Language:
English
Year of publication:
1995
Titel der Quelle:
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
Angaben zur Quelle:
15,2 (1995) 219-244
Keywords:
Mendes, Lothar,
;
Feuchtwanger, Lion,
;
Motion pictures
;
Jews in motion pictures
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures
Abstract:
Describes the reception of and the press reaction to the British film "Jew Suess", based on Lion Feuchtwanger's novel, directed by Lothar Mendes and produced by Michael Balcon (for Gaumont), and shown in Britain, New York, Austria, and Germany. The film undoubtedly had a covert political message - it opposed the persecution of Jews and contained allusions to Nazi Germany. However, British censorship, which did not permit political propaganda in feature films, approved "Jew Suess", considering it a historical drama. It was perceived in the same vein by the British press. In New York, the film earned a cold reception in the press. The authorities and the official press in Austria (which in 1934 shifted strongly to the right), as well as in Germany, did not miss its message. After the right-wing press campaign against it, "Jew Suess" was banned in Austria as a "tendentious" film which embellished Jews and injured Gentiles. The British film prompted the Nazis to produce their own version in 1940 - the antisemitic film "Jud Süss", directed by Veit Harlan.
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