Richard Basehart is a good actor overall, so his performance is decent. But the film is so ahistorical that it should definitely be skipped. It is mainly a *psychological profile*, but the psychology is wrong. Its main strength is that it does show Hitler's complete disregard for Germany and its people during his last days.
As noted by someone else, this film seems to be based on Trevor-Roper's book. Roper's research, however, was done immediately after the war (to investigate/refute malicious Soviet accusations that Hitler was still alive and possibly living in a British-controlled area) and was based on *very few* direct witnesses (the Soviets had most of them in custody). Vast amounts of additional evidence have come out since then.
((In contrast, the German film "Downfall" is an absolutely *brilliant* portrayal that shows not only Hitler's megalomania, destructiveness and self-pity, but also his force of personality, particularly in the scene with von Greim. ("Downfall" seems based on the book "The Bunker", which is by far the best of the "Hitler's last days" books.)))
Just a few examples of the false things in the movie "Hitler" (in the examples, H is used as an abbrev for Hitler):
As noted by others, there is *no* evidence that H was impotent or homosexual. Some American and British psych people speculated on this, particularly during and immediately after the war, but they had no access to H.
H's interactions with Eva: everyone who met Eva said she had no interest in politics or the war and would never have challenged H on those topics.
The scenes of Stauffenberg's bombing and aftermath are ludicrous: H didn't notice the briefcase or comment on it; it was placed to H's right, not left; the bomb didn't go off for several minutes (giving Stauffenberg time to get away); and Stauffenberg was not hanged but shot (within hours of the bombing by a co-plotter trying to cover his own guilt), although many other co-plotters were hanged later.
The director allows Basehart to be much too physically vigorous, even though he does limp. H's health was *extremely* poor by April 1945. H, after all, had been under severe stress and been a drug addict for years. Eyewitnesses noted that H looked a decade older than he really was (and he was 56) and could often barely shuffle his feet forward. (Thus, by the way,there is *no* chance H escaped from the bunker and went to South America, or anywhere else. H feared capture far more than death, and so would never have risked trying to escape.)
As a more minor point, the Berchtesgaden/Berghof window/view in the film is pathetic compared to the actual window/view. The actual window was *huge* (much taller than a person), offered a panoramic view of the mountain and could be electronically lowered into the wall.
As noted by someone else, this film seems to be based on Trevor-Roper's book. Roper's research, however, was done immediately after the war (to investigate/refute malicious Soviet accusations that Hitler was still alive and possibly living in a British-controlled area) and was based on *very few* direct witnesses (the Soviets had most of them in custody). Vast amounts of additional evidence have come out since then.
((In contrast, the German film "Downfall" is an absolutely *brilliant* portrayal that shows not only Hitler's megalomania, destructiveness and self-pity, but also his force of personality, particularly in the scene with von Greim. ("Downfall" seems based on the book "The Bunker", which is by far the best of the "Hitler's last days" books.)))
Just a few examples of the false things in the movie "Hitler" (in the examples, H is used as an abbrev for Hitler):
As noted by others, there is *no* evidence that H was impotent or homosexual. Some American and British psych people speculated on this, particularly during and immediately after the war, but they had no access to H.
H's interactions with Eva: everyone who met Eva said she had no interest in politics or the war and would never have challenged H on those topics.
The scenes of Stauffenberg's bombing and aftermath are ludicrous: H didn't notice the briefcase or comment on it; it was placed to H's right, not left; the bomb didn't go off for several minutes (giving Stauffenberg time to get away); and Stauffenberg was not hanged but shot (within hours of the bombing by a co-plotter trying to cover his own guilt), although many other co-plotters were hanged later.
The director allows Basehart to be much too physically vigorous, even though he does limp. H's health was *extremely* poor by April 1945. H, after all, had been under severe stress and been a drug addict for years. Eyewitnesses noted that H looked a decade older than he really was (and he was 56) and could often barely shuffle his feet forward. (Thus, by the way,there is *no* chance H escaped from the bunker and went to South America, or anywhere else. H feared capture far more than death, and so would never have risked trying to escape.)
As a more minor point, the Berchtesgaden/Berghof window/view in the film is pathetic compared to the actual window/view. The actual window was *huge* (much taller than a person), offered a panoramic view of the mountain and could be electronically lowered into the wall.