I love archive.org and learned about the site from IMDb. After all, many of the public domain films on the site have links on IMDb...and I followed the links to the site so I could download the pictures for free. In this case, however, there is no link on IMDb and I found "Victory of the Faith" by looking about archive.org. It's certainly NOT a typical film for the site and the story behind it is listed here on IMDb. This is apparently Leni Riefenstahl's first propaganda movie she made for the Nazi party and she would later go on to make the notorious pictures "Triumph of the Will" and "Olympia"...and effectively curtailed her career because she appeared to be a Hitler-lover. Sure, she later went on to make some small films but her days as a mover and shaker in the industry were gone after the war. Plus, no matter what she later said, she certainly did seem to admire Hitler and did her best to show him and the party in the best possible light! I've seen just about all her other films (including the two others I mentioned) but until I recently found this one, I assumed "Victory of the Faith" was a lost film. Read the IMDb trivia to find out how it became 'unlost'! After reading, you'll understand why this copy is a bit poor as well as how historically significant it is.
What follows is a long and relatively dull film showing the Nazis at their rally at Nuremburg, just after Hitler and the Nazis assumed power over Germany. You'll see a veritable smorgasbord of evil Nazis, though for some reason Heinrich Himler is absent. Additionally, a delegation of Italian Fascists are on hand to sing the praises of Hitler. And, of course, there's Hitler doing what he does best--whipping up the crowds.
Much of the film is essentially silent with added martial music. According to the film's intro, Riefenstahl didn't film the events herself but pieced together footage from the German press. Regardless, it's effective propaganda by some evil folks that is mostly of interest to historians or those who are intrigued by Rieenstahl and her sad legacy. Hard to rate...but interesting.
