Popular Cinema of the Third Reich

Popular Cinema of the Third Reich

Sabine Hake2001
Too often dismissed as escapist entertainment or vilified as mass manipulation, popular cinema in the Third Reich was in fact sustained by well-established generic conventions, cultural traditions, aesthetic sensibilities, social practices, and a highly developed star system - not unlike its Hollywood counterpart in the 1930s. This study contributes to the ongoing reassessment of Third Reich cinema by examining it as a social, cultural, economic and political practise that often conflicted with, contradicted, and compromised the intentions of the Propaganda Ministry. Nevertheless, by providing the illusion of a public sphere presumably free of politics, popular cinema helped to sustain the Nazi regime, especially during the war years.
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