by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Dealers in Death was one of a whole slew of mid-1930s documentaries designed to forewarn the public that a second World War would mean the end of civilization. The villains of the piece are those munitions manufacturers to whom war was merely the logical extension of business. It is suggested that the powers-that-be during WWI carefully avoided bombing targets which might prove injurious to the munitions interests in Peacetime. The names of Krupp, DeWendel and Vickers are invoked, but the names of such American arms manufacturers as DuPont and Remington are left unspoken. Who says that conspiracy-theory movies only came about in the 1970s?
