When the distributor Donau-Film re-released 'Der alte und der junge König' in 1958 the firm claimed to show a film that 'today' was 'beyond the pros and cons of contemporary disputes' and that the only aspect of relevance was the conflict between father and son. That was disingeneous. Director Hans Steinhoff's product cannot be turned into something apolitical; it is Nazi-propaganda through and through. It is, however, subtle propaganda by the standards of the Third Reich - propaganda that the fantastic acting makes all the more effective and dangerous.
Steinhoff portrays King Frederick William I of Prussia (played by Emil Jannings) as a bluff, strict but just father figure whom the disobedience of his son, the future Frederick II (Werner Hinz) is driving to despair. From the first scene onward he leaves no doubt that the father is in the right: Frederick William prays at the breakfast table in the company of his wife and younger children while 'Fritz' spends the early morning gambling with shady figures who speak French and cheat at cards. It is only after the Katte-affair, when the king forces his son to watch the execution of his best friend, that 'Fritz' subjects himself to the will of his father. His cathartic experience hardens him and turns him into a young man who will go on to become Prussia's greatest king. The film thus propagates the 'Führerprinzip' of Nazi-ideology, the idea that the only permitted attitude is total subjection to the will of a leader and that the leader has the right to literally walk over dead bodies in order to subject others to his will. Moreover, given that Katte (Claus Clausen) and the future Frederick II were very likely homosexual lovers (something the film obviously does not directly mention), 'Der alte und der junge König' was possibly influenced by the murder of Hitler's homosexual SA-chief Ernst Röhm in 1934: The Nazis were trying to justify the killing in a way that at the same time could be interpreted as a threat.
While script (Thea von Harbou and Rolf Lauckner) and direction are fairly pedestrian, the acting is outstanding. Jannings gives us a nuanced and absolutely convincing portrait of Frederick William I, and Hinz is almost equally convincing as the tortured son who finally finds the strength to do his father's will. All in all, however, it is Janning's performance that made me decide to rate 'Der alte und der junge König' 7 stars. It is really his film.
