G.P.U. (1942) Poster

(1942)

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6/10
Well Handled Wartime Propaganda Thriller
boblipton20 October 2021
Laura Solari is a Russian concert violinist touring Europe. She also works for the O. G. P. U., which is odd, because the Bolsheviks killed her family, and she is out for revenge. Will Quadflieg is a student, driving a truck part-time, whom the O. G. P. U get to work for them, by blackmailing him, then blackmailing him again.

Some of these things will be explained by the end of this movie, but not all of them. It's directed byKarl Ritter, who has a very poor reputation as making propagandistic, wordy potboilers. Well, this one is very propagandistic -- Germany having invaded Russia, it was time to make it clear that they were bad, bad people -- but that's the script that was handed to him. In terms of moviemaking with a bad script, it's pretty well done, with lots of moving shots, location shooting in Paris, some interesting Dutch angles, and the editing is top notch, with a nice montage of locations in France and the Low Countries by Ritter's regular editor, Conrad von Molo. Judging by this film, and the two other films from Ritter that I have seen, I would suggest that the low opinion that critics like Karsten Witte have is based on the intellectual content of his films, rather than his abilities to make one that, once you strip out the egregious propaganda, is engaging.

What's that? Ritter was also the producer and the writer?
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9/10
Confusing propaganda
cynthiahost7 April 2010
Warning: Spoilers
How did the producer was able to get by with putting the tuna china town in the movie at the communist parties party sequence? This was an American tune and it was the so called n- music Goebeles called and had banned . He was a hypocrite. I didn't see Horst winter singing neither. Lale Anderson was suppose to show up at the Gots café sequence .Didn't see her at the café neither. This was a good entertaining drama by today standards. Although this version I saw had no subtitles .I had to carefully take note of the story. Olga, played by Laura Solaris, is a Violinist working for a organization that promotes peace.Her family got killed by one of the heads of G. P. U. cause of their dissent from the big wig Nikolai,played by Andrew Engleman, She joined the organization to get back at them. Will Qaudflieg,who plays Peter,Is sending a message to the secretary of the party, little does he know it's a bomb . At the secretaries place he meets Irina, played by Marina Von Ditmar.Well as soon as the secretary receives it and goes into the room it explodes, She blames Will and calls the police. The police questions him. He doe not know whats going on. Then as they take him to the prison place they end up going some where else . The G. P. U. instead . He's shocked that they weren't the real police.He wants to know what's going on here. But they want to know who killed the secretary. They end up getting Irina to question her. They manage to both escape with the aid of Olga, They all end up In Rotterdam. One terror attack on one place over another to give power to the G.P.U. Finally She Gets Nikolai, Olga , and attempts to quit. Poor Irina and and Peter are caught again are being tortured again until the good old Nazis come to the rescue. Lale Anderson was a big singer in Germany at the time.Why didn't they have a music break? To display her talent? This would of messed up the propaganda causing it to be melodramatic instead.
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5/10
Heavy handed Nazi propaganda
malcolmgsw25 August 2014
When this film was released the Nazis and the Soviets were at war rather than allies.So clearly the Nazis had to justify their invasion of Russia by showing how cruel,and deceitful and merciless were the Russians.the problem with this film is that it is rather ponderous and at 97 minutes far too long to hold peoples attention.As is usual in this type of film the Russians,or however is the enemy is shown in the most unflattering light possible and the Nazis in an extremely heroic light.The bombing of Rotterdam being shown as a heroic venture to free the captives of the Russians rather than the reality which was the bombing and invasion of a hitherto neutral country.Such things as truth never bothered the Nazis.
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