No doubt hoping to ride a little bit of the publicity train for the upcoming May 19th release of Tom Cruise's Valkyrie, History (that's The History Channel's new moniker) has released Hunting Hitler, a 1999 episode of History Undercover, introed briefly by Arthur Kent, that looks at the various assassination attempts that were plotted and executed against the Nazi leader. As a "bonus" (although it's the equal to the first doc in both depth and run time) Plotting to Kill Hitler, a 2002 episode of History's series, Dead Men's Secrets, is also included.

There have been numerous documentaries on the subject of the German Resistance to Hitler, and the various assassination plots that were unsuccessfully attempted (a blizzard of them, along with one or two telemovies, too, have recently been released on DVD because of Valkyrie). And while I'm certainly no expert on that particular event in history (nor even a novice), I found these two docs speedy and well-produced (although necessarily superficial in their depth of info due to their respective lengths: around 50 minutes each). Both use the standard TV history doc format of alternating stock newsreel footage and black & white stills, with snippets of interviews featuring actual participants of the events, as well as scholars and writers, all overlaid with a narration.

The two assassination attempts that get the most screen time are George Elser's and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg's "July 20th" Valkyrie plot. Elser, a simple carpenter and cabinetmaker from Konigsbronn, had decided by 1938 that Hitler's Nazi regime was intolerable for the German people, and that to avoid a full-scale world war, Hitler must be assassinated. Knowing that Hitler traveled each November 8th to Munich's Burgerbraukeller beer hall to commemorate his failed "Beer Hall Putsch," Elser spent weeks secretly hollowing out a column that stood near the spot where Hitler would soon speak. Placing a homemade bomb in the column, Elser's plan would have worked if Hitler had not ended his speech 13 minutes early (the other documentary says 20 minutes). The bomb killed eight people (the other doc: nine), and almost totally destroyed the beer hall, but Hitler was nowhere in sight, and Elser was eventually tracked down and imprisoned for his crime. Tortured and eventually sent to Dachau, Hitler never forgot Elser's attempt and had him executed in the final days of the war, when Dachau was close to being liberated.

von Stauffenberg's plot is much more well known. The aristocratic Wermacht staff officer, ideologically and religiously opposed to Hitler's Nazi regime, assumed a leading position in a small but determined group of Army officers and various lower-level staff who plotted several attempts on the Fuhrer's life. Determined to bring down not just Hitler by the entire Nazi regime, von Stauffenberg's plot cleverly sought to utilize the "Valkyrie" operational contingency to mobilize the Wermacht in case of extreme civil unrest. A bomb, delivered by von Stauffenberg himself at an operational meeting at Hitler's heavily guarded Wolfsschanze ("Wolf's Lair") headquarters, was to blow up Hitler in a heavy, windowless concrete bunker, after which, von Stauffenberg was to return to Berlin and engage "Valkyrie," utilizing sympathetic troops and officers to take over key areas of control in the Third Reich. Of course, as fate would have it, the meeting at the Wolf's Lair was switched to an open window room, and von Stauffenberg's bomb was moved away from Hitler, both variables conspiring to spare Hitler his life. von Stauffenberg, unaware that he failed to kill Hitler, employed "Valkyrie," but when news spread that Hitler survived, the plot eventually failed as his co-conspirators either fell or crossed back over to Hitler's side.

Both Hunting Hitler and Plotting to Kill Hitler cover these two attempts in fairly quick broadstrokes (Plotting spends much more time on von Stauffenberg); anyone at all familiar with the plots will find nothing new here. The actual politics behind these attempts, as well as any in-depth discussion of the extent of the Resistance in Germany, are dealt with in the briefest of context, as well (neither film makes it clear that the vast majority of the German public, as well as the armed forces, were solidly behind Hitler's leadership and programs). As I said, though, I'm not an expert on this particular historical period, so I found some of the information presented here new (to me) and intriguing. Hunting Hitler went into some detail about the schizophrenic nature of Hitler's personal security measures. Apparently, his car was heavily armoured, and any plane he was to ride in was pre-flown to set off any bombs that may have been set with a tumbler or vibration trigger (lucky pilot). His personal railway car was also armoured and thoroughly searched, as well. But remarkably, Hitler never thought twice about riding in his open car, standing up in full view of thousands of people standing close to the car, because he believed quite sincerely that Providence had spared him from Elser's previous attempt, and that no one in Germany would want to assassinate him. Even more amazingly, his apartment in Berlin, where he spent quite a bit of time throughout the war, had almost no security. The front door opened directly out onto the street, and only one guard was routinely posted there when he was in residence. Didn't anyone in the German High Command know this (it seems highly unlikely they wouldn't have), and why didn't they take advantage of this?

Britain's SOE (Special Operations Executive), Churchill's "ministry of ungentlemanly warfare," is looked at here, as well, with their "Operation Foxley," designed to take out Hitler at his mountain retreat, the Berghof, near Berchtesgaden. While various plans were proposed (poisoning the water on Hitler's train, for example), eventually it was decided to plant either a sniper or a bazooka team in the woods near the Berghof, and assassinate Hitler during his daily walk down the mountain to a teahouse he had built on Mooslahnerkopf Hill. Again, according to the doc, Hitler had absolutely no security anywhere near him during these jaunts, where snipers could have been less than 50 yards away from him at any one point, securely hidden in the trees. Numerous reasons were given for the SOE's failure to follow through with "Operation Foxley" and subsequent plans - the British feared reprisals against civilians; they feared who would succeed Hitler - but it seems rather outstanding that no one in Hitler's retinue considered these security lapses a concern.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full-frame, 1.33:1 video transfers for Hunting Hitler and Plotting to Kill Hitler are about what you'd expect from History Channel docs from this time period. The stock footage looks rough; the interview footage is better, but still not of the highest fidelity, to be sure. Video noise is apparent, and the picture can be soft at times. Interlacing could be a problem if you use your big monitor (these will look better the smaller you step down). Still, most people who will want this won't expect Blu-ray quality video.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English 2.0 stereo tracks are entirely suitable for these two docs. All dialogue is clearly heard (with some slight hiss), while close-captioning helps with the accents.

The Extras:
I don't really consider Plotting to Kill Hitler a "bonus" - it's just as worthy as the Hunting Hitler feature, so other than that, there are no bonuses here.

Final Thoughts:
History, jumping on the upcoming Valkyrie DVD promotional bandwagon, puts out two well-produced docs on the various assassination attempts that were made against Adolph Hitler just prior to and during World War II. Historians may not find anything new here, but those just starting out on this subject will find them interesting. A rental would be most prudent for both groups.