 1940s (UNDERGROUND - 1941) with JEFFREY LYNN and PHILIP DORN as German brothers taking opposite viewpoints of the wartime philosophy and directed by Vincent Sherman. Although it was a well done melodrama, it did not attempt to get the full flavor of the Third Reich and its various operations as this film does.
JOHN SHEA is especially impressive as the brother who speaks his mind against some of the Nazi practices and at one point even ends up for awhile in Dachau, the concentration camp. The other brother manages to get him released but there are still many trials and tribulations for both of them before the film reaches a dramatic climax. CARROL BAKER does a nice job as a worried German mother.
David WARNER is impressive as Reinhard Heydrich, the sarcastic and brutal Nazi officer who gets his comeuppance before the war is over. All of the performances are first rate and the story covers a good deal of actual history without ever losing track of its main characters.
Absorbing stuff, lengthy, but well worth watching. -
jt_3d4 June 2010Hitler's SS attempts to show what life was like in Germany in the 30's and during the war, shown through the lives of one family. Two older brothers are just choosing their paths when the Nazi party starts to take hold. One brother, Karl, joins up right away and finds himself in the SA. He also doesn't like what he finds in the SA. The older one, Helmut, has no intention of following the crowd but ends up a favored officer in the SS, convinced that he can change things from the inside.
This movie shows the progression of Germany turning into a Nazi state by 'snapshots' of each year, from 1931 to 1945. In 1931 the brown shirts just hang out in bars and push people around. They're simply thugs. The Nazi party loses the election and almost everybody is happy about it. Then they win and elections are suspended making the Nazis the official state party forever. Now the Nazis have a firm grip and use force to hold onto power. Speak out against Hitler and Nazism and you are branded a traitor and you disappear to Dachau.
Then they orchestrate an incident to use as an excuse to invade Poland and it's war. And Helmut finds that he can't change anything while he is drawn further and further into the party and it's atrocities. Karl on the other hand ends up out of favor when the SA is disbanded but still ends up an officer on the eastern front. He is definitely not part of the madness and still does not like what he sees done by the Nazis. He resists being consumed by Nazism. Even little brother Hans, who is born in 1931, ends up being consumed and used up by the Nazi state.
The whole story is covered in this underrated movie. Not to be missed by any WWII movie buff, though there isn't really much combat.
7/10 -
rmax3048237 August 2013Judging from the theme, the sensational title ("Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil"), and the time of its appearance (seven years after the award-winning "Holocaust"), I didn't expect much. And it IS a made-for-television movie after all. Instead, I found it was surprisingly well written, directed, and in some cases nicely acted.
The story of a German family before and during World War II takes us from the rise of Hitler in the early 30s to the end of the war. Some of the material is familiar. We see the persecution of Jewish friends, the heaps of naked, pale corpses, the gloom of Stalingrad, the growing disillusion with Hitler, and some interpolated combat footage. But there are extraordinary glimpses of incidents we seldom see on screen. The assassination of Heydrich, for instance, and the rich detail surrounding Hitler's justification for an invasion of Poland.
I said it was "informative" and that's the sort of thing that makes it so: Hitler's elimination of Roehm's rival Brown Shirts, the set up for Poland, the suppression of unions, the incredibly young age of some of the Volkssturm. And, oh, how we need that information.
In more than one anonymous on-line chat, I read a post claiming that the current administration in Washington was the same as Hitler's because they were both "socialists." I made a polite query in each case, along the lines of, "Are you insane?" The replies were filled with an incandescent anger, accusing me of being stupid, because I didn't know that Hitler led "the National SOCIALIST party," capitals included. Most Americans have a general idea of what Hitler thought and did, but some of us are appallingly ignorant of what used to be a shared data base.
Even if this two-and-a-half hour film weren't as nicely executed as it is, it would still be worth watching for some of us. And, probably for MOST of us, we'd still learn something we didn't know. Most documentaries, for example, show Hitler invading Poland in the course of a few seconds of rolling tanks and of troops pushing aside a road barrier. That's fine, as far as it goes.
But Hitler went to astonishing lengths to justify that invasion. It had to be convincing, and it was. The official story was that Poland had been persecuting its German-speaking population and had raided a German radio station near the border, leaving some German corpses behind. The fresh cadavers were supplied by the Germans simply killing some prisoners in one of their camps and strewing the bodies about, near the radio station. No one ever starts a war. It must always be the other guy's fault if you want the war to have popular support. That's taken for granted. It's why the US Secretary of War became the Secretary of Defense in 1949.
I don't want to get too far off track, so let me mention that, in addition to the professional direction of Lukas Heller, there is a fine performance by David Warner as Heydrich. Tony Randall, barely recognizable under his Joel Grey make up, is a convincing and pitiful figure as the harmless homosexual nightclub comedian beaten to death by the SS. John Normington as Himmler doesn't have much screen time but makes the most of it in a subdued and nuanced performance. The most difficult role is that of Helmut Hoffman, the "mean" son, as opposed to Michael Shea's "idealistic" son. Hoffman does "neurosis" really well, and he looks the part, resembling both in appearance and demeanor Peter O'Toole's Lawrence of Arabia.
It ought to be shown in every high school or college class in political science or history. -
dgrahamwatson28 December 2007This is a nice taut docu/drama about a fictional family the Hoffman's which chronicles life in Nazi Germany from the early 1930's up until 1945. When it was originally aired back in 1985 it was a two part TV mini series which has now been put together in a movie format. I said a fictional family, but in essence it could have been any family from Germany at that time. This British production is not as long or as well done as the better know American ones such as THE WINDS OF WAR (1983), or the NIGHTMARE YEARS (1989). Never the less don't let that put you off, it's still very entertaining and makes up for any production shortcomings with character chemistry and some great dialog. Also, events are put on the fast track here because from an historical point of view it doesn't dwell too much on any one aspect of the SS activities or the war as a whole, so film move's quickly.
Karl Hoffman (John Shea) is the first in the family to be drawn to the Nazi doctrine and as a disgruntled worker joins the brown shirts or SA who are Hitler's storm troopers for the early part of his rule. Helmut Hoffman (Bill Nighy) who is more of an intellectual is less impressed by the excesses of the SA and initially wants to have no part the Nazi movement. However, but because of his blonde hair and blue eyes is eventually recruited to the more elitist and seemingly less boorish SS under Heinrich Himmler and his ruthless enforcer Reinhard Hydric (David Warner). So Helmut leaves his studies and moves up the ranks as Hydric's assistant and soon becomes immersed in some of the most critical decisions of that period.
After the "night of the long knives" things take a turn for the worse for Karl. With the disbanding of the SA as well as the liquidation of it's top leaders he soon finds himself surplice to requirement and consequently is on the receiving end of some rough treatment as well as a taste of Nazi prison life in the notorious Dachau. Fortunately, Helmut using his position in the SS is able to spring his brother out of Dachau but after being so enthusiastic about Hitler from that moment onwards Karl is bitter, disillusioned and troubled by what he has experienced. Despite given promotion in the German army which by this time he was forced to join he is still unsettled and as things go from bad to worse in on the eastern front he deserts his unit and heads for home.
In the mean time and despite not having the enthusiasm nor the stomach for, lets say the more unsavory aspects of life in the SS Helmut knuckles down. He strikes up a friendship with another assistant called Becker (brilliantly played by Warren Clarke) and soon realizes that once you have joined you can't just resign! Their parents also opt for the quiet life, the mother brings up the youngest brother Hans and the father works on the railways that seemingly always run on time. There is a poignant scene when he comes across a cattle truck crammed full of people and who are obviously in distress, but when he inquires about them his supervisor snaps " oh just some Dutch Jews, don't worry there in no hurry where there going". This is obviously a reference to the efforts made by some that the German people knew nothing of the cruelty and atrocities under the third Reich!
As the war comes closer to home Karl returns to find his family and discovers that the house has been flattened and their parents killed an air raid. The youngest brother Hans now old enough to join the "Hitler youth" becomes a member of the "Volkstrum" a rag tag outfit of boys and old men that have the thankless task trying to stop the red army from over running Germany. Hans having been brainwashed for years can't be reasoned and decides to stay put and fight for the "vatherland",despite the best efforts from his brothers to convince him otherwise.
In the final scenes as the Russians are closing in Helmut realizing that as a member of the SS he will be the victim of harsh retribution tries to abscond from active duty and tip toe away in civilian clothes. However he is recognized and executed by his own side for not fighting to the end. Finally when it's all over after the final battle Karl is comforted by a family friend Mitzi when they discover the body of his youngest brother Hans in the rubble. All in all an ironic ending to the movie because in the opening scene both Karl and Helmut are seen running to the church way back in 1931 for the christening of their younger brother Hans. In the end in the ashes and ruins of Germany this 12-13 year old boy who knew nothing but Hitler was just one of many millions killed, is surly testimony to the madness of the so called 1000 year Reich.
There are some good performances, it's mostly a British cast but it is supported by Americans Jose Ferrer, John Shea and Tony Randal and is defiantly worth a watch. I'd highly recommend this particularly if who are interested in WWII history! -
Being absorbed in a deliberate and powerfull regime change, without knowing it's future implications. It's around us all the time, whether in the US, North Korea, EU. We can only see so far into the future, agenda's and lack of information. The Hofmann brothers illustrate quite well the sort of optimistic spirit of those days when Germany seemed te be recovering from the depression and a bright future lay ahead. The powerfull businessmen and politicians conspiring to create a new order that would make them immeasurably rich while creating an industry around rearmament that is insustainable even with a huge war planned ahead. The people just happy to be able to find new jobs and pay the rent. Sure, the regime is not perfect, but as the hofmanns say; the rough edges will fade and a more neutral government will rise...surely!
In this movie the brothers slowly find out that their choices to join the SA and SS come at a heavy price and there is no way back. Every hint of doubt will result in imprisonement, torture and death. How much misery will you let slide before you reach the point where your own life is no longer more valuable than the lives you help ruin? For Helmut it is a long road; first he loses his principles; instead of teaching he chooses money and career opportunities. He doesn't believe the nazi propaganda, he's too intelligent for that. Flattered by the interest in him by Heydrich he joines the SS. Then he loses his integrity; he knows what kind of fascist torturing and murderous people are his colleagues, but out of fear and self preservation decides to act as if he belongs there. He gives up on the woman that loves him, accepts that his parents silently dissaprove his choices and let's his softer academic personality whither and die. In the end, for anyone that doesn.t know him, he is nothing more than a cold sinister symbol of fear and death.
Karl fares no better. Younger and simpler of mind, he hopes the nazi party will make sure there are enough jobs and strong unions. Enthusiast as he is, he joines the SA even though he is not antisemitic. He too discovers that his colleagues are not like him and are out for brawls and later party approved agression. He sees early on that he bet on the wrong horse. He has the courage to speak up a few times and get's in real trouble. Where it not for Helmut, he would have died.
The path these brothers follow is a path many of us follow even in these times. Vote for this guy or that, only years later can we see with clarity if a choice was right. This movie gives an insight to the mechanics of a totalitarian state and how it was possible for good men and women to stand idle even when knowing what was going on. I guess the moment you look a monster in the eye, is the moment most of us freeze in terror. In a way it reminded me of "unsere mutter, unsere vatter", the german miniseries about a group of young Germans with different paths through te war also ending in shock when they finally see how far they had been lead astray. Losing youth, innocence, friends, family, homes. -
grahamsj319 October 2003I believe this was a made for TV film. It's is the story of two German brothers, one of whom joins the SS in 1933 and the other joins the SA. The two organizations vie to become the predominant force in Nazi Germany. Eventually, the SS won out and many of the people who joined the SA were executed or imprisoned by the SS. It now seems that only the SS brother can save the SA brother. The film follows both of them through World War 2, a period spanning 12 or 13 years, although neither brother (or the love interest) ever ages a day. It depicts the evil of the SS relatively well without the use of many execution/extermination scenes. Little mention is made of the mass slaughter of Jews, although it is more or less implied. The acting in the film is better than I expected, especially since there are few recognizable names in the cast. However, the acting is merely adequate. However, it was very cheaply made and it shows. There are some plot holes that detract from the overall enjoyment of the film.
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theredcomet13 December 2003What I particularly liked about this movie was the fact that it showed a view of the Nazi regime from a different perspective, that of two young German brothers.
In the beginning when the Nazi party is first coming to power we see the life of two young German men. Like everyone else in Germany at that time they too are caught up in Hitler's fanaticism. One brother joins the S.A. and is chided by the other for going along with that "rubbish". But he ends up getting caught up in the S.S. when he is confronted by Heydrich at his university who then persuades him to join not for his beliefs in politics but for his intelligence. Neither knew what they were getting themselves into.
What's most interesting about this story is the emotional aspects. Seeing how the brothers reacted to things that were starting to happen in the Third Reich. It was all minuscule all first. Seeing S.A. officers push an old man down some stairs. The noble but innocent younger brother tries throughout the war to change the evil that was happening all around him but finds that he is blatantly overwhelmed by opposition from his fellow Germans. While the older brother accepts what he cannot change and tries to help his younger brother into being smarter about his actions. Both are forced along a path that is becoming increasingly harder to follow. It definitely shows how some Germans were forced to go along with what was happening or be killed themselves.
The acting in this movie was really well done. My only gripe was that the actors had British accents all throughout the movie which made you wake up from the story and detract from the realism. Some parts I busted up laughing seeing these guys in Nazi uniforms talking in thick British accents. But the acting by the two brothers was very good and believable. It was very emotional to see what they were going through and felt as they watched people die and the world change around them. -
ironhorse_iv16 June 2015Directed by Jim Goddard, Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil is a 1985 TV film about two German brothers, Helmut (Bill Nighy) and Karl Hoffmann (John Shea), whom forge their way into power, during the Nazi regime. I think the movie did a great job, in showing how most German felt about the Nazis. Most Germans did not become Nazis, because they were racist or anti-Semitism, but went along with the party because it promised them things that they wanted and needed. It provided for their livelihood. There was a great deal of pressure to join it. It was also very unthinkable to not join the party. The rise of the Nazis was all very logical and it shows here. A lot of people find that idea hard to swallow, but peoples' motives for supporting the Nazi Party, came to the fact, that it held the standard of living. While, the movie didn't do that good of a job, showing the severe economic depression AKA hyperinflation, which caused shortages in everything nor the very hard feelings over the Versailles Treaty. The movie does show how the Nazi program emphasized the protection of German industry and agriculture through tariffs and import quotas. Karl became enthusiastic by the Nazis, through this. I love the character arch of him and how he become disillusioned when things got worst. I have to say, John Shea is a very fine actor. It's too bad, he didn't get much roles, after this film. He's by far, the most realistic person on the film. The only thing, that I didn't like about his character, was the sub-plot romantic with a lounge singer, Mitzi Templer (Lucy Gutteridge). It remind me, too much of 1972's Cabaret. Tony Randall as Putzi, the German comedian who employs Mitzi as a singer seem a little similar to the Master of ceremonies of Cabaret fame. Everything about those scenes make it seem like they felt they were ripping off the Oscar Winner film. While, it's probably one of worst rip-offs, I have even witness, it's by far, one of the more entertaining parts of the film. Bill Nighy as Karl's brother, Helmut was alright for the most part, but he's gives such a robotic performance, even before his character show his coldness, when he join the Schutzstaffel (SS). It felt a bit underwhelming. The supporting cast was pretty good for the most part, but David Warner as Reinhard Heydrich was a bit odd. He looks nothing like him. The movie pacing is another fault. Its moves, way too slow in the beginning, and way too much fast, toward the end. The years preceding World War II were treated hurriedly and a lot of information wasn't explain, well. It got really confusing at times. I hate that historic events such like the Gleiwitz incident & Kristallnacht AKA Night of Broken Glass weren't shown, but mention off-screen. The whole World War 2 phrase was even worst. It move a little much fast, for my taste. It jump from the invasion of Poland in 1939, to the assassination of Heydrich in 1942, to 1944's July 20th Plot on Adolf Hitler's life, and finally the end of the war. I really disappoint that the whole July 20th Plot sub-plot wasn't given much time. It was play off-screen, and mention in one scene. Honestly, the movie could had more material if they work that, in, more. Honestly, the movie would had work better if it was just about the 1934's Night of the Long Knives, than the whole rise and fall of the SS. I love, the parts when brothers was pit against brother. The whole idea of the Sturmabteilung (SA) Vs the Schutzstaffel (SS) was the best part of the film. For the most part, the movie wasn't that entertaining. It didn't have that much action. Knowing that the movie has a low budget. I really didn't think, they could pull off, the whole World War 2 part of the story and I was mostly right. For history accuracies, the movie was alright for the most part. The movie does have some smart scenes that worth watching on its own. I love the whole discussion about author, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his depiction of the human condition. Specifically, the work of "Elective Affinities", when they debate on, being the hammer or the anvil. The whole movie had this gloomy look to it, and the bitter ending, kinda left a sour feel to it. For the most part, the movie is pretty predictable and depressing. It didn't help that the movie slipped into the public domain due mainly to lapses in copyright registrations. Due to this, it means that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either badly made or in extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation copies of the film. So, the one that I got, was in horrible subservience. It was kinda grainy, dark and full of dirt, at times. It was still watchable, but could had been better. At least, it's not the original DVD version of the film, which cut the entire first half of the film, providing a brief summary in an introduction clip and then began with the invasion of Poland in 1939. That would have suck. The original version of Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil was released in 1985 on network television and ran either as a single four hour program or as two two-hour installments. Both versions were edited for commercials, so it would be hard to find. The next significant broadcast of the film was on the History Channel during its "Movies in Time" series. That film was run for three hours with significant edits and cutting of several major scenes. Not worth it. Overall: I don't recommended watching, unless you're a history buff. Even with that, it might be hard to watch.
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HotToastyRag14 April 2023This television drama has an interesting premise, but unfortunately the execution of it is a little disappointing. Two brothers in pre-WWII Germany are both in military service, but when one gets drafted into the SS, their attitudes change.
While the whole movie obviously has an anti-German sentiment to it, it feels stereotypically American. The more American someone's accent is, the more of a good guy they are. It's no surprise that Bill Nighy was cast as the villainous brother, since he has a definite German look to his features. John Shea, with a very non-Aryan look, is the good brother, whose sentiments are shared with his very American mother, Carroll Baker. José Ferrer, capable of any number of accents, just speaks as an American; his character is a one-dimensional good guy. He plays an old Jewish man who doesn't want to leave Germany, his home, even when harassed by Nazis. The evil head Nazi soldiers are, naturally, David Warner, and others with thick English accents. Apparently, us Yankees aren't over the Revolutionary War yet and still believe British accents represent the enemy.
I wouldn't really recommend this one unless you want to see a young Bill Nighy or if the story really speaks to you. However, there are other stories about two brothers turning against one another during wartime, and you can also just find one of those. -
Kirpianuscus5 May 2017in a long list of films about Nazi Germany, this movie seems be an exception. first because it is story of people, seduced, proud, discovering the truth and the fall of a regime who, for a time, was the image of personal success. sure, the critics are many about it. because its ambition is to be a large fresco of a dictatorship. and an embroidery with too many motifs. because it use stereotypes who , not always, are real convincing. because , after its end, you feel something missing. but it is an interesting trip in the essence of the perceptions about a dictatorship. and this virtue remains not insignificant.
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DirtyGrainius18 August 2005Somewhat like a watered-down version of Tae Guk Gi. Good for a TV movie, but you can tell it was a TV movie. Bill Nighy puts in a good performance here and seems almost a perfect example of the stereotypical Nazi officer. Jose Ferrer has a minimal but important role as one of the reflections of morality and decisions made around or in spite of it. Dignified as usual. John Sheas Karl seems almost Jewish in this and I don't know if that done purposefully to reflect against Helmut's uber-aryanism. Shea just reminds me of a young Ben Cross in this. The story line and pace can be a little choppy or uneven, and it could have used a bit more character development, but it wasn't hard to sit through. Except the Tony Randall scenes. Putzi made me a little queasy, and his humor was..umm.. well let's just say his timing was different. Decent Product overall.
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TurboarrowIII11 September 2014This is quite entertaining. It shows the lives of two brothers in Nazi Germany up to the defeat at the end of WW2. It does jump around a bit and seems a bit rushed in places but this is understandable considering the events that had to be fitted into the fairly short running time.
Bill Nighy and John Shea play the brothers and both are quite convincing although neither seems to age much throughout. David Warner is excellent as the scheming, ruthless and utterly evil Heydrich. Nighy finally begins to realise just how evil the Nazis are. He even risks taking some books to his old teacher who is Jewish and is living in a rundown flat after his home is confiscated by the Nazis and he is no longer allowed to teach. Nighy's character had believed that having people like him inside the regime might tone down some of the atrocities but of course he was wrong. At the end he tries to get away but is shot dead when he is recognised in civilian clothes by a soldier who tears his shirt to reveal an SS tattoo. I don't think they had an SS tattoo but the blood group instead so not entirely accurate.
A particularly moving scene is when Nighy tries to get their kid brother to desert from the Hitler Youth but the boy is so indoctrinated with Nazi ideologies that he refuses. He ends up getting killed by the Russians while fighting in Berlin and it is quite sad when Shea goes to collect his body near the end. This shows just how sick the Nazis were and that their complete disregard for life meant that they virtually brainwashed young boys into dying for a criminal and evil regime.
Overall I thought this was a good film which has its faults but does a fairly good job of conveying the sense of fear and oppression that living under a brutal and evil regime must have felt like. -
4horsemen-218 April 2004Must be one of the most underrated British movies for decades.It charts the rise to power of the SS from 1931 up to its downfall in Berlin in 1945.The only historically wrong scene of any consequence was the assassination of Heydrich.It shows him to be attacked in the country on the way in to Prague,when in fact the killing took place in the centre of Prague,more or less.Other than that it is well documented and absorbing to watch.John Shea, Michael Elphick were both excellent in the roles they played.I recommend anyone with a passing interest in the SS or the last war to certainly watch this movie.It was a pleasure to see a war movie that did not depict the Americans winning it and showed the German side all the way through,with only a fleeting glimpse of two allied soldiers.I would say it was 70% political war and 30% wartime relationships.Super stuff.
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zfivehundred31 October 2023It is evident that a considerable amount of time went into this movie, however many of the mannerisms are clearly not World War II era, but instead 21st century viewpoints of that time period. An example of one of the many inaccuracies of the time period, was the graffiti that was shown painted on the wall in black. It was clearly sprayed and NOT painted brush strokes! Although spray paint cans were invented in 1927, the economically starved German country would have in all likely hood, not have had spray paint available to people who would then waste a practically brand new invention on graffiti, not to mention right after going through a period of hyperinflation since the mid 1920's! Sorry, no!
Another of the many mistakes are the table settings in the homes and restaurants showing fresh grapes, fruits, selections of wine, meat, etc. I have spoken first hand with people who lived during Hitler's regime, and there was NOT much food available for civilians. Everything was rationed. Store shelves were practically bare. Even the United States during the same time period was rationing food and gasoline! Most of Germany's food was used for the military and high ranking politicians. And they didn't have enough, especially the low rank ranking soldiers. Civilians had to go out everyday and "glean" the fields after the crops had already been picked. Such as potato fields. Parents and their children, would search those fields for an entire day, along with all of the other starving people, only to come up with one, or perhaps two potatoes, if they were lucky. Quite often multiple families would live in one house, with a family per room. Chamber pots and water basins. Running water and indoor plumbing was a luxury. The hyperinflation mentioned earlier, resulted in most things that were edible, an extreme luxury! People sold almost everything of value just to survive. Times were very, very, bad! Very unlike the movie, which seemed merely to depict a conflict in the way a couple of brothers viewed the atrocities that were being committed, and not a correct example of life during that horrible second world war. These inaccurate portrayals of "German life in general" are evidence that the author of the screen play, and the director, read only a small percentage of what life was really like during the 12 year period known as the "Third Reich". It seems that they wanted to keep the plot simple by only showing conflicting attitudes and atrocities. They did succeed in doing at least that much. Last, the streamed Amazon Prime subtitles were made by someone who, for lack of a better word, is functionally illiterate. For example, Stalingrad was written as "Stalling grad". "Führer" was written in a couple of different ways, "furer" being one of them, but never any correct spelling. Many other words in the script were also written incorrectly and misspelled. Which leads to an obvious question, did that subtitle typist have a high school education? Hard to answer. Naturally, the quantity of subtitle mistakes do not have anything to do with the quality of the movie. Yet this film could have been so much better if only the director and screenwriter would have devoted more time studying the time period. 2 Stars, one for the costumes, and one for the actors who did their best with what little direction they had to work with. -
jalilidalili16 July 2006When I saw the DVD on sale I had no idea what I was buying, but it was cheap and I hoped it could be interesting. I got much more then my money's worth! It's a story of a German family (father, mother and three sons). In the years of the depression the oldest son joins the Nazi union - simply to get a job. He feels it's the right thing (the Germans having jobs in Germany, even if it meant they'd have to get rid of the foreigners). The other son is strongly against it (but then again he doesn't have to work, he's going to study and be an intellectual).
But at the time that Hitler took power and he decided to deal with the brown-shirts the oldest son realizes just what the Nazi regime is all about. As many other common men he is disillusioned and when the war comes, he's sent to the Russian front (where he simply wants to perform his duty).
The other son (who's studying now) was very much against the Nazi regime, but one of the tutors shows him that the Nazi way of thinking is the right was, that the goal justifies the means. He becomes an SS officer and s firm believer in the worst parts of the Nazi ideology.
The war is nearing the end, the Germany is on its knees. Two brothers meet. Their little brother (still just a child) just became one of the kid soldiers defending the Raich. Only after he blindly goes and attacks a tank the older brother (the SS officer) realizes what the blind hatred of the Nazi ideology is doing to people, and how they have virtually brainwashed him as well.
This is just the main part of the story - following the lives of this particular family. There are also many other sub-stories, which really make this film more then just a family drama.
All in all it will help you understand how a common man in Germany was overwhelmed by the Nazi propaganda and how the common man had virtually no choice but to do what he did. It will also show you how important it is for any leadership to have a strong opposing critical voice - otherwise the society can easily be doomed (which is not completely unlike what we are witnessing today in many parts of the world). -
Vincentiu14 November 2014at first sigh + a sketch about Nazi history . at the second - an inspired remember about birth and fall of a regime, about the touch of politics against family, about ideal and truth. it is not a movie for history fans and it is not the Schindler List. it could be an introduction to a large theme but, in same measure, slice of good acting. because it present in different manner the spirit of a period. and that fact is a good job. it introduce the viewer in the heart of evil not very convincing in many scenes but useful. and that fact is real important for understand a machine of power. Bill Naghy seems be a kind of clone of Peter O'Toole in the Night of Generals and this fact is an interesting detail. John Shea use a special experience who gives to role a nice game of nuances. Jose Ferrer is himself. and , without be a great movie, it is an useful remember.
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deanofrpps27 January 2006Welcome to a world of lunacy where the horror is the transparent normalcy of those who buy into the nightmare. Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil tracks the lives of two brothers Karl Hoffmann and Helmut Hoffmann who take opposing views on the new idea of National Socialism sweeping the country; one is violently opposed; the other believes Germany can harness the energy but that the extremes and excesses can be controlled by people of character from within.
The main story line in Hitler's SS is nicely complemented by an excellent performance by Tony Randall as the stand-up comedian a left-over from freer Weimar days. He may be too lost in the bottle to tell the difference but he does his bit for The Fatherland in the equivalent of USO tours on the frigid Eastern Front.Yet his sense of humour and timing are always impeccable as he reminds the other Deutchers drowning their sorrows in the bottle during an Allied bombing raid of Hermann Goerings' pledge in 1940 that the Luftwaffe would intercept Any Allied Bombers, "Meyer, Meyer my name is Meyer." A pity the Gestapo did not share the sense of humor. -
Jim Goddard directs this made-for-TV war drama about Hitler's regime, concentrating on the relationship of two brothers from Berlin. Helmut(Bill Nighy)is an ambitious, intelligent young man and a self-styled opportunist joining Hitler's SS in 1931. Younger brother Karl(John Shea)is a fine athlete and idealist with opposite political views than his brother; he more or less is forced into service as a chauffeur in the Reich's Storm Troopers. The story line moves from the rise of Nazism to the fall of Hitler's heavy-handed Third Reich. During the course of the brother's war involvement both fall in love with a beautiful chanteuse(Lucy Gutteridge). The brothers will anguish their misdeeds when realizing their parents are killed in an air raid and at that their 13 year old brother has himself ran away to join in the collapsing war effort.
Also featured in the cast: Jose Ferrer, David Warner, Carroll Baker, Warren Clarke, John Dicks, Paul Brooke, Michael Elphick, John Normington, Tony Randall and Colin Jeavons as Hitler. -
mark.waltz7 August 2016John Shea and Bill Nighy are excellent as two German brothers involved in the most brutal example of human evil in recent memory, dealing with the rise of Adolf Hitler in completely different ways. They come from a good family, and with issues facing Germany's economy after World War 1 their lives are headed in different directions. At one point, they are fighting to protect Jewish Professor Jose Ferrer from attacks of vicious young S.S. leaders of the not yet fully powerful Nazi party, but destiny will change all that.
All you really have to do is pick up history books to read about the atrocities of 20th Century leaders like Hitler, Lenin and Mao Tse Tung, but to see it either through newsreels or various dramatic adaptions has quite a larger impact. What makes this stand out is the psychological look into the reasons why certain Germans supported the Nazi party, and it wasn't a belief in what they were doing to those they knew who just happened to not be what the Reich considered to be the perfect "Arian".
The brutalities are often downright inhumane, so be prepared. Jews, homosexuals, the mentally ill, other various enemies of the state. They all get their time here in being depicted. Lucy Gutteridge is lovely as the young lady whom one of the brothers love, first against their rise, later seen entertaining them in Russia. Emulating the emcee from "Cabaret", Tony Randall scores in a small role as an obviously gay spy. In his memory of serving in World War II, veteran Broadway producer/director Harold Prince recalled seeing characters just like Randall's and "Cabaret's" emcee, a staple in German cabarets even after the war.
Hitler is caught on camera several times, often sneaking around to catch a victim of his atrocities, in one case one of his own men with another man. This T.V. movie doesn't fail to leave out much detail but jumps from year to year with a jarring effect. It doesn't impact the overall intensity of the film which also features David Warner and Carroll Baker in important parts. Thus doesn't delve much into the Holocaust, but that had already been dealt with in a T.V. mini-series. What it does show is the social anxiety of humanity outside the walls of concentration camps, on the streets where other horrendous events were taking place, destroying innocent lives and cowardly souls in the process. -
nzallblacks_1211 July 2012Easily the best film I've seen on the grim subject. And it's British to boot (no pun intended)!
It's 1931 inside the Weimar Republic. The first scene opens with S.A. leader Ernst Rohm giving a rabble rousing speech to his loyal followers. Of course, pugnacious leader Rohm and the storm troopers all wore their infamous brown shirts. The uniforms too are not exactly cut from the Ralph Lauren designer stable. Still that bland color helped to convey the dim even dire mood of the German populace at the time.
Although, I still don't know why Rohm broke from spitting invective in German to finishing his fiery rhetoric in Cockney English. Ah, yes, there's that British connection.
In the hall, we catch a first glimpse of Karl, one of two Hoffman brothers. He believes in Hitler's Reich. And in fact, Karl's so smitten that he's convinced the odd mustachioed political upstart would preserve the trade unions and all those other misconceived values that pure socialists so esteemed.
'Not so', says his older and supposedly wiser college educated brother, Helmut. However he too is soon caught in the spreading Nazi web. Soon, make that right way, Helmut abandons his own dreams. He quits his studies at the university after meeting, face-to-face, toe-to-toe, and point-to-point his new mentor: Reinhard Heydrich, number two in the S.S. chain of command. Of course, Heinrich Himmler heads the soon to be notorious men dressed in black Nazi killing machine. His wire rimmed spectacles though give him (his bad intentions) away.
Now the S.A and the S.S are savagely competing for the hearts and minds of the populace, especially the army. And those two diametrically opposing forces form the basis of the plot. We watch, as first Karl then too soon Helmut both get drawn into the killer vortex of Nazism. We even catch some good dark glimpses of the evil mind behind the evil devices: Reich Chancellor Adolph Hitler.
The soon to be appointed Fuhrer doesn't disappoint in a cinematic sense either. During 'The Night of the Long Knives' black coated Hitler delivers one of the more 'memorable' lines. His diabolical reply to the captive S.A. leader is almost bone chilling. It was to me.
"What have you done? You're traitors! You will all be shot!"
No doubt about it: that in-character outburst set the tone for the rest of the bloody scene and the entire film. Know what I mean? Moreover, the Wehrmacht was on move. Poland was targeted. And on the horizon, the German Panzer Divisions had already sighted in Mother Russia.
Too bad none of the world's civilized took Hitler's threats seriously. Well, only after the wholesale slaughter of innocents, did Britain and the U.S.A. mobilize and finally declare war on Germany .
Alas, too little, and way too late.