Selling Hitler [View all]

Just saw the uncut version of this 1991 British mini-series, based on the book by Robert Harris.

Anyone interested in critical thinking - and its failure - will enjoy this. We get to see the best and brightest in world media, "believing because they wanted to believe." And ending up looking like fools and yokels. Huge amounts of money were lost, jobs and reputations destroyed, etc.

For those who've never heard of it, "Selling Hitler" is the story of the Hitler Diaries hoax of the early 1980's.

This con job eventually dragged in a cast that included Rupert Murdoch, eminent historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, eminent crackpot David Irving, Herman Goering's daughter, a Texas millionaire with a Hitler fetish. And a slew of high-powered journalists and their bosses at Bertelsmann AG, Der Stern magazine, Newsweek and more.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but watch carefully for all the neat little jabs and in-jokes. Like the Hitler jigsaw puzzle. And the blonde Valkyrie in a fantasy sequence, belting out a Wagnerian opera while simultaneously chewing her gum.

Amazon has it for a pretty good price. Just make sure you get the Acorn Media DVD release. It's the uncut version, but a shorter version is also available.

And here's the IMDB link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0124256/