The California empire
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The California empire |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1975 |
| length | 54 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Keith F. Critchlow Walter F. Parkes |
| production | Keith Critchlow Walter F. Parkes |
| music | Craig Safan |
| camera | Keith Critchlow Walter F. Parkes |
| cut | Keith Critchlow Walter F. Parkes |
| occupation | |
| |
The California Reich is an hour-long American documentary film directed by Keith F. Critchlow and Walter F. Parkes about National Socialist activities in California in the 1970s.
action
The film illuminates the activities of a small but radical racist neo-Nazi movement that is up to mischief in California - shown here in the local chapters Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tracy - which is hardly noticed by the masses. The California Reich makes it clear right from the start that there will be no comment and that the pictures and those of staunch National Socialists and their demonstrating opponents will speak for themselves. The neo-Nazi members have given their party the official name National Socialist White People's Party and are ideologically strongly oriented towards the anti-Semitic-racist program of the NSDAP, which fell in Germany in 1945 . In addition to this ideology, there is also a virulent hatred of black citizens who the US Nazis contemptuously call "niggers". The film mentions the number of about 2,000 party members, who are divided into subgroups in 25 cities, including four in California alone.
At the beginning you hear original sounds from a Nazi radio broadcast with racist attacks, followed by recordings of uniformed, Nazi young men with swastika armbands . You hear the German soldier's song "I had a comrade" and take an oath. The next shots show Nazi demonstrators on the street and a statement by the leader of the NS branch in San Francisco, Allen Vincent, on his life so far, which includes stays as a youth in numerous reformatory institutions and later (1963) also in prison (San Quentin) . Thereupon a small parade of anti-Nazi demonstrators at the University of San Francisco is documented. Loud discussions broke out between the two groups, the Nazis and the anti-fascists. Allen's remarks about his life, which was accompanied by all sorts of ruptures, follow, as do “meetings” of local NS party members in full regalia. In the family environment, even the young children are taught the “German greeting” (“Heil Hitler”) and hatred of Jews. At private celebrations, portraits of Hitler are just as present as swastika flags. Even Santa Claus at a corresponding celebration wears a swastika armband. Target practice for party members is also shown.
Ken McAllister, party member and gun fanatic, once trained soldiers in the use of handguns (pistols, revolvers, etc.) with the Marines. At the time of shooting, he had been employed in a department store for 13 years. He houses a plethora of firearms, especially rifles, in his home. In an interview with the makers of the film, he blames the US government for the racial clash because he believes he sees a preference for dark-skinned people. He thinks that the whites should fight back, that they should fight. Then Mrs. McAllister is shown baking a cake with the swastika flag on the surface. In this family too (the McAllisters have two children), the offspring are introduced to the parents' Nazi ideology at an early stage.
After joining the Nazi Party, Paul Raymond returned to his hometown of Tracy to found a local National Socialist group. The first party member in Tracy was his brother Wayne. Tracy is a typical small town where everyone knows everyone. In the background you can hear the Nazi sound of the city with the catchy refrain "Ship Those Niggers Back". The Raymond brothers also vehemently hold the view that Jews and blacks mean the ruin of the "white race". Platoon Sergeant Fred Surber has already been fined for promoting membership in the Nazi Party while on US military property. Surber describes himself as a thoroughly military person and hopes that one day his son will choose the same career path. Surber's son James is also put into a Nazi uniform early on. Surber himself joined National Socialism because he was fascinated by the military aspects of German society under Hitler and also by the perfect organization and clout of the German Wehrmacht.
The final scenes lead back to the beginnings of the film with their demonstrations and counter-demonstrations. The Californian Nazis sing the Horst Wessel song ("Raise the flag"), the anti-fascists chant the slogan "Death to the Fashists!". Finally, in a malicious comment, Fred Surber makes fun of the Holocaust and the murdered Jews. Allen Vincent has the final word. He says with a slightly threatening undertone: When nothing and nobody is here (in the United States) anymore, we will be there.
Production notes
The California Reich was created in 1974 and 1975 and was presented to an international public in 1976 at the Cannes Film Festival . The film was never shown publicly in Germany.
The film received a 1976 Oscar nomination for Best Documentary.
reception
The New York Times reviewer, John J. O'Connor, recalled the intentions of the makers of the film - “Clearly, this is not even remotely a film of approval. The producers say: We wanted to show the Nazis as members of our society, not as human monsters, but as people from next door ”- and concluded at the end of his detailed consideration of this film regarding a possible discussion about whether The California Reich and the activities shown there and those who caused it could not possibly give the broad masses access to this ideology and whether these people should be given a (cinematic) forum at all: “The access can of course offer forums for propaganda and recruitment. But it can also lead to exposure. The overwhelming majority of viewers of "The California Empire" will likely discover a sense of acute shame that is one of the more pathetic parts of the human condition. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ The California Empire . Review in The New York Times, December 12, 1978
Web links
- The California Reich in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The California Empire in The New York Times, December 12, 1978
- Full film on youtube