Verboten! (1959)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writer:

Samuel Fuller (written by)

Release Date:

25 March 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | War | Drama

Tagline:

A MAD GENERATION... Spawned In Lust... Consumed By Hate!

Plot:

A young American serviceman, stationed in Germany after the fall of the Third Reich, jeopardises his...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi

Cast

James Best	...	Sgt. David Brent
Susan Cummings	...	Helga Schiller / Brent
Tom Pittman	...	Bruno Eckart
Paul Dubov	...	Capt. R. Harvey
Harold Daye	...	Franz Schiller
Dick Kallman	...	Helmuth Strasser
Stuart Randall	...	Colonel
Steven Geray	...	Mayor (Burghermeister) of Rothbach
Anna Hope	...	Frau Schiller
Robert Boon	...	SS officer
Sasha Harden	...	Eric Heiden
Paul Busch	...	Gunther Dietrich
Neyle Morrow	...	Sfc. Kellogg
Joe Turkel	...	Infantryman (as Joseph Turkel)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Anka	...	Vocalist behind opening credits
Karl Dönitz	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hans Fritzsche	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Josef Goebbels	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hermann Göring	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Betty Grable	...	Herself - in pin-up photo (uncredited)
Rudolf Hess	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Charles Horvath	...	Man with bald woman (uncredited)
Alfred Jodl	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Erich Raeder	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Fritz Sauckel	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hjalmar Schacht	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Arthur Seyss-Inquart	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Albert Speer	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Julius Streicher	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Konstantin von Neurath	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Franz von Papen	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Joachim von Ribbentrop	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Baldur von Schirach	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Samuel Fuller

Writing credits
Samuel Fuller		(written by)

Produced by
Samuel Fuller	....	producer

Original Music by
Harry Sukman

Cinematography by
Joseph F. Biroc		(as Joseph Biroc)

Film Editing by
Philip Cahn

Art Direction by
John B. Mansbridge		(as John Mansbridge)

Set Decoration by
Glen Daniels		(as Glen L. Daniels)

Costume Design by
Bernice Pontrelli

Makeup Department
Sue Kirkpatrick	....	hair stylist
Allan Snyder	....	makeup artist (as Allen Snyder)

Production Management
Ben Chapman	....	unit manager
Walter Daniels	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gordon McLean	....	assistant director

Art Department
Leigh Carson	....	property master

Sound Department
Bert Schoenfeld	....	sound editor
Jean L. Speak	....	sound (as Jean Speak)

Special Effects by
Norman Breedlove	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Ed Berger	....	dolly operator
William T. Cline	....	camera operator (as William Cline)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Henry West	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Audrey Granville	....	music editor (as Audray Granville)

Other crew
Captain Raymond Harvey	....	technical advisor (as Major Raymond Harvey)

Production Companies

• Globe Enterprises

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)

Also Known As:

Forbidden! (International: English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

93 min | USA:87 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Globe Enterprises

Trivia:

This was the last RKO project which began with the original radio-transmitter logo. Later movies from the revived RKO Pictures would start with a modern reproduction of the transmitter.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Verboten!

Not bad!

I enjoyed this for a couple of reasons. The emotional tangle was at times confusing and imperfectly resolved, but the blend of newsreel footage with the film's narrative was often compelling. The other element that I appreciated was the depiction of the Werewolves, the fanatical Nazis who continued the fight after the formal surrender. I don't know of another film that deals with them. They assassinated Burgomaster Oppenhoff of Aachen on Palm Sunday, 1945, for example, and did create problems for the occupation. The film, then, challenges the sanitized version of victory and occupation with some gritty realities. The "human issues" are presented not so much through the characters here, but through the historical reality that was gripping those who had survived Hitler -- both conquered and victors.