Underplayed Gems

The Fire Devil (1940)

The Fire Devil poster
Original title
Der Feuerteufel
Directed by
Luis Trenker
Genre
drama film
Country
Nazi Germany, Germany
Runtime
1h 40m
Rating
5.8 of 10 from 4 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This film is set during the Tyrolean Rebellion against Napoleon. It follows a man who leads a revolt against French forces in the mountains. The movie was a big success in its time and shows a dramatic struggle for freedom.

historicalstirringpatrioticdramaticfast-pacedgrandioseearnestheroic

What happens

The Fire Devil (German: Der Feuerteufel) is a 1940 German historical adventure film directed by and starring Luis Trenker. It also featured Judith Holzmeister, Bertl Schultes and Hilde von Stolz. The title is sometimes translated as The Arsonist. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Erich Grave and Ludwig Reiber. It was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich. Location shooting took place in Mittenwald, Schwäbisch Hall and North Tyrol. It premiered at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin. Costing over a million reichsmarks to make, it easily recouped its production costs at the box office and was a considerable popular success. It is set during the Tyrolean Rebellion against Napoleon, about which Trenker had previously made another film The Rebel in 1932. However Adolf Hitler, who had been an admirer of the previous film, was apparently displeased feeling that the parallels between Napoleon and the Third Reich meant that the film glorified and potentially incited popular revolt against the regime. To restore himself to favour, Trenker published his novel Captain Ladurner which was overtly pro-Nazi. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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