Set of Canadian newsprint advertisements for the film “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” (1939)
Extent and Medium
.1: Height: 11.500 inches (29.21 cm) | Width: 6.000 inches (15.24 cm)
.2: Height: 7.375 inches (18.733 cm) | Width: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm)
Creator(s)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
- Warner Bros. Pictures (Production Company)
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 newspaper advertisements were 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
Canadian newspaper advertisements for the American feature film “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” released by Warner Bros. Pictures in May 1939. 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
.1 - Black-and-white newspaper advertisement printed on thin, tan newsprint paper, and removed from a larger newspaper page. On the front are two photographic images of characters from the movie with English text arranged in several bordered sections around them. The top image depicts a seated man looking over his shoulder anxiously at a second man that looms behind, his hand on the first man’s shoulder. The bottom image shows a longhaired woman looking anxiously over her shoulder as a balding man, partially concealed in the shadows, looms behind her, his hand on her bare shoulder. There are black banners with tan text across the top and bottom, and a large black text box in the center. Additional information is printed in bordered shapes printed beside the photos. On the reverse, there are three divided columns of text with titles printed in larger font. There is a small, stiff section of stained paper on the lower right corner. Featuring: Edward G. Robinson as Edward Renard, Francis Lederer as Kurt Schneider, Paul Lukas as Dr. Karl F. Kassell, Lya Lys as Erika Wolf .2 - Black-and-white newspaper advertisement printed on thin, white newsprint paper with a photographic image of the main character from the movie within a large, canted swastika at the top. There are several lines of English text in varying sizes printed in a block beneath the centered image. Additional information is printed just above and to the left of the image. Featuring: Edward G. Robinson as Edward Renard
People
- Tree, Dorothy, 1906-1992.
- Lederer, Francis, 1899-2000.
- Robinson, Edward G., 1893-1973.
- Turrou, Leon G.
- Lys, Lya, 1908-1986.
- Sanders, George, 1906-1972.
- Lukas, Paul, 1894-1971.
Corporate Bodies
- Warner Bros. Pictures (1923-1967)
- German American Bund
Subjects
- Motion pictures--History--20th century.
- Nazis--United States--Drama.
- Executive departments
- Espionage.
- Canada.
- Motion picture industry--United States--History--20th century.
- United States.
- Imprisonment in motion pictures.
- World War (1939-1945)
- Germany.
- Historical films.
- Spies--Drama.
- Espionage, German--United States.
- Spy films.
- Patriotism in motion pictures.
Genre
- Object
- Promotional materials.
- Books and Published Materials