Paramount Pictures Corporation photographs, 1942-1943

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Paramount Pictures Corporation
Abstract:
Materials used in preparation of motion pictures released in 1944, the first titled Hitler's Gang, depicting the Nazi rise to power in Germany, scenes of party rallies, parades, SS troops, and Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders at various stages of their careers; and the second, titled The Story of Dr. Wassell, depicting scenes from southeast Asia during World War II.
Extent:
8 manuscript boxes (3.3 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Paramount Pictures Corporation photographs, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

Collected by the research division of Paramount Pictures, the materials include photographs and a small amount of paper research material used in preparation for two motion pictures released in 1944, the first titled Hitler's Gang, depicting the Nazi rise to power in Germany, including scenes of party rallies, parades, SS troops, and Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders at various stages of their careers; and the second, titled The Story of Dr. Wassell, depicting scenes from southeast Asia during World War II.

The reverse of most photographs includes handwritten notes regarding source or the date the copy was acquired by Paramount Pictures. The materials remain in their original order by film title.

Biographical / historical:

Hitler's Gang was written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and directed by John Farrow for Paramount Pictures. Released in 1944, the film stars Robert Watson as Adolf Hitler, and depicts the Nazi rise to power in Germany, with scenes of party rallies, parades, SS troops, and Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders at various stages of their careers. As The New York Times noted in a review on May 8, 1944, "There is little point in considering The Hitler Gang as entertainment in the accepted cinema sense. As the most complete pictorial documentation we have to date on the birth and growth of Nazism, it has a place unique, resisting comparison or qualitative judgment. Those of us, and that is practically all-embracing, who would profit by seeing, close up, the genesis and spread of an ideological virus, would do well to see The Hitler Gang."

The Story of Dr. Wassell, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso, and Dennis O'Keefe, was released in 1944 by Paramount Pictures. A Technicolor World War II film set in the Dutch East Indies, the film is based on the wartime activities of U.S. Navy doctor Corydon M. Wassell, which were described by President Roosevelt in a radio broadcast made in April 1942.

Sources: P.P.K., "The Screen: The Hitler Gang, a Picture of Birth and Growth of Nazism, Revealing Activities of Nest of Vipers, at the Globe," The New York Times, May 8, 1944; The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), Internet Movie Database

Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1975.
Arrangement:

The original order and titles of the creator have been maintained.

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Paramount Pictures Corporation photographs, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
Website