Dated look at the rise of Hitler and Fascism is a trip into the past. The film concerns itself primarily with the rise and fall of Hitler but at the same time takes side trips into the Italy for a look at Mussolini (which is positive at first), and into Russia where it lambastes both the Czars and the Communists.It seems to consist of footage that was mostly shot by the Germans, Italians or Soviets and includes scenes from the death camps and of the broken and abused bodies of Mussolini and his mistress.
Presented by the Navy Club of The United States and directed by Dwain Esper (of Reefer Madness and Maniac fame),this seems to have been put together by taking various existing documentaries and cutting them together. I'm guessing at this but it would seem likely since the narrator changes from sequence to sequence as does the tone of the narration going from informative to snide to positive (the early Mussolini footage seems to have come from a positive look at the Italian dictator.) The effect is a bit jarring at times, but it some how is keeping with what would be a less than objective view of the war some three years after the fact.
If you're interested in the war this film is worth seeing. Not only will you get a snapshot of the war close to its end you'll also get a look at some footage you probably haven't seen before. Objective and totally informative it is not, there is a great deal of history not covered and its more interested in getting across the idea that dictators are bad then filling you in on every fact. Its an attempt to put events into context since the war had just ended and those seeing the film knew what had happened and didn't need to be told again.
Its not perfect but it is worth seeing. If you can take its cut together nature and understand that its as much a document of the time as the time it documents then you'll have a good time with it, and you'll probably learn a thing or two from it.
7 out of 10.
FYI- The print that I saw, which came from Sinister Cinema (under the title The Love Life of Adolph Hitler) runs just shy of 90 minutes so I'm not sure why the IMDb running time is listed as 60.
