Komoedianten 1941 Comedians directed by G.W. Pabst

One of the most celebrated directors of Weimar-era cinema, Pabst was in France, intending to emigrate to the United States, when the war broke out in 1939. An Austrian citizen, he was regarded by the French government as an enemy alien. Forcibly repatriated to the Third Reich- his own country having been annexed by Germany- he made two films under the watchful eye of Propaganda Minister Goebbels. "Komoedianten" was followed by "Paracelsus" in 1943. Both projects used historical settings and avoided directly endorsing the racist ideology of the Nazis. In 1955 Pabst directed "Der Letzte Akt", a dramatization of Hitler's final ten days. The screenplay, supplied by Erich Maria Remarque, depicted the delirious tyrant surrounded by schemers and sycophants, raving till the end that the German people had failed him. If any doubt remained as to Pabst's true affiliation, he then directed "Es geschah am 20. Juli" (aka Jackboot Mutiny), a sympathetic account of the plot to kill Hitler. G.W. Pabst died in Vienna in 1967, aged 81.