The Greatest Propaganda Film Ever Made

Jesse Walker | July 17, 2007

I'm so glad someone has finally put this on YouTube:

Update: A reader, "PapayaSF," passes along a similar film from the crew at Atmo. Entertaining as it is, that clip was made by people already swimming in the mash-up milieu. The short posted above, usually known as Lambeth Walk -- Nazi Style, was made during World War II by an obscure film editor who wasn't raised on a diet of reedited movie trailers and music videos. He just wanted to reduce the Nazis to absurdity, and he did an inspired job of it, though I gather it still took a few years for Hitler's regime to fall.

Comments

Edward|7.17.07 @ 4:44PM|#

Very snappy. I wonder what the secret of Hitler's popularity was.

|7.17.07 @ 4:57PM|#

After watching that I now KNOW what the secret of Hitler's popularity was. Its like... like... yah, disco of the 1930's. Popular, yah!

|7.17.07 @ 5:01PM|#

I wonder if the British public was kavetching about how it was "too soon" after the Battle of Britain to be making jokes at Hitler's expense.

That's one of the many areas where I esteem the British attitude toward Hitler during WW2 far more than ours toward al-Qaeda now.

|7.17.07 @ 5:17PM|#

Well, we did have Evil Bert.

Mel Brooks|7.17.07 @ 5:21PM|#

And now it's springtime for Hitler and Germany.

|7.17.07 @ 5:28PM|#

Talk about your blitzkrieg bop.

Edward|7.17.07 @ 5:35PM|#

Right. What we really need is a "Springtime for Osama and the umma"

Randolph Carter|7.17.07 @ 5:51PM|#

Is that the Third Reich Cha-Cha?

|7.17.07 @ 5:53PM|#

No, no, it's the

Third Reich and Roll

hugs,
Shirley Knott

Randolph Carter|7.17.07 @ 5:57PM|#

Thank you mrs. residents fan.

*slinks away*

|7.17.07 @ 6:02PM|#

"I wonder if the British public was kavetching about how it was "too soon" after the Battle of Britain to be making jokes at Hitler's expense.

That's one of the many areas where I esteem the British attitude toward Hitler during WW2 far more than ours toward al-Qaeda now."

I don't think the lack of Osama jokes is due to the "It's too soon after 9/11" as it's due to the "That's offensive" crowd. South Park dealt with this years ago, bashing Osama while giving a nod to the Bugs and Daffy cartoons of WWII. They met with some whines, and pretty much answered "These guys are the enemy. Fuck them."

|7.17.07 @ 6:22PM|#

Ah, those loveable zany Nazis!

Urkobold™|7.17.07 @ 6:37PM|#

THE URKOBOLD IS WORKING WITH CBS TO LAUNCH A NEW SERIES: OSAMA'S HEROES. SET AT AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION IN THE NEAR FUTURE, WE FOLLOW THE HIGH JINKS AND SILLINESS OF A NEWLY CAPTURED OSAMA BIN LADEN AND HIS CREW OF CRAZY-FUN AL QAEDA PRISONERS AS THEY CAPER AROUND AND GENERALLY MOCK THEIR CIA JAIL KEEPERS. IN A COUP, THE URKOBOLD HAS PERSUADED HIS GOOD FRIEND CHRISTOPHER WALKEN TO PLAY THE LEAD-JAILER ROLE OF COLONEL LINGUS.

GREAT FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

|7.17.07 @ 6:38PM|#

not till reading the comments did I realize that the propaganda was supposed to be anti, not pro, nazi.

ktc|7.17.07 @ 6:41PM|#

Does Urkobold remind anybody else of Morbo?

http://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/CharacterBios/morbo.dhtml

highnumber|7.17.07 @ 6:41PM|#

andronoid,

What kind of an angle did you think the Nazis were working there?

highnumber|7.17.07 @ 6:42PM|#

ktc,

No.

Urkobold™|7.17.07 @ 6:55PM|#

THE URKOBOLD CO-ANCHORS WITH NO MAN!

|7.17.07 @ 7:39PM|#

Well, android, perhaps poor Bryan Ferry was also confused. In his defense, he was only just a very young country boy...

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/119673.html

idiomsavant|7.17.07 @ 7:55PM|#

Now that is some close-order swanning about.

Alan Augustson|7.17.07 @ 8:28PM|#

Very nice. I had been wondering what you guys had been using as an ideological backdrop.

Morbo|7.17.07 @ 8:36PM|#

Kittens give Morbo gas.

|7.17.07 @ 9:06PM|#

Dave wrote: "South Park dealt with this years ago, bashing Osama while giving a nod to the Bugs and Daffy cartoons of WWII. They met with some whines, and pretty much answered "These guys are the enemy. Fuck them.""

Was that before or after the Onions post-9/11 masterpiece, "HOLY FUCKING SHIT"

|7.17.07 @ 10:12PM|#

Does Urkobold remind anybody else of Morbo?

ha! HA!

and the last shred of that little gnome's armor falls to the ground.

What is that? a green golf pencil?

|7.18.07 @ 12:05AM|#

Urkobold,

Will Farfour make an appearance on the show? Because no family programming is complete without a giant screeching mouse in a tuxedo.

The Wine Commonsewer®|7.18.07 @ 1:27AM|#

I didn't look to see who posted this but it comes as no surprise that Mr Walker............

:-)

|7.18.07 @ 2:29AM|#

In a similar vein, but much weirder, here's Adolf singing "Born to Be Alive":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEfWFwOoW40

|7.19.07 @ 12:19AM|#

Don't forget the equally famous Hitler Jig.