A pretty bold documentary drama, given that it was made 23 years after 1945 as a German production, that sketchily historically charts the rise and fall of the Sturmabteilung in Weimar Germany to the point where the Brownshirts (Sturmabteilung) gets a little too big for its boots and threatens to replace or bring down Hitler, to the event of the night of the long knives.
The plot follows the intrigues that beset the 'revolution' from the start; the horses mouth would seem the best place to go for such a movie, but it lacks a real punch, yet leaving you thinking what if they had succeeded.
Stand out characters include the Josef Goebbels who sadly seems to be uncredited masterfully played by Wilfried Kraus in the movie. Rohm is well played by a suitably bullish Hans Korte, who gives the character life, you actually warm to him as a man cuaght up in a bad situation (anything but) and a little too much charm, but characters like Theodore Eicke played by Kurd Pieritz lack real depth.
The movie has good and rarely seen original footage.
Little mention is made of the obvious anti-semitism, perhaps this was a difficult film to make at that time, but it ticks over nicely and is worth watching.
For anyone who knows the history, it will come across as a fair if basic rendition, validity is added by the narration of Heinrich Bruning, former chancellor of Germany who was marked, he thought for execution in the night of the long knives, and wisely fled.
