Hitler – Beast of Berlin
Hitler—Beast of Berlin (1939) was one of the most popular "hiss and boo" films of the World War II era, based on the novel Goose Step by Shepard Traube (1907–1983). Plot
A man and his wife lead a German anti-Nazi propaganda literature movement. After an inadvertent betrayal, the husband is thrown into a concentration camp, from which he escapes to Switzerland. Cast
Roland Drew as Hans Memling
Steffi Duna as Elsa Memling
Greta Granstedt as Anna Wahl
Alan Ladd as Karl Bach
Lucien Prival as Sachs
Vernon Dent as Lustig 
John Ellis as Gustav Schultz
George Rosener as Wunderlich
Bodil Rosing as Frau Kohler
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski as Storm Trooper Albert Stahlhelm 
Willy Kaufman as Herr Kohler 
Hans Joby as Hermann Lippert
Frederick Giermann as Father Pommer
Crane Whitley as Klee (as Clem Wilenchick)
Henry Zynda as Erlich (as Henry von Zynda)

Production history 
The film was the first production of Producers Releasing Corporation. It was recut and released as Beasts of Berlin the same year, having been banned in New York as too inflammatory at the time. It was also reissued in 1940 as Goose Step and in the early 1940s as Hell's Devils. Archival footage of Adolf Hitler is included. Selected film criticism 
Beast received mixed reviews. Film Daily described it as a "well done film, a amazingly well done in view of the actual amount of time and money spent in its production," while Variety judged it an "artistic failure, for its attacks on the Nazi regime merely scratch the surface without ever even hinting at the fundamental evils of Nazism." James G. Stahlman, the president and publisher of the Nashville Banner, wrote an unusual editorial in advance of the film's release, calling for it to be banned because it might inflame public emotions on the subject of Nazism. He argued that the evils of Hitler were already widely known and that there was no need to engage in what he described as "war propaganda." Release
The film was released in 1940 as Goose Step. See also 
 Exploitation film
 Propaganda film
 Nazism and cinema
 History of propaganda films
 American propaganda during World War II

References

External links
 

1939 drama films
1939 films
American World War II propaganda films
Films directed by Sam Newfield
Producers Releasing Corporation films
Films based on American novels
Films about Nazi Germany
American black-and-white films
American war drama films
American World War II films
1940s English-language films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films