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00:08The End
00:41In keeping with Chevron's tradition of service throughout the 20th century,
00:46the people of Chevron bring you this program in support of public television.
00:52I'm Bill Moyers.
00:54Propaganda has been around ever since the serpent seduced Eve with the illusion that a taste of
00:59forbidden fruit would make her the equal of God.
01:02It worked.
01:03Eve bit and learned that rose gardens don't grow from green apples.
01:08But it worked, and that's what counts about propaganda.
01:11Not whether it's true, but whether it moves someone to act.
01:15The aim of the propagandist is to create attitudes and mold behavior.
01:20Long ago, rulers and priests used magnificent monuments,
01:24august palaces and dazzling emblems, magic totems and wondrous legends.
01:29Simple parables and proverbs, all to inspire awe and obedience from the common folk.
01:36We owe the actual word to the church, to those cardinals who in 1622 organized to carry on missionary work
01:44in the name of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
01:48But it's our century, the 20th, that created the super-state and put into the hands of its propagandists
01:55a power beyond the dreams of the ancient sorcerers.
01:59This power.
02:01The power of film.
02:03Until this century, people had to be won over by individual persuasion or in crowds.
02:09Mass communications changed that.
02:11Film in particular.
02:13Now the propagandists could reach the whole crowd at once,
02:17and yet touch each person in that crowd individually.
02:22We saw this powerfully and frighteningly demonstrated during the Second World War,
02:27the first war in which both sides used motion pictures as weapons.
02:31Our broadcast is about that war of ideas,
02:34whose combatants fought not with artillery and tanks, but with images and symbols.
02:44They're just gotten Germany, a popular ski resort in the German Alps.
02:50Fritz Hippler has been living here among the sunny slopes since 1948.
02:55He is a retired but robust 70 years old, a respected member of the community.
03:03But 40 years ago, Fritz Hippler was a filmmaker for Adolf Hitler.
03:08His name is in the history books as the director of the hate film of all time,
03:14The Eternal Jew.
03:19Audiences gasped at scenes like this one,
03:22sensationalizing the Jewish practice of ritual butchering.
03:26The shock of such scenes reinforced a calculated campaign of anti-Semitism
03:31aimed at arousing German emotions
03:33to accept the coming Nazi slaughter of the Jewish people.
03:39Today he lives on this quiet little street.
03:42His house commands a view of the German Alps
03:44and the former country estate of Adolf Hitler.
03:47Fritz Hippler is obviously not a man troubled by his memories.
03:51You see there's a famous Obersalzberg where Hitler's house stand up to the date
03:58where it was blown up some years after the war.
04:03In the last months of the war it was bombed by Allied air fleet
04:09and some days after it was blown up, it disappeared.
04:14And there above the peak of the hill you see a little house
04:21that's the so-called Eagle's Nest,
04:24the house where the guests of Hitler were transported when they visited him.
04:32A frequent guest was Fritz Hippler's boss, Joseph Goebbels,
04:37minister of popular enlightenment and propaganda.
04:41These color movies taken by Hitler's mistress Eva Braun
04:45show the comings and goings of the men who ran Nazi Germany.
04:50Joseph Goebbels was one of the most powerful.
04:54His job, to forge a nation's will through propaganda.
05:15Both Goebbels and Hitler were persuaded of the power of film to sway those hearts
05:19by stabbing directly to the seat of emotions.
05:21They were so obsessed with film that each had his own private viewing room
05:25where he could retire after dinner to screen movies of all kinds.
05:28One night, Goebbels arranged to show The Lambeth Walk.
05:32This was a short film produced by the British to ridicule the Nazis.
05:35Hitler's propaganda minister was eager to see what the enemy was up to.
05:39His chief of motion picture production, Fritz Hippler, was there.
05:43Goebbels was with his family in his room where he showed the film performances.
05:52I arrived a little later, and then he told to me,
05:57you must see a little film that's the greatest shameless impertinence I ever saw,
06:09invented by a Jewish brain.
06:13See it and make your decision.
06:17Hey, hey, hey, here!
06:37This impression was, for me, so terrible that I fell into a laughter
06:47which I couldn't stop.
06:50It was like a, we call it, krampf.
06:54I don't know your word.
06:59I could not stop to laugh, and while laughing,
07:04I saw into Goebbels' face,
07:09who looked at me very strange
07:13and told me that I had strange ideas
07:18in having such a reaction
07:21to this terrible
07:23and
07:28shameless film.
07:30But I couldn't help it.
07:31But after one minute,
07:34his wife began
07:35to accompany my laughter, too.
07:39And the other people
07:40beside Goebbels
07:41also laughed.
07:43And thus,
07:44the situation was saved for me.
07:52Fritz Hippler was 17 years old
07:54when he joined the Nazi Party
07:55as a student organizer.
07:57He was an early convert,
07:59for in the late 1920s,
08:01the Nazis were still
08:02a scattered gang of extremists
08:04on the fringes of society.
08:07At this time,
08:09I was quite a simple member
08:12of the party,
08:13and I marched
08:15with the other ones
08:16through the streets of Berlin.
08:18I tried
08:19to win more and more
08:21members
08:22for my students' movement,
08:26and I succeeded
08:28in getting
08:30the majority
08:31in the University of Berlin
08:34and in other high schools.
08:36The Nazis needed
08:37bright young true believers
08:38to forge
08:39their propaganda weapons,
08:41and Hippler believed.
08:42As the swastika
08:43rose over Germany,
08:45he climbed the ladder
08:46of Nazi power.
08:47By 1936,
08:49he was head
08:49of German newsreels.
08:51My task was
08:53to convince
08:54the masses
08:55of our
08:56German policy.
08:58In no dictatorship,
09:00in no totalitarian state,
09:03the newsreels
09:06as well as the journals
09:07have the right
09:09to report objectively.
09:11In a totalitarian state,
09:14the medium film
09:16as well as the press
09:18has the same
09:22task
09:23as a
09:26publicity department
09:28and a big concern
09:30and a big firm.
09:40Tank destroyers
09:42ready for battle.
09:43Day after day,
09:45long trains
09:45loaded with ammunition
09:46and weapons of all types
09:48leave German armament plans.
09:50And in the same way
09:51as they don't talk
09:53about bad possibilities,
09:56we didn't talk
09:58about these things.
10:00We only showed
10:01the good sides
10:02and not the dangers.
10:13Every week,
10:14I was sitting
10:15in cinemas
10:16and witnessed myself
10:18the effect
10:19of these newsreels
10:20upon the audience.
10:23But,
10:24what is more important
10:27is
10:27that the so-called
10:29security service
10:31of the SS
10:33had
10:35agents
10:37in all towns
10:39and villages
10:40who
10:43looked
10:45at the audience
10:46and
10:47how
10:48the audience
10:49reacted
10:50that
10:51this man
10:52or this woman
10:53had not
10:54applauded.
10:56We were informed
10:57about
10:57the sum
10:59of reactions
11:00of every newsreel.
11:07mass rally
11:08in the Berliner
11:09Sportspalast
11:10honoring workers
11:10and technicians
11:11in Nazi arms plants.
11:18I think the main thing
11:19of propaganda
11:20is what Goebbels
11:23repeated at all times.
11:25The secret
11:28of propaganda
11:29is to
11:31simplify
11:33complex
11:34or complicated
11:36things
11:37to make
11:38them as
11:39simple
11:40as possible
11:41as
11:42simple
11:42that even
11:44the
11:44less
11:46ingenious
11:48men
11:48can understand
11:49what I mean.
11:50Simplify.
11:51And then
11:53if you had
11:53found
11:55the form
11:55which
11:57tells
11:57a complicated
11:58thing
11:59in the
12:00simplest
12:00way
12:01when you
12:02have
12:02found
12:03this
12:03form
12:04then
12:05secondly
12:06repeat it
12:07repeat it
12:08every day
12:11simplify
12:12and repetition
12:13that's
12:14the secret
12:15of modern
12:16propaganda.
12:27I was not
12:29only successful
12:30in the
12:31newsreels
12:33I also
12:34completed
12:36some
12:36documentary
12:37films
12:38and
12:39in
12:401939
12:43the
12:44chief
12:46of the
12:47film
12:47department
12:48of the
12:49propaganda
12:49ministry
12:51went
12:53there were
12:54several
12:54reasons
12:55why he
12:56went
12:56and
12:57I was
12:59called
13:00as his
13:01successor
13:02and
13:03I had
13:04to
13:04supervise
13:06all
13:07film
13:07companies
13:09that existed
13:10in Germany
13:11this was
13:14undoubtedly
13:15an exciting
13:17thing
13:18that would
13:19be the
13:19same
13:20as
13:20when
13:21you
13:21would
13:21be
13:21elected
13:22to
13:22be
13:22the
13:22chief
13:23of
13:23the
13:23American
13:24film
13:24industry
13:24would
13:25be
13:26also
13:26exciting
13:26for
13:27you
13:27or
13:27for
13:28everyone
13:29it
13:29it is
13:301939
13:30the
13:31Nazis
13:31have
13:32begun
13:32their
13:32conquest
13:32of
13:33Europe
13:33and
13:33Fritz
13:34Hippler
13:34is at
13:34the
13:34height
13:35of
13:35his
13:35career
13:35from
13:36director
13:36of the
13:37newsreels
13:37he's
13:37become
13:38head
13:38of the
13:38entire
13:39German
13:39film
13:39industry
13:40he's
13:41just
13:4130
13:41years
13:41old
13:42two
13:43two
13:43of
13:43his
13:43feature
13:44length
13:44documentaries
13:44campaign
13:45in
13:45Poland
13:46and
13:46victory
13:46in
13:46the
13:46west
13:47will
13:47be
13:47shown
13:48to
13:48audiences
13:48around
13:48the
13:49world
13:49including
13:50viewers
13:50in a
13:50still
13:51neutral
13:51America
13:52their
13:53purpose
13:53is to
13:53arouse
13:54German
13:54national
13:55pride
13:55through
13:56demonstration
13:56of
13:56German
13:57might
13:57but
13:58there's
13:58another
13:58message
13:59too
13:59for
13:59viewers
14:00abroad
14:00brute
14:01force
14:01devouring
14:02flame
14:03these
14:03are the
14:04faces
14:04Hitler
14:04expected
14:05would
14:05frighten
14:06the
14:06world
14:06into
14:06appeasing
14:07him
14:07yet
14:08even
14:08Adolf
14:08Hitler
14:09must
14:09disguise
14:09aggression
14:10with
14:10a
14:10fig
14:10leaf
14:10of
14:11excuse
14:11and
14:12he
14:12knows
14:12how
14:12he
14:13has
14:13said
14:13quote
14:14the
14:14great
14:15masses
14:15of
14:15the
14:15people
14:16will
14:16more
14:16easily
14:17fall
14:17victims
14:17to
14:18a
14:18big
14:18lie
14:18than
14:19to
14:19a
14:19small
14:19one
14:20the
14:21big
14:21lie
14:21about
14:21Poland
14:22as
14:22you'll
14:22see
14:22is
14:23that
14:23the
14:23invasion
14:24is
14:24liberation
14:24for
14:25Germans
14:25living
14:25in
14:26Donzigan
14:26elsewhere
14:26under
14:27Polish
14:27rule
14:27and
14:28revenge
14:28for
14:29the
14:29atrocities
14:29those
14:30Germans
14:30have
14:30allegedly
14:31suffered
14:31intelligent
14:32citizens
14:33within
14:34Germany
14:34watched
14:34and
14:35believed
14:42Campaign in
14:43Poland
14:44was a
14:45composition
14:45of the
14:47most
14:47effective
14:48parts
14:49of all
14:49the
14:50news
14:50reels
14:51we got
14:52from
14:52the
14:52so-called
14:53propaganda
14:54companies
14:55the purpose
14:57of the
14:57film
14:57was to
14:58show
14:58the
14:58German
14:59public
14:59the
15:00campaign
15:01from
15:01the
15:02beginning
15:02up
15:02to
15:03the
15:03end
15:03everywhere
15:04where
15:05Germans
15:05live
15:06our
15:06troops
15:06are
15:07heartily
15:07and
15:07gratefully
15:08welcomed
15:14the
15:15days
15:15of
15:15terror
15:15and
15:16Polish
15:16persecutions
15:17are
15:17over
15:17once
15:18and
15:18for
15:18all
15:30all
15:30signs
15:31recalling
15:31the
15:32years
15:32of
15:32foreign
15:32rule
15:33are
15:33quickly
15:33removed
15:36Polish
15:37murderers
15:37are being
15:38confronted
15:38with their
15:39tortured
15:39victims
15:40in one
15:40of the
15:41large
15:41prisoners
15:41camps
15:42camps
15:52here for
15:52instance
15:53is a
15:53man
15:53who
15:54recognizes
15:54the
15:55murderer
15:55of his
15:55brother
16:04it's clear
16:05that
16:06also
16:07the
16:07film
16:07campaign
16:08in
16:08Poland
16:09had
16:10one
16:12task
16:12in
16:13showing
16:14the
16:14German
16:15people
16:15the
16:16German
16:16strength
16:17and
16:19to
16:19show
16:19in
16:20the
16:20same
16:20way
16:21as
16:21we
16:21got
16:21the
16:22victory
16:22now
16:22we
16:23all
16:23get
16:24the
16:24victory
16:24afterwards
16:32Mundus
16:33vult
16:34decipi
16:34ergo
16:35decipiato
16:36in
16:37Latin
16:37and
16:39this
16:39means
16:40that
16:41people
16:42always
16:43wants
16:44to
16:45hear
16:47things
16:48and
16:49events
16:49that
16:51are
16:51agreeable
17:02on
17:03the
17:06morning
17:06of
17:06June
17:075
17:07German
17:08armored
17:08divisions
17:09proceeded
17:10to
17:10attack
17:10the
17:10river
17:11Somme
17:13this
17:14film
17:15was
17:16a
17:16documentation
17:16of
17:18the
17:18reasons
17:19why
17:20the
17:21war
17:22against
17:22western
17:23countries
17:24began
17:25and in
17:26which
17:26way
17:27it
17:27marched
17:28up
17:29to the
17:29victory
17:37this
17:38time
17:38we had
17:39also
17:40a
17:41special
17:41unit
17:42of
17:42cameramen
17:43and
17:44we
17:44had
17:44the
17:45task
17:45to
17:46be
17:46the
17:47first
17:47at the
17:49head
17:49to
17:50get
17:50the
17:50immediate
17:51impression
17:52of the
17:52combats
17:55that
17:56was
17:56not
17:56only
17:57a
17:57film
17:57directed
17:58towards
17:58the
17:58German
17:59public
17:59that
18:00was
18:00also
18:01a
18:02film
18:03directed
18:03towards
18:04all
18:04the
18:04world
18:05to
18:06show
18:06them
18:06keep
18:08out
18:08of
18:09of
18:10a
18:11world
18:11war
18:12do
18:13your
18:14own
18:14work
18:14and
18:15let
18:15us
18:16do
18:16our
18:16work
18:32it's
18:33quite
18:33clear
18:34that
18:35the
18:35impression
18:36of
18:36this
18:37film
18:37was
18:38very
18:38depressive
18:39to
18:40all
18:41people
18:41in
18:42the
18:42other
18:42countries
18:49the
18:50effect
18:50on
18:51German
18:51audience
18:52was
18:52a
18:55big
18:56wave
18:58of
19:00sympathy
19:01and
19:02of
19:02applaud
19:07that's
19:08quite
19:09clear
19:09this
19:10was
19:11a
19:11film
19:11who
19:12had
19:12a
19:12very
19:14great
19:15and
19:15deep
19:16success
19:18with
19:18all
19:19Germans
19:19this
19:20poster
19:21announced
19:21a
19:22different
19:22kind
19:22of
19:22film
19:23the
19:23Nazis
19:24you
19:24see
19:24were
19:24up
19:24to
19:24something
19:25else
19:25beyond
19:26demonstrating
19:26their
19:26power
19:27or
19:27arousing
19:28the
19:28pride
19:28of
19:28Germany
19:28they
19:29intended
19:30to
19:30incite
19:30hatred
19:31of
19:31the
19:31Jews
19:32anti-semitism
19:33was an
19:34old
19:34story
19:34in
19:34the
19:34world
19:35in
19:35the
19:351930s
19:36but
19:36mass
19:37propaganda
19:37helped
19:38to
19:38make
19:38national
19:38policy
19:39of
19:39genocide
19:39when
19:40the
19:41young
19:41Fritz
19:41Hippler
19:41turned
19:42his talents
19:42to the
19:43Nazi
19:43cause
19:43he
19:44became
19:44an
19:44accomplice
19:45to
19:45the
19:46mass
19:46murder
19:46of
19:46millions
19:47Germans
19:48men
19:48and
19:49women
19:51the
19:52age
19:54of
19:55over
19:55spitted
19:56Jewish
19:56intellectualism
19:58is
19:58now
19:58to
19:58end
19:59and
20:01the
20:01revolution
20:03has
20:05the
20:05German
20:05people
20:11was
20:12not
20:12more
20:13anti-Jewish
20:14than all other peoples the french people were was much more anti-jewish than the german people
20:23and this fact
20:28didn't please to to hitler and to goebbels they both wanted to have the german people much more
20:37anti-semitic than it was all the journals the press and also by means of the film the people
20:48was shown pictures to make them anti-semitic and the most horrible film the most famous of them
20:59the eternal jew bears my name in the beginning of the film and with this fact was this fact i
21:11have
21:12to live since this time because i came to judges and to denazification chambers and and so on and so
21:25on because of this fact these faces are a striking reputation of the liberal theories that all who
21:34bear the human countenance are equal it is an admitted fact that jews will change their external
21:42appearance as they leave their breeding sites in poland to work in other parts of the world
21:52and beard skullcap and captain are jewish characteristics that everyone will recognize
21:59without these it takes a sharp eye indeed to detect their racial origins
22:10we thought that the jews people would have a bad fate
22:16a fate but a fate consisting only only in being transferred to another region of power to an eastern
22:25region of power and out of germany to poland and to this eastern region
22:35wherever rats turn up they spread annihilation throughout the land destroying property and food supplies
22:43this is how they disseminate disease pestilence leprosy typhus cholera dysentery
22:55just like the jews among mankind rats represent the very essence of malicious and subterranean destruction
23:06a film of hate yes we had the same feeling but we didn't talk about it we couldn't prevent it
23:18this was not our idea what we we did our job but we didn't know what consequences could follow
23:29and we had no idea that this could be a basis on which a mass murder would follow
23:44if the international jewish bankers succeed once again in precipitating the nations into a world war
23:54the result will not be a victory of the jews but the annihilation of the jewish race in europe
24:04so
24:12so
24:32The propaganda has to make complicated things simple.
24:37The propaganda has to show the enemy, or the other side, as a devil, and the own sake
24:45as a heaven's sake.
24:50The eternal law of nature, maintaining the purity of race, is the legacy of the National
24:56Socialist movement to the German people for all of time.
25:02We spoke to the souls, or to the unconsciousness of the public.
25:09The propagandist, he has to speak the language of the masses, but by speaking so, he also
25:18can govern the souls of the masses.
25:23Looking at Fritz Hippler's film, The Eternal Jew, we must keep reminding ourselves that
25:29the purpose of propaganda is action.
25:31The viewers were expected to do something about what they saw.
25:35When other human beings are compared to rats and vermin that spread disease, it takes no
25:42great leap of imagination to know what you're expected to do with the creatures.
25:46Hippler's films were shown in neighborhood movie houses all over the country.
25:50Their target was everyone sitting before the hypnotic attraction of the screen, and ultimately,
25:57the mind of all Germany.
25:59How would America answer Hippler and Hitler?
26:03There is such a thing as pro-democratic propaganda, of course.
26:06Even a brief glance at Tom Paine's sizzling 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense, shouting down British
26:12rule of America, can tell us that.
26:14But at root, democracy and propaganda are uneasy companions.
26:19The official propagandist in a totalitarian state is at home.
26:23The environment he works in totally controlled.
26:25Only his view of reality is broadcast.
26:28All others fall before the censor.
26:30Democracy, on the other hand, is a babble of competing propagandas.
26:34So, at war's outbreak, we lacked, by design, the very machinery for making ideas march to
26:40a single drum.
26:41And yet, America did answer.
26:44It answered effectively, with a series of films made to the United States Army entitled, Why
26:50We Fight.
26:51Talk about arousing people to act.
26:53When Franklin Roosevelt watched the first one, he turned to the White House audience
26:57and said, every man, woman and child in the world must see this film.
27:02Sure enough, not only were American soldiers and civilians to see it, but it was shown in
27:07theaters all over the world, including the Soviet Union.
27:11For millions of people, Why We Fight brought the issues home in words and images everyone
27:16could understand.
27:18In Germany, they called the new order National Socialism or Nazism.
27:27In Italy, they had a shorter word, fascism.
27:33In Japan, they had lots of names for it, the new era of enlightenment, the new order in
27:39Asia, the co-prosperity sphere.
27:42But no matter how you slice it, it was just plain old-fashioned militaristic imperialism.
27:49They say trouble always comes in threes.
27:53Take a good, close look at this trio.
27:56Remember these faces.
27:59Remember them well.
28:01If you ever meet them, don't hesitate.
28:11If these images look familiar, it isn't too surprising.
28:17Why We Fight took the genius of Axis filmmaking and turned it back upon itself.
28:24The footage for these American propaganda films was unwittingly supplied by the enemy, by Fritz
28:30Hippler and his colleagues in Italy and Japan.
28:33Who was the genius behind all this?
28:35Who made the films that moved presidents, prime ministers and millions of citizens and soldiers
28:41around the world?
28:42Well, to answer the Nazis, the American government turned to Hollywood, California and to a cocky
28:49little immigrant from Sicily named Frank Capra.
28:52Ladies and gentlemen, the recipient of the 10th annual Life Achievement Award, Mr. Frank Capra.
29:13He represents all that is honored, respected and adored in Hollywood.
29:18Four times he won the Academy Award.
29:24His very name has become part of the language, Capra S. A sentimental blend of patriotism, humor
29:33and above all, a belief that life is rounded with a happy ending.
29:38Even now we enjoy It Happened One Night, Meet John Doe, and Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
29:48They were the stuff American dreams were then made of, an ordinary American taking on the
29:53system and against the odds, beating it.
29:57In 1941, Capra was at the peak of his career, enjoying the prospect of a multi-million dollar
30:04contract with United Artists, but all that was to be suddenly and swiftly changed.
30:25American soldiers mobilized for war, and with them, Major Frank Capra, 45 years old, salary
30:33$250 a month.
30:36The most talented people were being assembled from across the country to work for a new
30:41service of the United States Army, the morale branch.
30:45Capra reports directly to Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall.
30:49....
30:49General Marshall....
30:49When you first called on General Marshall at the Pentagon, what did he tell you he wanted
30:53you to do?
30:54He called me in, and he said, you know, we have an enormous problem.
31:04He said we know that if you shoot at America, he'll shoot back, but can he take this being
31:11away from home. Can he take this discipline? And his answer? In my opinion, he can if we tell him
31:20what he's fighting about. So General Marshall was asking you, in effect, to give the boys a reason
31:26to fight? Give the boys a reason to fight and don't lie. They must believe it. If they don't
31:34believe it, we're dead. Why did he think that films were the means to accomplish this? Because he had
31:40tried it with lecturers. He had tried it with books. It wouldn't work. They weren't interested.
31:45The boys weren't learning anything. They wanted something the boys knew about. Now, boys liked
31:50films. See? These boys liked films. And believed films. Had General Marshall seen some of your
31:55films? Yes, he had. He had seen quite a few of my films. As a matter of fact, he selected
32:00me out of a whole bunch of Hollywood guys when he got this idea that he must do it with
32:06film.
32:07But your films were comedies in Hollywood. He wanted somebody that could reach the people,
32:13was able to reach the people. And I had been able to reach the people in my films. And make
32:18them life, make them cry, make them like things. Here I got the greatest heroes, the greatest
32:22villains on the world stage. Real. Not actors. Real.
32:50practices. Causes and events leading up to our entry into the war. Well, what are the
32:57causes. Why are we Americans on the march? Is it because of Pearl Harbor?
33:12Is that why we are fighting? Or is it because of Britain?
33:27What was your specific aim with Prelude to War? This was the first film.
33:32My specific aim was to show the difference between our method of living, our thinking,
33:40of our families and so forth, and the enemies. The enemy was out to destroy, destroy anybody
33:49that didn't agree with him. We were trying to mind our business over here and send our kids to school
33:54and we weren't thinking of any war and we didn't want any part of any war. That's where we were.
34:00Another war, not for me. This time America should keep out and I know I will.
34:04I haven't the slightest idea of European affairs.
34:08In the event of war in Europe, I think we should stay out of it entirely.
34:13We should mind our own business. By all means, no.
34:16Yes, fine. No. No. Yes.
34:19If my country calls, yes. No.
34:24Pearl Harbor turned the tables.
34:27But what did you think you had to do to make them aware of what was at stake and to
34:33make them want to go?
34:34To tell them what they had in mind.
34:36You see, Hitler looked like Charlie Chaplin.
34:41He came on and he went,
34:48And actually, you know, it was one of the Marx Brothers.
34:52For the people I saw him, a lot of people laughed.
34:55And when Mussolini did his big, you know, big stuff, well, he was a clown.
35:00Characters out of a Hollywood movie.
35:02Out of a Hollywood movie.
35:03Yeah.
35:04It weren't so evil.
35:05If there weren't so many people getting killed, it was a comedy.
35:09But what did you want to make?
35:10High comedy.
35:11High comedy.
35:12So your job?
35:14My job was to make them believe that these people were real.
35:18And when they said Heil Hitler, they meant it.
35:22Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler!
35:38And my one telephone, and I sat there, and I sat there, and I was a, I was a, I
35:45was a very unhappy man.
35:47How can I possibly top this?
35:49It impressed you?
35:51Stremendous.
36:19When you saw this incredible documentary that,
36:22the Germans had done, what went through your mind?
36:24The enormous impact of it.
36:27I could see that it promised Superman stuff to them.
36:34I could see where the kids of Germany would go any place and die for this guy.
36:50The power of the film itself, it was a show to show that they knew what they were doing.
36:58And they understood propaganda, and they understood how to reach the mind.
37:02And so, how do I reach the kid down the street?
37:09The American kid.
37:10The American kid.
37:11How do I tell him, he's riding his bike, and hey, hey, you know what you've got in front of
37:18you?
37:18You've got this and this.
37:19How do I reach him?
37:21The thought hit me.
37:22Well, how did it reach me?
37:27They told me.
37:29In their film?
37:30Yeah.
37:31So I said, uh-huh.
37:34Let's let them see only their stuff.
37:38We make nothing.
37:40We shoot nothing.
37:42But we use their own stuff as propaganda for ourselves.
37:47Let them see.
37:48Let them see the guys.
37:49Let them see these guys.
37:54Stop thinking and follow me, cried Hitler.
37:57I will make you masters of the world.
37:59And the people answered,
38:01Heil!
38:01Heil!
38:02Heil!
38:03Heil!
38:04Heil!
38:05Heil!
38:05Heil!
38:06Heil!
38:06Stop thinking and believe in me, bellowed Mussolini, and I will restore the glory that
38:11was wrong.
38:12And the people answered,
38:14Duce!
38:15Duce!
38:18Duce!
38:19Stop thinking and follow your god emperor, cried Hitler.
38:21the Japanese warlords.
38:23And Japan will rule the world.
38:25And the people answered,
38:27Bonsai!
38:28Bonsai!
38:29But the Signacore tried to block you every step of the way.
38:33Oh, absolutely.
38:34They wanted to make films about how many battleships we had, how many submarines, and our industrial
38:39mind, and all of this.
38:41How did you overcome the typical bureaucratic hostility to an outsider like yourself?
38:48When I got this idea of using their films, turning them back on themselves, I said, where
38:55are the films?
38:57Who's got all the films?
38:59I said, well, nobody knew.
39:03And nobody seemed to know what they, it's in the core, or they wouldn't talk.
39:07And so, I started out.
39:09I went to, first went to the FBI, where the enemy films are supposed to be.
39:17He says, we don't know, try the treasury.
39:21We went to the treasury.
39:22We went to the treasury.
39:24Finally, I got down to a man who was alien property custodian.
39:29And he's a little Jewish man.
39:31Alien property custodian.
39:33And he's a little Jewish man.
39:35And he said, what can I do for you?
39:37And I said, sir, enemy films.
39:44He said, what about them?
39:46I got to have them.
39:49They tell me, you've got them.
39:52He says, I've got, I've got warehouses full of them.
39:56I've got all their newsreels for the last 25 years.
40:03Why do you want them?
40:06Oh, Jesus.
40:07I said, Mr. Klaus, his name was Klaus.
40:10Oh, boy.
40:13General Marshall has given me this job to do this, so and so and so and so and so and
40:17so.
40:18To show it to our people.
40:20Well, he said, it's about time somebody does something like this.
40:24But you're too late.
40:26Five days ago, I got an order from the chief sitting law officer to deliver all this film to him.
40:33I said, Mr. Klaus, you're a citizen now.
40:38Let's take off our uniforms.
40:40I'm a citizen.
40:41If they get a hold of that film, it will never be used.
40:44It'll be just put away in the bins.
40:47Nobody will know what the hell to do with it.
40:49I said, I've got to have that film, Mr. Klaus.
40:52And I can't get it from the Sydney Corps.
40:54They will never give it to me.
40:59He says, Frank Capra.
41:01He knew who I was.
41:05He says, Mr. Smith goes to Washington, huh?
41:08I said, yeah.
41:11He says, did you come in here 10 days ago and demand that I turn all these films over to
41:18you as an army officer?
41:22I vow that I came here and asked you, of course.
41:25Yes, sir.
41:27Okay.
41:31He makes me sign things.
41:33And I signed up for the whole film.
41:35Chief, I am.
41:36Chief, I am.
41:38Applauding on cue the words of the leaders.
41:41Each system did away with free speech and free assembly.
41:46Each system did away with a free press and substituted a press controlled by the party.
41:52Through their ministries of propaganda, each took complete control of the theater, the movies, the radio.
41:59Every cultural activity and every channel of information was controlled by the most important members of the party.
42:06Each did away with free courts and trial by jury.
42:11Each enforced its decrees by an army of secret police who held the power of life and death over every
42:17individual.
42:18And for the few who still believed in freedom and said so, there was a ready answer.
42:23A greatest intellect in the world can be silenced with this.
42:27That is an exact translation of the words these black shirts cheer so lustily.
42:33I say so much.
42:34If I hear the word culture, then I'm going to get to my revolver.
42:38Whenever I hear anyone mention the word culture, the first thing I do is reach for my gun.
42:45Yes, they had the answer.
42:47The blackjack and the gun.
42:51You shall know the truth.
42:53You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
42:56What was the truth to Frank Capra about World War II?
42:59The truth was that if we lost, we'd lose our freedom, certainly, above all.
43:09And I thought freedom was our most precious commodity.
43:14And if we lost our freedom, we'd lose everything.
43:27The average American was quite unconscious of the fact that some people had this in mind for the little John
43:33Q.
43:55But it literally thrives, Prelude to War, conflicting and contrasting images,
44:00comparing the good things of the American life with the evils of the enemy.
44:04And the danger to us that we were not aware of.
44:08Was that kind of sharp editing, intercutting familiar to you?
44:12Was it something that...
44:13Yes, it was.
44:15We, I must say, we did it better than we had ever done before.
44:19Because we had to...
44:21Well, I'd say we had an enormous story to tell.
44:27Great story to tell.
44:29Great story, great stakes.
44:32And so you don't have any doubts about film as moral warfare?
44:35No.
44:37No, you don't have any doubts.
44:39For this is what we are fighting.
44:41Freedom's oldest enemy.
44:43The passion of the few to rule the many.
44:46This isn't just a war.
44:48This is a common man's life and death struggle against those who would put him back into slavery.
44:54We lose it.
44:55And we lose everything.
44:57Our homes.
44:59The jobs we want to go back to.
45:02The books we read.
45:04The very food we eat.
45:06The hopes we have for our kids.
45:08The kids themselves.
45:11They won't be ours anymore.
45:14That's what's at stake.
45:16It's us or them.
45:19The chips are down.
45:21Two worlds stand against each other.
45:24One must die.
45:26One must live.
45:28One hundred and seventy years of freedom decrees our answer.
45:54There was criticism of prelude to war from some politicians.
45:58Yes.
45:58Some senators thought it was propaganda.
46:00Yes.
46:01Some thought it was going to help Roosevelt get re-elected to a fourth term.
46:04Fourth term.
46:05And curiously, some people thought it was going to cause the American people to hate.
46:09Yes.
46:10Yes, that was Mr. Mellott.
46:12Senator.
46:12Yes.
46:13He wanted it.
46:14He thought it's too gruesome.
46:16The American people should not see this picture.
46:20They'll hate the Germans from there on.
46:22Then we never can be friends again.
46:25Did that criticism bother you?
46:27No.
46:27Did you want people to hate?
46:30No.
46:31I don't want people to hate.
46:32I wanted to knock off people that hated.
46:35I wanted to stop that hatred.
46:37And you couldn't stop that hatred unless you stopped it.
46:40And you weren't going to stop it with candy bars.
46:45Now, not until we showed them some of the stuff that we got at Dachau, George Stevens' photograph,
46:51this is true, did it actually impinge itself on the mind of the horror, the horror of this whole thing
47:01was really than we believed.
47:05Did you believe this before you saw it?
47:07No.
47:09What was the impact on you?
47:10Oh, boy.
47:11I just simply, it left me just speechless, colorless.
47:22Bloodless.
47:24I couldn't possibly believe that there was that kind of a savagery in the world, you see, between men.
47:36Men, the highest of all the animals.
47:41Man, the man who created God, man who created all kinds of things.
47:51To end up here in a pile of bones, burned.
47:58It was a terrible, terrible shock.
48:26You know, 30 million people died.
48:29Because Hitler says, Mein Kampf.
48:4330 million people died.
48:50That little jerk.
48:53And he said these words and they followed him.
48:57And it doesn't speak well for the human race.
49:07Do you ever wonder if Hitler and his propaganda chiefs, Goebbels and Hitler,
49:12realized they were giving Frank Capra the rope to hang them with?
49:19I don't think so.
49:21I think they, I've never, I've never heard that they get caught on, no.
49:27But that's exactly what they did.
49:29They hung themselves.
49:32We didn't hang them.
49:34We just showed them for what they were.
49:41And they weren't pretty.
49:45And they were mad dogs.
49:55I was surprised when Frank Capra brought those still photos of the concentration camps with him to our interview.
50:01I hadn't expected it.
50:02He talked about them in a sad and incredulous voice.
50:05As if still stunned by their revelation all these years later.
50:08He had made a series of propaganda films because, as he said, our freedom is at stake.
50:14But not until the war's end and those photographs devolves the unfathomable horror of mass murder
50:20was it known how much more was also at stake.
50:24Fritz Hippler's talents had helped to foster great evil, those of Frank Capra to defeat it.
50:29And yet, Capra was uncomfortable.
50:32Enough so to bring the photos as an additional justification for having himself been a propagandist.
50:38Even a propagandist on democracy's behalf.
50:42Propaganda is not a disinterested search for truth.
50:45And because it isn't, it defies everything that Capra believed in.
50:49Just as it embodies everything that Hitler's mentality so readily accepted.
50:55It's not the least of this century's paradoxes that something so potentially dangerous for truth and freedom
51:02became an indispensable weapon in the arsenal of their defense.
51:06I'm Bill Moyers.
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