Language:
English
Year of publication:
1996
Titel der Quelle:
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
Angaben zur Quelle:
16,4 (1996) 515-531
Keywords:
Feuchtwanger, Lion,
;
Harlan, Veit,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures
Abstract:
Traces the history of the scriptwriting and screening of the Nazi film "Jud Süss", dwelling on the role of Veit Harlan, one of the scriptwriters and the film's director, based on witnesses' testimonies at Harlan's trial in 1949-50, where he stated that he had not been associated with the film from the outset. It was Ludwig Metzger who proposed the plot to the Propaganda Ministry and, despite his denial after the war, it was he who prepared the first version of the script in 1939 based on Wilhelm Hauff's novella of 1826. Metzger's script did not satisfy the Nazis, and the text was given to the more experienced Eberhard Wolfgang Möller. In autumn 1939 the script passed to Harlan, who reworked the Metzger/Möller text and screened the film in 1940. Both the producers and actors were less than enthusiastic about making "Jewish" films, not only because of their distaste for propaganda films but also because this subject was somewhat dangerous for their careers. However, it was the opportunism of the filmmakers and not antisemitism which helped to produce "Jud Süss".
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