The entry begins:In making Hitler’s Monsters into a movie, we would have to cast supporting roles for prominent Nazis central to the plot–– Hitler, Himmler, Hess, and Goebbels, among others. But I would reserve five of lead roles for important characters whose unique stories help define the supernatural history of the Third Reich.Learn more about Hitler's Monsters at the Yale University Press website.
First, I would cast Jason Isaacs, of Harry Potter fame, as the aging horror writer, Hanns Heinz Ewers. A renowned louche whose penchant for seedier side of Berlin night life was legendary, Ewers’ politics in the Weimar Republic ranged from progressive sex reformer to rightwing nationalist and Nazi. In November 1931, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, Ewers used his connections with Hitler’s Harvard-educated limousine driver, ‘Putzi’ Hanfstaengl, to organize a meeting with the Führer. After a lively discussion during which he impressed Hitler with his charm and commitment to the cause, the leader of the NSDAP commissioned the horror writer–– author of salacious, sex and violence filled books about vampires, homunculi, and Satanists–– to produce propaganda for the party, including a popular biography of the Nazi martyr, Horst Wessel (which Joseph Goebbels later optioned into a 1934 biopic).
For the role of Ewers’ friend, the pro-Nazi–– and secretly Jewish–– clairvoyant Erik Hanussen, I would cast....[read on]
The Page 99 Test: Eric Kurlander's Living with Hitler.
The Page 99 Test: Hitler's Monsters.
My Book, The Movie: Hitler's Monsters.
--Marshal Zeringue
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