Dictators in the Cinema

Viva Villa was one of Hitler’s favourite films – and he recognised himself in the main character, Pancho Villa, the Mexican general. Yet Joseph Goebbels considered the film

to be too dangerous to show at the cinema. Goebbels not only dictated the programme of films shown in Nazi Germany, but also became increasingly involved in the medium as an author and dramaturge. Even Stalin, who recognised the importance of the medium

at a late stage, immediately interfered in productions. And even Lenin, whose main

interest was in industrial and political educational films (for example, on the subject of

hydraulic peat production), controlled the film industry. But the first to recognise and

use the power of cinema for propaganda ends was Mussolini. With his studio Cinecittà,

he nationalised the entire film industry and tried to create a fascist Hollywood.