Verboten!

Verboten!
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Written by Samuel Fuller
1959/USA
Globe Enterprises
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Helmuth Strasser: Polystyrene Verboten![/box]

Here we have a gonzo vision of the American Occupation in Germany as only Samuel Fuller could have imagined it.

In the closing days of WWII, American Sgt. David Brent is wounded and trapped in some rubble.  He is rescued and nursed back to health by pretty Helga Schiller.  After the surrender, fraternization and many other things are “verboten” to the American occupying forces.  So David gets a discharge and is employed as a civilian by the American Military Government.  He and Helga marry.

It turns out that this part of Germany is infested by unrepentant Nazis.  Helga’s friend Bruno leads a guerrilla movement called the Werewolves that is bent on creating hatred and chaos and forcing the exit of the Americans.  David is eventually uncertain of where the now-pregnant Helga’s loyalties lie.

This is Fuller at his most lurid.  It is by far the most anti-German of the post-War films I have seen.  Studio Hollywood was mostly on a mission of reconstruction at the time.  The acting is not great but it is not boring for one instant!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqawwouPF8o

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