[Leica] Leni Riefenstahl

[msmall at infionline.net (Marc James Small)]

At 06:31 PM 8/24/04 -0600, Kit McChesney | Vuelux wrote:
>Propaganda! 

Not propaganda at all, Kit.  I am merely asking for some evidence that
Riefenstahl ever did more to advance the Nazi state than to produce two
movies on contract.  And, when she produced these pictures, the
evils-to-come were not cleanly visible:  this was the era when the finest
of the British and French and US intellectuals were nodding in agreement
with the new regime in Germany and were mocking those of there own, such as
Sinclair Lewis with his IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE.  Winston Churchill, whose
objections at the time to the regime of Adolph Hitler ran towards
re-armament, was openly mocked in the House of Commons:  when he rose to
speak, most of the members walked out and had a drink in the Members'
Lobby, as he was regarded as so much of an old boor.  

Again, let us quit spitting out opinions and produce some facts.

I would especially appreciate any evidence that Riefenstahl did anything
for the Nazis after the production of the OLYMPIAD.  Understand that the
agreement to site the 1936 games in Germany was an indication of
international acceptance of the Nazi regime and Riefenstahl's being hired
to produce a movie was not perceived as anything exceptional at the time.

And let us avoid political correctness.  It is quite easy with our
after-acquired knowledge to condemn the decisions of those who lived in the
past but, in the end, we should judge them by the standards of the
knowledge available to them and by the standards of that age.

Marc

msmall@infionline.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
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