The Extras - The Importance of "Confessions of a Nazi Spy"

Episode Date: March 14, 2023

George Feltenstein and Jeff Briggs of Warner Bros join the podcast to discuss one of the most important films in the history of the studio.  The political thriller "Confessions of a NAZI SPY," (1939) was the first feature film from a major studio to take on the fascism of Hitler and the Nazi Party.  Based on real-life events, the film delves into a spy ring in New York that recruited Americans into the German American Bund.  George and Jeff detail the courage of the brothers Warner to take on this material, develop it into a feature film, and the casting of stars Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, George Sanders, and Paul Lukas.  Many actors in supporting roles and production crew went uncredited due to fears of reprisals against their familys still in Europe.  George also details the remastering of the film for the new Blu-ray and the robust extras that are included.  This is a terrific film that is also one of the most important films in the Warner Bros catalog.  This episode is part of our 100th year celebration of Warner Bros.Link to article mentioned in the podcastPurchase on Moviezyng:Confessions of a Nazi SpyPurchase on Amazon:Confessions of a NAZI SPY Blu-rayThe Mortal Storm Blu-rayWatch on the Rhine DVDBlack Legion DVDThe Sitcom StudyWelcome to the Sitcom Study, where we contemplate the TV shows we grew up with and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Warner Archive Store on Amazon Support the podcast by shopping with our Amazon Affiliate linkDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.The Extras Facebook pageThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupOtaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv

Hi, I'm film historian and author John Fricke. I've written books about Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz movie, and you're listening to The Extras. Hello and welcome to The Extras, where we take you behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows, movies, and animation, and they're released on digital DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, or your favorite streaming site. I'm Tim Allard, your host. Well, as many of you know, this is the 100th year anniversary of Warner Brothers.

And so we'll be focusing some podcast episodes on key films in the studio's history that are getting new releases either on Blu-ray or 4K this year. And this is the first episode that's kind of going to focus on one specific film to do that. So today I have two very special guests from Warner Brothers joining me to talk about the new Blu-ray release of Confessions of a Nazi Spy, which is available from the Warner Archive on March 14th. George Feltenstein of the Warner Archive is familiar to most all of you, and he's joined by his colleague, Warner Brothers archivist, Jeff Briggs, who has also been a guest on multiple episodes. So George, Jeff, it's good to have you

on the podcast today. Great to be here, Tim, as always. Happy to be back, this time after only one month as opposed to one year. Yeah, exactly. Well, George, you briefly mentioned in our last podcast why this film is so important. But before we dive into this specific release and all the things that have to do with the restoration on the release and the extras, I thought, Jeff, you could give us a little background on what was kind of going on in Hollywood during the time of the 1930s and the turmoil in Europe. What was Hollywood's response to what was going on over there? And specifically, of course, Warner Brothers. Sure. I have to say that working for Warner Brothers has always been a point of pride because for many reasons, but one in particular is their behavior during the 1930s and how they reacted to what was going on in Europe. Warner was the first studio to pull out of Nazi Germany. And it happened in 1933, shortly after the Nazis had taken over the government. And famously, there's a story that one of their branch managers, I believe he was in Berlin, he was definitely in Germany. His name was Phil

Kaufman. And he was beaten up by some of the brown shirts or the run of the mill Nazi thugs. And I had the feeling that Warner would have pulled out even if it weren't for that. But that probably sealed the deal. And they pulled out of their business entirely out of Germany in that year. And not many other studios followed suit. A lot of them took much longer than that. MGM, most famously, was there until 1941, until the war had really gone worldwide, essentially. So kudos to Warner Brothers. Confessions of a Nazi Spy, it fits squarely into what Warner Brothers was doing in the 30s. And it kind of, it was the nice capstone for that decade because they were well known for

their social consciousness films. For example, Black Legion, which took on the Ku Klux Klan, They Won't Forget, which addressed mob violence and anti-Semitism as well, although a little, you know, a little bit. A little muffled. Muffled, yes. And the same with Life of Emil Zola, which also addressed anti-Semitism and injustice. And of course, we know that the Warner Brothers themselves were, their family were Jewish immigrants from Poland.

So they had, and of course, a lot of the other key people there, Curtiz and Max Steiner had also been immigrants. And of course, a lot of the other key people there, Curtiz and Max Steiner, had also been immigrants. So that was a real personal element to some of what their concerns were about what was going on over there, right? Absolutely. I mean, they were, especially Harry Warner, he was the most vocal. And what we know the most about, I think probably, you know, all of them, I think, had a love for this country. There is no doubt about it.

Yes. They were incredibly patriotic. But Harry, being the oldest, had the most vivid memories of the oppression they faced in Eastern Europe and what their parents had gone through. Europe and what their parents had gone through. And he was throughout his career in the industry carrying a social consciousness. And he didn't put the needs of profit before the needs of being integrous. He had a deep integrity. And Jack Warner isn't known for integrity, per se. It's not the first thing that comes to mind. But when it comes to love of country and being a patriot, Jack Warner was a patriot. And Warner Brothers itself, every studio, and I've said this many times, every studio, the whole industry,

united and aligned in the war effort. And every studio did an amazing job. No studio did more than Warner Brothers. And we have a lot to be proud of at this company. But I think that how Warner Brothers reacted to the growing threat of fascism and totalitarianism, and of course, the Nazis themselves, they responded directly, specifically with this film. They responded directly, specifically with this film. Then getting to the film itself specifically, how did it kind of develop? And when did it, you know, when did they start the production? How did that kind of all get started there, Jeff?

Well, it was based on the writings, newspaper writings of an FBI, I believe at that time he was a former FBI agent named Leon Turow. And he had helped break a Nazi spy ring in the 1930s in New York city. And what's interesting is, uh, Warner brothers, you know, in addition to basing the, you know, the script and the idea of the idea of the film off of his writings, they brought him on as a consultant. And we have ample evidence of that because he shows up in a ton of Warner Brothers publicity photos from about early 1939. We have photos of him on the sets of different films, including Four Daughters. We have a shot of him with Priscilla Lane. There was a Friday the 13th party in early 1939 on the set of Dodge City, the saloon set of Dodge

City. And he's there. You can see him in the background. And also related to Dodge City, the saloon set of Dodge City. And he's there, you can see him in the background. And also related to Dodge City, they had the gala premiere of Dodge City, which was a train that went from Los Angeles to Dodge City, Kansas for the premiere, which was held in Dodge City. And Leon Tarot was there too. And he's in we have, you know, probably a dozen or two photos of him in there. He doesn't look the most comfortable. He certainly wasn't the most camera-friendly person in terms of he looks very uncomfortable. But he's there. You see him with Bogart and Flynn and Jack Warner. He's there.

So they were whining and dining him during that time. So they were interacting with him while the film was in development? Yeah, I think they tried to make him a minor celebrity too because, I mean, again, pulling him out for all these press events and making sure photos were taken of him. That was definitely in the back of their minds.

Right. I assume that the character that's played by Edward G. Robinson is his character that in the film. Yes, essentially. Although Edward G. Robinson has a lot more charisma, obviously. Right. But he has more charisma than most. So that makes sense so then they did the script and and where did they film this was it there at the warner brothers backlot and then oh yes and under

special circumstances yes they had um they had a lot of uh there were there were threats they had uh you know actual threats written and telephone threats that came into them. Now, they use these threats, I'm sure for publicity purposes, but they were genuine threats. And there are stories of like a spotlight crashing to the soundstage floor right next to Everett J. Robinson during filming under mysterious circumstances. We famously have some photos of a security guard in front of a stage with confessions of a Nazi spy, and he's standing there, you know, guarding. And they have him, like, pushing people away. I'm sure those were staged, but the danger and the threats were certainly real.

There's no question about that. Because, Jeff, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't they filming under an alternate title? Yeah, that's what I've heard, too. Although that's why I think the publicity shot we have, which is in the article that Tim will mention later on. I'm sure they did this for publicity purposes. But, yeah, I have no doubt that they actually did film it under assumed names and that was just done later. out that they actually did film it under assumed names and that was just done later. George, in our last podcast, you mentioned something about there was somebody that had been kind of monitoring Hollywood or in some ways almost like intimidating the studio.

There was a representative of the German government. And I don't remember exactly what his title was or his role. I think he was some kind of foreign. He was a consul in Los Angeles. There you go. Right. I just took that up. And most of the other studios, they were terrified of him.

I mean, I've seen pictures of the guy. He looks like your classic hollywood made evil nazi um he's it's a terrifying looking person it's like uh colonel clink uh but scary not funny you know but that's what this guy looked like and he would read scripts and let the mpa or the MPDAA, as it was known then, let them know about things that they objected to. And they threatened Warner Brothers tremendously because this was being made. it was released, they did everything they could to call it lies and distortion and upside down propaganda and everything you can think of. But thankfully, the public and the reviewers as well responded to the realistic picture and actually the fine filmmaking, taking out the whole aspect of history and politics. This is a very well-made film. And it's all the more enjoyable now that we've remastered it, which we can talk about

later on. But right now, in terms of the film itself, the direction, the acting, the casting, everything about it is very top drawer. I was going to say, and also there are a lot of the crew behind the camera were refugees from Europe at the time, maybe some cases before the Nazis rose. But Anatoly Litvak, the director, was born in Russia, but was working in... He was at Ufa in 1933 and left. Went to Paris briefly, made Meyerling there, and then came here, worked at RKO for one movie, and then got under contract with one of them.

And also the lead actor, Francis Lederer, was also from... I believe he was Austrianrian austria jewish or hungarian yeah or czechoslovakian um i feel bad you know not knowing exactly what country he came from but thing is he was a matinee idol and he was working on the stage and had gone to l, and he never went back that I know of, even maybe after the war. But his career is very interesting because they thought he was going to be this huge movie star, and he preferred stage work. And he went to New York after this movie to be

at the Actors Studio. And he actually lived to be 100. And he was one of the first people we got to participate in our archival interview project. So if you see footage

of Francis Lederer from 1995, that's what that's from. And I believe he passed away in some part in the early 2000s. Yeah, he's one of the few people, the very rare group of people who was alive in three different centuries. He was born in 1899 and he died in 2000. So pretty amazing. Wow. It really is. And from what I understand, I didn't know about this about him until recently. He was an incredible philanthropist and he also taught acting and he was very politically active, particularly in the Valley.

It's fascinating to read about him. And as we were preparing the release, I was doing some research on him, uh, to learn more about him and, uh, learn things that I did not know. him from a film that we released on DVD probably about nine years ago, Romance in Manhattan, an RKO film with Ginger Rogers, where he's really delightful. But he had had smaller parts in other films. He never became the big leading man. And I think that was his own choice. But he's terrific in this movie. Yes. Well, just for a little background for those listeners who maybe are not that familiar with this movie. I mean, we've talked a little bit about the background leading up to it. But maybe one of you could take us a little bit through the storyline itself and, you know, why it's important in that sense and why it's also just purely great, a great and entertaining film. Well, this film is based on a true story. There was a German-bunned

Nazi spy ring on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. And the realities of what they were doing and how they were trying to indoctrinate German-Americans into becoming Nazis was the source of a series of newspaper articles that were written by a government agent by the name of Leon Turo. And it was actually after the trials of the spies that they were able to capture. I think they only captured four of the whole group, but they had a trial. And based on the successful prosecution at that trial, newspaper articles ran in the New York Post, Turo published a book, and Warner Brothers went into filming the story that basically follows various individuals who are being indoctrinated into the spy ring and how they're trying to permeate various places within New York with Nazi propaganda,

dropping it from the sky and all the different things they're doing to try to build up German nationalism within Americans. And it's frighteningly prescient because this film was released on DVD as part of the first 150 titles we released when the Warner Archive collection started. And we used a decent, but not particularly wonderful existing master because our business was brand new. And now the film has been restored. We scanned the original camera negative at 4K. Brand new scan and brand new master. It's been scrubbed of all dirt, debris, and any damage frame by frame. The net result of it is a beautiful image. The audio has been restored as well to remove any clicks or pops.

So it sounds great. It has that signature Warner Brothers sound, and it looks fantastic. It looks so much better than I've ever seen it, because this didn't have, like, you know, a remaster for DVD 10 or 15 years ago. This hadn't been remastered in over 25 years. So it was well worth it. And of course, the last master was done off of a second or fourth generation film element. The gain people will see and be able to experience the movie as a living organism will be highly noticeable by anyone who's watching and listening.

And it is a representation of very efficient Warner Brothers storytelling. Warner Brothers films always were fast paced. Warner Brothers storytelling, Warner Brothers films always were fast paced. And this basically condenses a very large amount of storytelling in a very tight running time. It's longer than the early 30s movies that were, you know, 65, 70 minutes. But it goes by very quickly. movies that were, you know, 65, 70 minutes. But it goes by very quickly. And I should also note that at the end of the film, there is additional footage that was added for reissue a year after it was made that shows actual newsreel footage of attacks on the occupation of Norway

and also, I believe, Denmark. Jeff, am I right? I believe so, yes. And the film is shot and produced in such a way that it almost feels like a documentary. It's probably the only Warner Brothers film of the year I can think of that doesn't start with main titles. Brothers film of the year I can think of that doesn't start with main titles. It just has one title and then it goes right into the action.

And like the films of today, the credits come at the end of the movie. And that was unheard of in 1930. Very rare at that time. I mean, since Jane did it two years later. It's also of note to see some of the actors who appear in it um in a small part ward bond as an american legionnaire who stands up to the nazi rhetoric uh that's kind of fun to see but also in uh larger supporting roles interesting to see george sanders is a very suave nazi um and uh also paul lucas playing a a Nazi as well, which is interesting because a few years later,

he won an Oscar for playing an anti-Nazi in Warner Brothers' Watch on the Rhine. And he had a very established film career. I am particularly fond of the film. He was a co-star in an MGM that we released in one of our Forbidden Hollywood releases called Downstairs, a film that John Gilbert starred in. And also John Gilbert was one of the writers of it. He came up with the story for it.

And Paul Lucas has like the second lead in that movie. And that was at the early part of the 1930s. And that was at the early part of the 1930s. And Jeff's so correct that a lot of people don't realize he won the Best Actor Oscar for Watch on the Rhine. And again, Warner Brothers making Watch on the Rhine during the war was part of its dedication to the war effort and developing the proper patriotism and loyalty to freedom and democracy. Right. I was going to ask you in terms of the actors, was there any fear from the acting community to be a part of this film? Oh, yes. Yep. There are people in the movie in smaller parts where their real names are not listed in the

credits. the movie in smaller parts where their real names are not listed in the credits. They weren't big name stars, but their acting name was changed for the credits of this movie. They're supporting players and nobody that people would recognize. And they're probably fearful. I'd say they were fearful of reprisals for their families who may still have been back in Europe. Yeah, absolutely. And I've read that they wanted Marlene Dietrich to be in this movie, and she was afraid. And she had become an American citizen by 1939. And she was tremendously supportive of the war effort and the anti-Nazi drive to rid the world of fascism. People don't realize how much she did to help the U.S. war effort, but she did.

And there's one other, Anna Sten, I believe, who was brought over here by Sam Goldwyn, not with very much success. I believe they wanted her for a role, and she turned it down out of fear as well. So what do you know about the casting of Edward G. Robinson in this role? Well, this is a really, really important thing. Edward G. Robinson was very politically sensitive. He himself was an immigrant from Romania. He came here when he was 10 years old.

He loved our country. He felt grateful to be in a land of freedom and democracy. And he basically, like, was, I mean, he didn't work for free, obviously, but in other words, like, he gave of, he gave up himself and risked his own safety to star in this film. He was a huge name to have in a film like this. Paul Lucas was not as well known. George Sanders was just making a name for himself. He was under contract to Fox, for himself. He was under contract to Fox, and Warner Brothers borrowed him from Fox to have him in this movie. And he was perfectly cast. Henry O'Neill was also in the film. And interesting, as a woman in the film, a fairly significant part, Grace Stafford,

that name may not mean much to you, but she ended up marrying Walter Lance, the animator, and she was the voice of Woody Woodpecker for a very long period of time. She wasn't the first, but she was the last. She did it for probably, they made those cartoons up through the 70s, and I believe she started doing the voice in the late 40s. through the 70s. And I believe she started doing The Voice in the late 40s. Stay with us. We'll be right back. Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast. And I wanted to let you know that we have a new private Facebook group for fans of the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers Catalog physical media releases. So if that interests you, you can find the link on our Facebook page

or look for the link in the podcast show notes. Also, there's a semi-famous story about Eberjee Robinson, because he was, George said, was very heavily into the anti-Nazi activities. And there was a party or a gathering at his home of fellow anti-Nazi activists in late 1938. And Groucho Marx famously raised a glass there and said, I want to propose a toast to Warner's, the only studio with any guts. So, again, it can't it can't be understated how much, you know, how big a risk this was for Warner Brothers. They put a lot on the line and there was pressure not only from the German government, but also from, you know, the MPA, whatever MPA was called then, George knows

better than I do, you know, was the script going to be approved? And the only way, and it did eventually obviously get approved, but really the only way it happened was because it was based on true events. If it hadn't been based on true events and it was fictional, it likely would not have gotten approved. Do you agree with that, George? Absolutely. Well, it's interesting. I'm going to go back a bit. You said, I think, Jeff, that, or maybe it was you, George, but that in 1933, basically, the Warner Brothers stopped distribution in Germany. Did I have that correct? So they weren't under pressure in 1939 to say, oh, we're going to have this loss of revenue and this market

is no longer be open to us. I mean, that was kind of like rear view mirror for them. So they had already been working in a climate of, hey, that's just not a market in terms of the business of filmmaking, whereas some of the other studios weren't facing that and maybe were a little more reticent to pull out of that market. Do I have that right? Yep. And I think Warner had also, as George said earlier, Harry and all the brothers, but Harry especially-Semitism, you know, thought, are these true Americans here?

Even though, as far as I'm concerned, they had proved themselves. So they set out to make a series of patriotic shorts. George, what was the actual name of the series of shorts? Well, they were called historical dramas. And they did one on Lincoln. They did one on the Declaration of Independence. They were all shot in Technicolor. They were all shot with big budgets. And they all need to say that the most famous of them, Sons of Liberty, is undergoing restoration now from the 35 millimeter nitrate technicolor elements. And I'm hoping that we're able to put it out looking beautiful someday with these other shorts as well. I would love to have them all done. They all deserve to be seen.

And Sons of Liberty was a super A production because Michael Curtiz, Claude Rains starring. Yes. Yes. Underguard. Right. Right. And about a revolutionary hero, American Revolution hero who happened to be Jewish, which was something probably I imagine most audiences at the time didn't know about and see and probably still don't know about or hear much about. audiences at the time didn't know about and see and probably still don't know about or hear much about so that wasn't also released in 1939 right jeff was that before or after or kind of simultaneous to uh before or after good question i i would have to research that i can't answer it off the top of my head that's a very good question. the biography films that Warner Brothers did in the 30s and the social consciousness films dealing with the Benito Juarez in Mexico and dealing with the, I get so confused, you know, a 19th century history blows my mind, but with the Austrian empire and all the political

machinations going on there in terms of Mexican independence. And it is unquestionably an anti-Nazi allegory. No question about that. Would you agree, George? Absolutely. And those came out literally, as you said, one came out, if I have these dates right, April 24th, 1939, and Confessions of a Nazi Spy, May 6th, like literally it was the next film being released. So that was no accident, of course. Well, it shows also what was on Warner Brothers' mind at the time.

Right. To their infinite credit, as I've said before. Well, George, you've mentioned many times on the podcast just how important the year 1939 is in terms of film history? Well, some people actually are trying to say it wasn't the greatest year in film history. Well, I'm here to argue that point. It was by far the greatest year in film history. It was the apex of the studio system at its peak before the war changed the world and the marketplace. And then, of course, once the war was over, you had the combo one-two punch of television and the studios having to sell

their theaters. And that really was something the industry never quite recovered from. The reason I brought that up, George, is that I was looking at the list. And of course, that was the days when Warner Brothers was basically putting out a movie a week. Right. So when I looked at the list, I couldn't necessarily find a film from Warner Brothers in 1939 that you would say is a more important film than Confessions of a Nazi Spy? Oh, you know, I mean, there are films that were certainly more popular and made more money, but this film did make money. And it was very well received and very well reviewed. And it paved the way for other blatantly revealing exposes on the Nazi threat.

On one of them we released on Blu-ray not that long ago that did come from MGM called The Mortal Storm, which is tremendously powerful. And, I mean, the Nazis kill Frank Morgan, the Wizard of Oz himself. I mean, it doesn't get more scary than that. I'm using a little levity there, but I shouldn't because this is really a very serious subject. And in reality, the whole industry banded together as the country had to band together to fight for freedom and democracy.

the country had to band together to fight for freedom and democracy. So, Jeff, how was the film itself received by the Hollywood community and the critics and things of that nature? Well, I know the movie was a financial success. It wasn't like a monster hit, but it did very well. And what I find interesting is that it won Best Picture from the National Board of Review for 1939. And that's, you know, considering what other movies came out in 1939 in Hollywood, that's a pretty amazing feat.

So, yeah, it speaks to its impact at the time that the movie had. So what was the response once the Nazi party, you know, saw what this film was, and both here in America and then also from, from, uh, from Germany? Well, I think they had to hire security guards at theaters. I can't remember if it's the Los Angeles or New York premiere, but I remember reading that it was, um, they had a lot of security there, but didn't have any major incidents, but there were incidents in other parts of the country for sure. Uh, where, you know, someone released stink bombs in the theater or tried to tear down the curtain

or excuse me, the screen. So there was response to that. But I think at that point, you know, again, Warner, they didn't care what was happening as long as people were safe. You know, they were doing what they felt was right and they were right. And if you take out all of the historical context, when the film was made and why it was made and how it was made, and you remove all that, and you just put somebody in front of this movie who doesn't know, I mean, it'd be pretty hard to find someone that doesn't know about World War II or the Nazis. But my point is, is that if you were to remove all the political and historical aspects of it and just look at it as a storytelling work of cinematic art, it succeeds on multiple levels.

It is wonderfully done. multiple levels. It is wonderfully done. And interestingly, you'll notice that this film doesn't have a credited producer. And Jeff, you can correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think anybody's credited

with writing the music. That just shows how unusual the conditions were for the making of this film. I believe Max Steiner wrote the score, but didn making of this film. Right. I believe Max Steiner wrote the score but didn't take a credit for it. That would make sense.

Yeah. I mean, Max Steiner did a lot of work he didn't get credit for. But it would make sense for Max Steiner not to want to be credited because he literally escaped the Nazis. I mean, he left Europe before the Nazis came to power, but there was anti-Semitism in full flourish long before the Nazis came to power. was a danger, even though Michael Curtiz didn't direct Confessions, he did direct Sons of Liberty. But even though he didn't direct Confessions of a Nazi spy, I'm sure as a studio, everybody understood what he was doing to try to protect his family and get his family out and other people at the studio who had family. So even those who weren't working on the film directly, I mean, it was a studio-wide

concern to protect your family, you know, for everybody who was working here at the studio. So the boldness to say, you know what, even with all that, let's do this. We need to do this film. Let's get it out there. I mean, it's, it's, uh, something to be very proud of. And, uh, I, I was just watching the movie and here's the thing. It's, it's not easy to necessarily find on a streaming service or anything. You can't get it, but you can purchase it, um, on prime. You can, you know, or you can buy the DVD, but, um, but now you can buy the Blu-rayray which looks so much better than any of them yeah so i think actually the fact that it's difficult to find and to get in a high definition quality is a big plus

to get the blu-ray as you say but in terms of just just watching it it still has a lot of relevance and resonance to the world today well the point I was about to make before actually was it's more relevant now with this Blu-ray release, unfortunately, than it was when we released the DVD in 2009 when we launched the Warner Archive. The world has become a much more frightening and dangerous place. And that's why it's important for people to not forget history, regardless of what we're talking about. You know, history needs to be relevant and in people's minds so people can learn from the past and not repeat these mistakes of the past.

Exactly. And that's why seeing a film like this and seeing films that document the horrific things that happened after this film was made until, you know, the Allied forces prevailed and won the war. And it can't be stressed enough

how important it is for people to see this movie and to learn about everything that went on. Because, you know, people are not aware of the past. They're not looking into the past to learn. And film can teach us about all sorts of things. And, you know, I know someone who told me once, we were talking about a movie that was made during World War II, but it was set in the Civil War. And he said, you can learn more about what was going on in the country during World War II than you can about the Civil War from that particular film. war one hero and someone who was pacifist and realized the seriousness of the war and became a war hero despite his deep religious beliefs and pacifism. And as a matter of fact, what happened was about two years after Confessions of a Nazi Spy was released, there was a Senate sub he gave his testimony in defense of Confessions of a Nazi Spy and three other movies, I believe one of the other movies was Sergeant George,

he quoted the response of this senator to the Warner Brothers Press Department in 1939 as a film that every American should see. And it's a testimony to patriotism, I'm paraphrasing. But this senator had praised the film. And two years later, he was part of a subcommittee trying to point fingers at Harry Warner and the filmmakers in Hollywood for creating propaganda because there was a tremendous, you know, America first isolationist power in this country. It didn't want to get involved in a foreign war. And films like this were instrumental in making people aware of just a glimpse of the anywhere until the Allies freed the death camps and saw the destruction and the Holocaust and the degree of the Holocaust. You know, that all happened later.

And I think being able to see this now in a format that shows how wonderfully and beautifully made it was. You know, I find when I watch some of the Warner Archive discs and it's, you know, the brand spanking new transfer, black and white or color, it gives a new vibrancy to the movie and it makes it seem more alive. And I think this is one of those films that benefits greatly from such a stellar presentation. And it has a very unique supplement to George, doesn't it? Yes, it does. We have a 1940 Technicolor patriotic short called Meet the Fleet. I couldn't find a 1939 short that had a good quality high definition mastery to go with this uh i obviously would have loved to have put sons of liberty with it but that's not ready yet uh so uh whereas the dvd

didn't have anything but the movie on it we have the trailer on here we have this uh short meet the Meet the Fleet, and it is to stir the patriotism of moviegoers of 1940, shot in Technicolor. But the actor who is the star was an unknown actor by the name of William Orr, and he ended up becoming Jack Warner's son-in-law and afterward became the head of Warner Brothers Television. And it was under his direction that all the great early Warner Brothers television shows were put into production. Maverick, Cheyenne, 77 Sunset Strip, Sugarfoot, Bronco, Hawaii and I, those were all under the Warner Brothers television first decade, basically, with Bill Orr as the head of the department. He was the first head of Warner television, right? Yeah. He's someone people don't know enough about. And Jeff and I both have had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Orr's son, Greg, who made a wonderful film about his grandfather, Jack Warner, called The Last Mogul.

And that's been available on video for many years. And it was part of a prior Casablanca Blu-ray release, an edited version of it. But it's interesting how all of this ties together, you know. So I thought adding this short would be a nice way to add something meaningful of the time to the disc. And then there's also a contextual essay about the making of the film to the disc. And then there's also a contextual essay about the making of the film, behind the scenes,

the story of how it was received, its text, and then there is an excerpt in text form from Harry Warner's testimony to the Senate about this film. And it reflects some of the things

in literal quotation, not my paraphrasing, of how Harry Warner responded to this inquisition that was going on in the Senate in September of 1941. They were very proud to have made Confessions of a Nazi Spy, and we felt that we needed to provide additional historical context on the disc. And that's why that essay is there in text form. And as you mentioned, Jeff, you wrote a wonderful article, and we'll have a link to that in the podcast show notes with some great pictures and detailed history that you put together that will also be available, you know, for those of you listening and those who are on the Facebook group, we'll have links, make it real easy for you to see that to get a little bit more information

about what we talked about today. Yes, it's a nice link. And I got to say the photos that we have, a lot of them are relatively recent scans from original sources or close to original sources. So the photos in the article look particularly lovely. So very proud of that article and those photos as well. Yeah. And Jeff, I know that that's part of the work that you do there at the studio, right, is help track these great, important photos that have the history of the studio. Yes. We had a collection of photos that had been probably unseen for decades. They were housed at another location. Warner Brothers got them back about 15 years ago, and we finally got to scanning them about maybe seven or eight years ago. And it turns out most of them were publicity

photos, studio publicity photos from the 30s and 40s. That's the majority of them. So it's been great. I made a point, you know, over the years to go through them and try to identify everyone we can and find some context for that. And some of those you can see are in the article itself. It's funny, some of them we had, but we had like dupe negatives or prints only of them. And to find the original negatives and scan those and make them available, it's a night and day, kind of like the movie itself. You know, we get back to the best source we can for the photography. And the results of that are really, can be really striking. And you'll see that again in some of the photos in the article.

Well, I'm excited about this Blu-ray release and that it's going to be available for everyone to get looking, you know, pristine in the restoration. Now, these extras that you've added on there, George, and just knowing some of the history and the fact that it's a great film. And now you get the great quality Blu-ray with it. So I say it's the quality that the movie deserves. It's probably one of the most important movies that isn't really well known outside of, you know, cinema fan circles. It's I think George would agree with me. It's one of the most important movies in Warner Brothers history. And that's why we're releasing it at this point is we get ready to celebrate the company's 100th birthday.

I do hear from listeners sometimes wondering what are some of the most important and the best films of Warner Brothers. And I think this is an answer to people to say, if you really want to build your Warner Brothers library of the most important films and the best films, this is one of them. So highly recommended to everybody. Well, thank you, George. Thank you, Jeff, for coming on today. Really appreciate it.

Thank you, Tim. It's been a pleasure. Thanks, Tim. I hope you enjoyed this deep dive discussion into this very important film in the history of Warner Brothers. I will have the link to the article we discussed so that you can see those images Jeff mentioned and read a little more about the history of the film. And of course, if you're interested in purchasing the films we discussed today, there are always links in the podcast show notes and on our website at www.theextras.tv. So be sure and check those out. If you're on

social media, look for our links in the podcast show notes and join us so that you can stay up to date on our upcoming guests and to be a part of our community. And you're invited to a new Facebook group for fans of Warner Brothers films called the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers Catalog Group. So look for that link in the podcast show notes as well. And for our long-term listeners, don't forget to follow and leave us a review at iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast provider. Until next time, you've been listening to Tim Millard. Stay slightly obsessed. The Extras is a production of Otaku Media, producers of podcasts, behind the scenes extras, and media that connects creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers.

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