Who's your favorite movie Nazi?

This is something of a spinoff from some of the discussions of Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in an adjacent thread.

Several folks have portrayed Nazis or at least dedicated WWII German soldiers in many films. Some that come to mind are James Coburn in Cross of Iron (1977); Marlon Brando, The Young Lions (1958); Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in Night of the Generals (1967); Michael Caine and Robert Duval, The Eagle Has Landed (1976), and others.

My favorites are Otto Preminger as the prison commandant in Stalag 17 as the bad Nazi, and James Mason as Rommel in The Desert Fox (1951) as a "good" Nazi.

hmm... that's a good question, I've never really thought about that before.
you do list some very good names and roles, my favorite though, would have to be Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth, from Schindler's List, he is the personification of evil in that movie, the character is made so we can hate him. Not exactly the most original take on movie nazi's (a character who represents the Nazi's 100% in actions, motives, everything), but an effective character none-the-less

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Great performance.

Although saying he was my favourite Nazi might send me down a rabbit hole I dont really want to go down.

Awesome thread idea!

Only one coming to mind at the moment (and I don't know why) is Sig Ruman's character in Stalag 17

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Bill Nighy as General Friedrich Olbricht in Valkyrie, but maybe i'm biased since hes one of my favorite actors. (also i know e might not be considered a Nazi)

Also Ed Harris was pretty cool in enemy at the gates

There's only one good type of nazi and that's an (un)dead nazi.

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I certainly "love" Goethe and Hitler and also Toht from Raiders.

I've posted this before, but this may be my fave Nazi scene.

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That's Anthony Hopkins in The Bunker, right? Looks so much like Hitler, it's scary. You're right--"favorite Nazi" is a spooky phrase, even if dealing with movie roles.

I was hoping someone would mention Sig Ruman's role as Sgt. Schulz in Stalag 17. He was an even nastier--and funnier--Nazi in the original To Be or Not to Be (1942) as Col. Ehrhardt, who was always shifting the blame to his unfortunate adjudent Capt. Schultz.

I haven't see Valkyrie, but Nighy is generally good in every role he's played. I thought of Harris in Enemy at the Gates; he had to be plenty nasty to get you rooting for a Russian Commie sniper!

Ugh! As if real Nazis weren't bad enough!!!

No, that's the great German actor Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire, The American Friend) in the German film Der Untergang - Downfall (2004), which I think already has a pretty big consensus among cinephiles and critics as the single best portrayal of Hitler yet put to film.

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Good choice!!! Perpetual good guy Peck played one of the nastiest Nazis ever! I'd forgotten about this film.

Another great choice, Mark! What a slime-ball with his folding coat-hanger!

Thanks for the info, Pike. Not familar with the actor or the film. But the guy looks so much like Hitler that he ought to be afraid to look in a mirror.

As for my picks...



For "funniest" cinematic Nazi I'm going with Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove in Kubrick's perfect satire. And that's beating out a field of comers that includes masterful performances and roles such as Charlie Chaplin's Jewish barber impostor in The Great Dictator (1940), Kenny Mars' Franz Liebkind in Mel Brooks' original The Producers (1968), Hanns Lothar as the heel-clicking SCHLEMMER! in Billy Wilder's hilarious Cold War Screwball Comedy One, Two, Three (1961) and the aforementioned Jack Benny in Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942).




My favorite movie Post-War Nazi, excluding Strangelove and some of the other comic goose steppers listed above, I'm going with Claude Rains' Alexander Sebastian in Hitchcock's Notorious (1946): henpecked by his mother, crushed by the deceit of his beautiful young bride, walking a tightrope to escape discovery of that misjudgment by his less-than-understanding colleagues. That beats out Orson Welles' Professor Charles Rankin in The Stranger (1946) and Larry Olivier's Christian "der Weiße Angel" Szell in Marathon Man (1976).




As for most compelling and fully-rounded cinematic Nazi, I'll go with Jürgen Prochnow's sub commander Captain Henrich Lehmann-Willenbrock in Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot (1981). I also like Rod Taylor's clever Nazi Major Walter Gerber with his elaborate scheme to learn the details of D-Day in the underrated wartime thriller 36 Hours (1965) and Howard Vernon as Werner Von Ebrennac, the Nazi officer trying to no avail to engage his unwilling hosts in evening conversation in Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Silence de la Mer (1949). I also love Gerald Alexander Held's interrogator Robert Mohr forced to question his own understanding of the Nazi party and its methods in Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005).




As for the best all-around performance, I too must echo Bruno Ganz's tour de force as Hitler himself in Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall (2004).

Great choices, Pike! Lothar was hilarious, and I also liked Ken Mars’ “Nazi-like” Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974).

I also liked Tom Dugan playing Bronski playing Hitler in To Be or Not to Be (1942). Thought he looked a lot like Hitler. Also liked Jack Oakie as the "other" facist dictator Napoloni in The Great Dictator.

Claude Rains, one of my favorite actors, is always good, especially in that role. Glad you mentioned Welles in The Stranger and Olivier in The Marathon Man.

I was sure someone would mention Das Boot. Another great sea-going Nazi stinker—Lyle Bettger as Chief Officer Kirchner in The Sea Chase (1955). Bettger is among my favorite all around villains.

it must be scheindler's list and the piano...is it correct?
very tragic and cruel!! if i live in that time, i would surely kill hitler!

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How would you pull that off?

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