Alan Ladd: Beast of Berlin
by Sam Newfield
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DVD details
Actor: Alan Ladd, Greta Granstedt, Lucien Prival, Roland Drew, Steffi DunaDirector: Sam Newfield
DVD: Region Code 2
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, PAL
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 69 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Alpha Video
DVD Reviews of Alan Ladd: Beast of Berlin
DVD Review: Early Anti-Nazi Exploitation Film
Summary: 3 Stars
Produced by Ben Judell for his Producer's Distributing Corporation (re-named Producers Releasing Corporation after Judell was forced out) and directed by the prolific Sam Newfield, the original title was "Hitler - Beast of Berlin." After pro-German groups persuaded the New York State Censors to ban the film as brutal and sadistic, it was re-cut and finally released as "Beasts of Berlin," too late to save Judell from losing a packet, even though the movie was made on the cheap. The picture was later re-released and billed as a starring vehicle for Alan Ladd. The truth was that he was merely a supporting player to Roland Drew, who stars as Hans Memling, a young intellectual and patriotic German secretly opposed to the Nazis. (It was only Ladd's second credited role.) With the aid of others, including Ladd, who plays his brother-in-law Karl, Hans distributes information from foreign radio sources through Germany via the underground press. The group has an inside link in Albert, a Storm Trooper sickened by the brutalities he sees. He wants to quit but Hans persuades him to remain until a replacement is found. Albert agrees, but during a Nazi orgy that he is forced to attend, he gets drunk and betrays the group. Elsa, Hans' wife is pregnant and wants them to flee to America. Hans stays, but is warned by Lustig, a beer-garden bartender, (Vernon Dent of Three Stooges fame) that the Gestapo is watching them. Eventually Hans and brother-in-law Ladd are captured and sent to a concentration camp. The commandant is an old friend from the First World War, and orders that Hans be treated decently. The others do not get the same treatment: they are beaten and forced to praise Hitler. Hans and the others are sold as slave labor and Ladd decides to escape. He is shot and killed in the process. With the help of a sympathetic guard, Hans escapes and reunites with Elsa. They reach the border, but Hans decides he can't leave Germany while Hitler rules and he and Elsa return to rebuild their organization. Overall, though this is a Newfield film, where cheapness abounds and subtlety is lacking, it remains as an interesting curiosity piece for film fans who want to trace Alan Ladd's celluloid roots.
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