Titanic (1943)

I got this movie from Netflix. It is German and made during the height of World War 2. I thought I would watch it to see if I could find any overt Nazi propaganda (like I have done while watching Soviet movies with Soviet propaganda.) The film is in black and white and while the majority of the movie feels like any from the 1940s there were two scenes I found to be purely German.

The first was when the crew orders the passengers to separate with men on one side and women and children on the other. This may not seem like anything, but you have to remember that this film was made in 1943 when all over Germany and German-occupied countries the Nazis were separating men and women and children in the concentration and death camps(and using the same words as the film: Quick, quick. Men on one side and women and children on the other. Quick.) With that in mind it is a very Nazi scene.

The second is everyone following orders (the passengers and the crew.) I know that in 1912 when the Titanic sank class and society rules were followed, but with respect to the actual sinking I am sure the passengers did everything they could to save themselves and their loved ones. The scene where the captain shouts that there is no more orders and yet orders the passengers by saying it is every man for themselves and then everyone panics shows the typical German characteristic of following orders even when they are ordered into chaos. I am not saying that every German needs someone to tell them what to do, but have found that to be the case most of the time and I lived in Germany and saw this first-hand.

The movie was alright for what it was: a Nazi-made film made during the war to show the "evils" of the English (which you can see at the very end of the movie.) The fact that it was banned in Germany during the war because of the panic scenes and that the Nazis didn't want to cause panic with those bombed out of their houses shows it does have some merit as a decent movie (if the Nazis hated it than it must be good.)