In comparison with the other arts, film has a particularly forceful and
lasting psychological and propagandistic impact because of its effect
not on the intellect, but principally on the emotions and the visual
sense. [Film] does not aim to influence the views of an elite coterie of
art experts. Rather, it seeks to seize the attention of the broad masses.
As a result, film can exercise an influence on society that is more
enduring than that achieved by church or school or, for that matter,
literature, the press or radio. Hence, for reasons that lie outside the
realm of art, it would be negligent and reckless (and not in the inter-
est of the arts themselves) for a responsible government to relinquish
its leadership role in this important area.

Fritz Hippler ¹

Film was doubtless the most influential among the mass media in
the Third Reich. It was also the means of artistic communication
that Hitler used to greatest effect in bringing his political ideas to
a mass audience. Compared to the emotional persuasiveness of
moving pictures, radio and the press were less successful in con-
veying and spreading the message of the new ideology. Within
the context of Goebbels's propaganda strategy, however, they
were indispensable factors in any concerted and universal cam-
paign of indoctrination, particularly in light of the fact that film
lacked the up-to-dateness of radio and the daily newspaper.

Before Hitler came to power, during the so-called time of strug-
gle (Kampfzeit), and before the Nazis had subordinated the
medium of film to their own purposes, they made clever use of
radio to deliver the messages of Dr. Goebbels, the ranting
reporter, and Hitler, the neurotic rhetorician. What distinguished
their delivery from the generally tedious speeches of democratic
politicians was their forcefulness, vision, and mesmerizing
emotionalism. The responsiveness to their demagogic language
among broad segments of the population was an indication of the
degree of social alienation prevailing at the time. Against the
backdrop of the growing social problems and identity crises
plaguing the Weimar republic, the aggressiveness of the Nazis
was a totally new phenomenon. It was a sign of a strong hand at
the helm, of an alternative to the uncontrolled proliferation of
political parties, and of a renewed awareness of German power.

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