us-005578-irn614181-irn693085
type: RecordSet
archival history: The advertisement was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
biographical history: The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Advertisement printed in black ink on rectangular cream-colored paper, from the film “Hitler, Beast of Berlin.” At the top is a line of large, underlined text with a block of large text that spans the entire width of the page below. The center section is split into two columns. On the left is a reproduced advertisement, featuring a compilation of photographic images and text. On the right, several lines of text enclosed in a decorative, rectangular frame. At the bottom of the page are two columns, separated by two, small stars. The name and location of the theater are on the left, and the dates of the shows are on the right. The paper is yellowed from age overall, and the back is stained with a blue substance and is discolored. On left: Roland Drew as Hans Memling, other unidentified
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
date: 1939 October 29
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 4
has or had identifier: 2
has or had identifier: 1
has or had identifier: 3
has or had some members with language: eng
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn693085
is or was included in: us-005578-irn614181
record resource extent: Overall: Height: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm) | Width: 9.000 inches (22.86 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Re-release advertisement for the American feature film “Hitler, Beast of Berlin,” originally released by Producers Pictures Corporation in October 1939, and re-released in 1942. After encountering opposition from censorship boards, the film was alternatively called “Goose Step,” the title of the adapted novel, and eventually released as “Beasts of Berlin.” In the film, Hans Memling, his wife, and his brother-in-law are members of an underground Nazi-resistance movement. He is arrested and ends up in a camp as a political prisoner. Hans and the other prisoners are interrogated, beaten, and forced into slave labor at the hands of Nazi guards. This was the first American film to depict a simulated concentration camp in Germany. The film also includes newsreel footage of military marches and of Adolf Hitler himself. While it acknowledged a pervasive isolationist mentality, “Beasts” also appealed to the American values of democracy and freedom. Press materials encouraged a sensationalist marketing strategy while official statements claimed that the film was not propaganda. Prior to its release, “Beasts of Berlin” received numerous sanctions from the censors at the Production Code Administration (PCA). This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
title: U.S. re-release advertisement for the film “Hitler, Beast of Berli" (1939)