United States trade advertisement for the film “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” (1939)
Extent and Medium
Overall: Height: 12.500 inches (31.75 cm) | Width: 9.250 inches (23.495 cm)
Creator(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures (Production Company)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
Biographical History
The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
Archival History
The trade advertisement was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur
Scope and Content
Trade advertisement for the American feature film “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” released by Warner Bros. Pictures in May 1939. Movie manufacturers send trade advertisements to exhibitors to increase the distribution of a film to as many theaters as possible. The film was chosen as Best Picture of the Year by the National Board of Review in 1939. Based on articles written in the New York Post by ex-agent Leon G. Turrou, the film recounts a fictionalized version of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Rumrich Nazi Spy Case (1938). The film follows FBI agent Edward Renard’s investigation of Nazi spies affiliated with the German-American Bund as they work to steal American military secrets in the late 1930s. This was the first openly anti-Nazi film released by a prominent American movie studio. It took a firm stance on political matters, and deliberately warned the public about the dangers posed by a foreign power. The German Consul General in Los Angeles tried to halt production of the film, but failed. Fearing possible retribution for their relatives in Germany or German-controlled areas, many actors turned down roles in the film. While it was being shot, the studio received more than 100 threats, and had to hire security for the set. Upon release in the US, some citizens wanted it banned, while others picketed theaters and threatened exhibitors. In Poland, antisemitic audiences hanged exhibitors in their own theaters for showing the film. In 1939, it was banned in Germany, Italy, Japan, Holland, Norway, and Sweden. In 1940, “Confessions” was re-released with added newsreel footage of Nazi occupations in Europe, and was banned in an additional 18 nations where the Nazi regime could exert influence. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Bifold promotional material printed on thick, shiny white paper with single-page advertisements on both the front and back, and a double-page advertisement spanning the center leaves when opened. All three are printed in white and black with some red highlights or text, mimicking the colors of the Nazi party. On the front image, there is white text across the bottom, and two arms reach down toward it from the upper edge of the page. The hand on the right extends from a striped sleeve with a 5-pointed star on the cuff. It firmly holds the wrist of the hand on the left, which extends from a sleeve bearing a red armband with a black swastika centered on a white circle. On the center advertisement, large, red text spans the top of both pages. Below, are three small, single-page advertisements arranged in a row, utilizing photographic images from the film. Additional white text is printed in the lower right corner, and there are two, double sets of staple holes along the white margin at the center of the open page. On the back, red and white text fills the black page, with some black text within a red rectangle on the lower right. There are small spots of white discoloration throughout. Central advertisements featuring: Edward G. Robinson as Edward Renard, Paul Lukas as Dr. Karl F. Kassell, Lya Lys as Erika Wolf, and Dorothy Tree as Hilda Kleinhauer
People
- Lederer, Francis, 1899-2000.
- Lys, Lya, 1908-1986.
- Tree, Dorothy, 1906-1992.
- Sanders, George, 1906-1972.
- Turrou, Leon G.
- Robinson, Edward G., 1893-1973.
- Lukas, Paul, 1894-1971.
Corporate Bodies
- German American Bund
- Warner Bros. Pictures (1923-1967)
Subjects
- United States.
- Historical films.
- Patriotism in motion pictures.
- Motion pictures--History--20th century.
- Espionage, German--United States.
- World War (1939-1945)
- Spies--Drama.
- Germany.
- Espionage.
- Imprisonment in motion pictures.
- Spy films.
- Executive departments
- Motion picture industry--United States--History--20th century.
- Nazis--United States--Drama.
Genre
- Promotional materials.
- Books and Published Materials
- Object