Black Fox: The True Story of Adolf Hitler (1962)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Louis Clyde Stoumen

Writers:

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (story)
Louis Clyde Stoumen (writer)

Release Date:

1962 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | War

Plot:

The rise and fall of Nazi Germany in part through the use of classical allegory. |

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Hitler | Independent Film | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Marlene Dietrich

...

Narrator (voice)

Also Known As:

The Black Fox (USA) (short title)
The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler: Black Fox (USA) (video box title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Animated Productions

Documentary that has not aged well.

In this age of A&E's Biography, and cable channels devoted to documentaries, sometimes it's eye-opening and entertaining to go back and watch one made "in the past" when theatrical showings were the only outlet.

Then again, sometimes it's not.

Black Fox actually seems older than it is- I'm surprised when I see that it was filmed in 1962, because it comes across as a heavy-handed propaganda piece concurrent with Hitler's reign.

It's almost embarrassing to watch, as the "documentary" actually has very little to say, and Marlene Dietrich gives her all to give it some kind of meaning. The film switches back and forth between Hitler's machinations and doings, and an odd, old folk-tale of a "black fox" and his dealings with his fellow animals. The folk-tale is illustrated with static woodcuts- you half expect a picture of Vlad Tepes somewhere along the way. It's as if the directors were either trying to put the whole WW2/Europe story into something acceptable for children, or were trying to emulate George Orwell's Animal Farm, and turn history into an anthropomorphic parable.

The film is very heavy-handed, and the parable just bogs the whole thing down. I admit I write this with a view of the modern documentary in mind... but Black Fox isn't entertaining, isn't educational, and was a waste of a purchase.