Customer Reviews

Black Fox [VHS]

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This 1962 documentary narrated by Marlene Dietrich adds a spin on the life of Adolf Hitler and the rise of the Third Reich by weaving parallels between der Fuhrer and Reynard the Fox. Both were cunning, wicked, but above all, were powered with the gift to enchant and persuade a crowd.

Hitler was indeed a promoter artisan. Dietrich narrates Hitler's life, which anyone could have read from the biography by John Toland or The Rise And fall Of The Third Reich by William L. Shirer, but for a two hour documentary, it covers much of the salient points. The 20 July 1944 assassination attempt is strangely absent.

All aspects of the Third Reich, the gas attack that blinded Hitler, the parallels to Teutonic Mythology, the Beer Hall Putsch, the 1934 Blood Purge, the Anschluss of Austria, Hitler's inner circle, the Ribbentrop-Molotov treaty, the concentration camps, and the aftermath are all covered.

A montage of photos depicting the victims of the Holocaust is still effective even today. The famous photo of Ann Frank, not mentioned by name, is briefly flashed onscreen, but we need no introduction or explanation to her.

One in-joke is a photo still from Das Blauer Engel, starring Dietrich herself.

In comparison to today's documentaries, The Black Fox may be dated, but as a Nazi Germany buff, I find it invaluable for anyone wanting to learn about the Third Reich and Hitler

Pay no attention to some of the other reviews that refer to this stellar documentary as `campy' and `dated'. Perhaps to those people used to MTV style entertainment, it might seem so. But this is serious stuff, delving into the psychology behind the Third Reich rather than the mere historical data.

Utilizing the brilliant device of engravings made for an old German folk tale and intrinsic part of German culture `Reinhard the Fox' this documentary casts light on the core questions behind the Third Reich - why it happened, why in Germany, and why with such inhumanity. A culture's myths are a window to it's inner being. The entire documentary is suffused with such landmarks - not only the tale of Reinhard but Durer engravings, Germanic legends and a musical score that evokes the period. William L. Shirer did a similar job in exploring German culture and history in his prize wining and bestselling examination of the rise and fall of the Third Reich.

Part of why this documentary works is Marlene Dietrich, a woman who's own sister was put into a concentration camp at Ravensbruck because the internationally known Dietrich fled the country rather than become a shill for the Nazis. Her reading of this horror story is moving in its depth..she obviously knows and feels this story personally.

If you ever wondered how the Third Reich happened, how the most prosperous and educated nation in Europe could end up cheerfully putting women and children in ovens, the answer is here. Highly recommended

While this documentary might have been on the cutting edge in 1961, it has become a somewhat campy and stodgy production viewed by today's standards. Though Dietrich's narration provides a nice backdrop, the material and the manner in which its presented is extremely dated. The production relies upon a curious and boring device: an analogy between Hitler and Reynard the Fox. What genius thought up this device is unknown, but the fox sequences provide a little unintentional levity. Repeatedly, a black and white cartoon is interjected of a fox performing ridiculous tasks. Then Hitler is superimposed and the viewer is supposed to make the connection between the Fuehrer and the fox. This is ultimately a silly, contrived (and weird) device.

Nothing new is learned and the old facts are rehashed in a suprisingly torpid manner. The only thing which enlivens this otherwise comatose production is the narration of Dietrich, who occasionally spits out words or the names of people she found particularly odious. Notice how she says the names "Goebbels" and "Himmler." I gather subtlety was not among Marlene's gifts. If you want to learn around Hitler, this isn't the place to start.