Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil (1985)
Directed by Jim Goddard
Genres - Drama, War, Historical Film |
Sub-Genres - War Drama |
Release Date - Feb 17, 1985 (USA - Unknown), Feb 17, 1985 (USA) |
Run Time - 150 min. |
Countries - United States |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
The two-part TV movie Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil crystallizes that evil by concentrating on two Berlin brothers. In 1931, Helmut Hoffman (Bill Nighy) a brilliant student and self-styled opportunist, joins Hitler's SS. At the same time, his younger brother Karl (John Shea), a top athlete and idealist, becomes a chauffeur for the "S.A." (storm troopers). When the SS topples the SA from power, Karl ends up in Dachau. He is rescued through his brother's influence--if you can describe sending Karl to fight on the Russian Front a "rescue." As he watches the Third Reich deteriorate, Helmut at long last suffers pangs of conscience. As if the story of the rise of Nazism needed any further melodrama, Hitler's SS shoehorns in a romantic triangle involving Karl, Helmut, and beautiful nightclub-singer Lucy Gutteridge. The all-star supporting cast of Hitler's SS includes Carroll Baker as the Hoffman brothers' anguished mother; Tony Randall as an androgynous entertainer named Putzi (shades of Cabaret's Joel Grey); and David Warner, repeating his Holocaust role as SS head man Heydrich.
Characteristics
Themes
Keywords
brother, German [nationality], Nazi, Third-Reich, chauffeur