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So far, I've read the 13 reviews and comments about this CBS film on Hitler and had up to this point kept my opinions about the two part show to myself. I taught a popular undergraduate course, "Hitler and His Nazis" up to June 2001 for about 20-25 years. Originally I taught an international relations course 1919 to 1945. My department requested that I do this course to acquire student enrollment which was low in the 1970's. I used Alan Bullock as a text. Yesterday I met a former student ,who took my course in the first five years of my teaching cycle. She is now about 60 years old and took the course as an elective for her BA in social work. She liked the CBS film for the following reasons: 1. Other films on the Holocaust and World War II have down played Hitler's early life. 2. She still finds Hitler fascinating (sexy). 3. The film gave her new insights, even though I covered most of the film's points in my class. In my interpretation, I had no time for Putzi Hanfstaengl or Fritz Gerlach, and most of the CBS scenes concerning them were new to me. 4. My student found the story of how Hitler got his money interesting, even though I covered, the topic with other examples in my lectures. I spoke about the financing of _Voelkischer Beobachter_ by Dietrich Eckardt and Roehm and later Hitler's election by corporate directors Fritz Thyssen, Friedrich Flick, Baron Schroeder and Hugo Stinnes, (points she had forgotten). 5. I told her about the 13 critics on this net and she responded with view that the public does not care about the opinion's of PhD's. 6. As to the acting, she thought that, unlike the real Hitler, that she remembered (Triumph of the Will?), Robert Carlyle did not smile, and he did not speak to large crowds. Actor Carlyle was too serious in large crowds in her opinion. Thus I agree with Charles Maier, despite its flaws, the film does introduce a version of history to our students. Amateur history is better than no history. CBS should be encouraged to do other historical works. Like the History Channel, films open the door to further reading. Robert H. Whealey P.S. My own modest contribution to the Hitler problem is published as "Selected Biographies and Interpretations of Hitler," _Holocaust Literature: A Handbook of Critical, Historical and Literary Writings_. Ed. by Saul S. Friedman. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1993. pp. 39-73.
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