Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
| Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Drama War |
| Written by | Lukas Heller |
| Directed by | Jim Goddard |
| Starring |
Carroll Baker Paul Brooke Warren Clarke Michael Elphick José Ferrer Lucy Gutteridge Colin Jeavons Stratford Johns Derek Newark Bill Nighy John Normington Tony Randall John Shea Robert Urquhart David Warner |
| Theme music composer | Richard Hartley |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Edgar J. Scherick |
| Producer(s) | Aida Young |
| Cinematography | Ernest Vincze |
| Editor(s) | John Shirley |
| Running time | 135 min. |
| Production company(s) |
Edgar J. Scherick Associates Metromedia Producers Corporation |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release |
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Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil is a 1985 American made-for-television war drama film about two German brothers, Helmut and Karl Hoffmann, and the paths they take during the Nazi regime. The movie was directed by Jim Goddard and starred John Shea, Bill Nighy, Tony Randall, David Warner and John Woodnutt. The film shows Karl, who was originally enthusiastic about the Nazi Party, becoming disillusioned and Helmut, who was at first wary of the Nazi Party, joining the Schutzstaffel (SS) and later being an accomplice to war crimes.
Helmut and Karl Hoffman are two brothers who grow up in the Great Depression of the Weimar Republic, witness the coming to power of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) and the establishment of the Third Reich. Karl, an unemployed mechanic, is enthusiastic about the Nazis and joins the Sturmabteilung (SA-"Storm Battalion"), the Nazi Party militia, after hearing its commander Ernst Röhm speak at a Nazi Party rally. Helmut is reluctant and thinks the Nazis are simply another political party.
Helmut, who is a university student in Munich, is eventually talked into joining the SS by Reinhard Heydrich in particular after witnessing a meeting in the Ruhr between Hitler, Kurt Baron von Schröder, Emil Kirdorf, and other German industrialists [1]. Helmut is commissioned an SS officer in the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence agency of the SS, right before Hitler comes to power, whereas Karl has already been an SA member for a year. Karl is distressed due to tensions between the SA and the SS and claims that the SS is trying to make it look like the SA is the "party’s garbage collector".
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