A well-made, fairly gripping, but surprisingly bland movie. Or perhaps not so surprising. The Nazis are shown as gobbling up nearby nations (Austria, Czechoslovakia) and described as opposing "free speech" and "democracy." Twice it is mentioned in passing that they stir up "race prejudice." What they do to people who get in their way is conveyed only by the terror of Germans in the US who are threatened with being send back to the Fatherland. There is a single mention of a "concentration camp," but no suggestion that its occupants are there because they follow one religion.
Now, the Warner Brothers and their star, Edward G. Robinson, were Jews, so the silence was not due to any hostility on the film-makers' part. Sadly, therefore, one must conclude it was down to calculation, to the knowledge that many Americans were indifferent to the plight of the Jews, or, believing antisemitic stereotypes, thought the Nazis were doing a good job, though perhaps going a bit far. Perhaps the kindest thing one could say is that the Warners had American xenophobia in mind rather than antisemitism, and, knowing their audience would not care about even the most extreme horrors visited on foreigners, made their film solely about the threat to America.
It is also true that the movie pursues a factual, police-procedure approach rather than an emotional one. Even so, for a movie about fighting Nazis to lack even a single mention of the word "Jew" speaks volumes.
Now, the Warner Brothers and their star, Edward G. Robinson, were Jews, so the silence was not due to any hostility on the film-makers' part. Sadly, therefore, one must conclude it was down to calculation, to the knowledge that many Americans were indifferent to the plight of the Jews, or, believing antisemitic stereotypes, thought the Nazis were doing a good job, though perhaps going a bit far. Perhaps the kindest thing one could say is that the Warners had American xenophobia in mind rather than antisemitism, and, knowing their audience would not care about even the most extreme horrors visited on foreigners, made their film solely about the threat to America.
It is also true that the movie pursues a factual, police-procedure approach rather than an emotional one. Even so, for a movie about fighting Nazis to lack even a single mention of the word "Jew" speaks volumes.