Which films are being shown on the screens during the Annexation?
Depending on the period during the annexation and the cinemas in question, between 85 and 100% of the films screened in Alsace and Moselle were German. Next came Italian films and Italian German co-productions, some of which featured in the top-grossing lists for the towns studied: Mutter in Colmar and Strasbourg; Premiere der Butterfly in Metz; and Alkazar (Metz and Thionville). Films from other countries appeared in the programs on a more sporadic basis (Japan, Mexico, Spain and Hungary).
The appeal of novelty
The Nazi authorities took care to offer new releases in both large and small towns. In Metz and Strasbourg, some movie theaters had exclusive rights to new films, whilst others focused more on re-screening films that had been released several months, or even several years, earlier. At the time, this was the only way for spectators to see a film they had previously enjoyed again.
However, Strasbourg stood out as a regional exception. Films were screened there in a record time following their national premiere (often in Berlin). The city was regarded as a key player in the Reich’s distribution networks. In Metz, release times were also short at the start of the annexation. But as time went on, and film stock became increasingly scarce, the city was served less and less effectively.
The most frequently screened films
An analysis of more than five thousand programs screened between July 1940 and November 1944 reveals a remarkable consistency across movie theaters in Alsace and Moselle: almost all of the most frequently screened films fall into the entertainment genre. Comedies, melodramas, musicals and Heimatfilme dominate the charts, whilst films containing explicit propaganda remain in the minority.
Moving the audience: the great melodramas
Melodramas were among the most popular films of the period. Die goldene Stadt, the most widely screened film in the towns studied (with nearly 476 screenings recorded), tells the tragic story of a young peasant girl fascinated by the city of Prague, whose dreams of emancipation lead to disaster. Other hits can be identified in the box-office charts: Annelie (270 screenings), which follows the journey of a young woman facing life’s trials, and Mutter, centred on the sacrifices of a mother grappling with the hardships of her time. They all rely on the same narrative devices designed to stir the audience’s emotions: thwarted passions, family conflicts, the weight of fate and moral dilemmas.
Photo 60 : Coll. BNUS – Advertising poster for the SCALA cinema promoting the screening of the Franco-Italian film Mutter (1941, directed by Guido Brignone), starring Beniamino Gigli, in March 1942.
Photo 61 : Coll. part. William Gillespie – Movie Poster for Annelie (1941, Josef von Baky).
Cumulative ranking of the most frequently screened films in the cities of Colmar, Metz, Mulhouse, Munster, Saint-Avold, Strasbourg and Thionville. Full cinema programs for all cinemas in these seven cities were compiled into a database. The number of screenings for each film shown was then totalled. This method highlights the most popular films and genres, although it may also obscure certain local variations. Logically, films released during the early years of the annexation were more likely to be re-screened.