I watched this and found it an amazing insight into the older days of the ANP or NS movement of the 70's. Its more an educational film but showed as well how some people get involved in politics more as peer pressure or out of loyalty rather than their own beliefs. The indoctrination of youngsters as shown is a sticky line to tread though they should be left to see whats right and wrong for themselves without influence from left or right as the left do so well here in the uk in all schools. Its an informative documentary that makes me wonder why it has had no further release, can anyone shed any light as to whether it is going to see a further release as with the other similar film/documentary Blood in the Face.
6 Reviews
An early look at the underside of Far Right politics
PAL10 July 2001
One of the earliest films made about the Radical Right, alerted the world to neo-nazis in California. Because the characters were nearly parodies of Nazis, few took the movement seriously, but as later events showed they were indeed serious and building sympathy for a world spinning out of their comfort zone.
Worth seeing both as an early cinema verite look at the Far, Far Right, and as a important historical insight into a movement that within a decade would have the whole country nervously looking over its shoulder at killings and robberies by a country-wide band of neo-nazis.
Worth seeing both as an early cinema verite look at the Far, Far Right, and as a important historical insight into a movement that within a decade would have the whole country nervously looking over its shoulder at killings and robberies by a country-wide band of neo-nazis.
Fascinating time capsule
JohnSeal26 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
It's hard to believe that the National Socialist White Peoples Party actually had a post office box and office located in San Francisco circa 1974, but here's the proof. In retrospect, it's equally difficult to see how anyone could feel threatened by these bozos: they're basically the World War II geeks who got picked on in high school for drawing pictures of tanks and bombers. Watching the Tracy detachment of the NSWPP prepare for their march on San Francisco is revealing: this is Revenge of the Nerds, Nazi style, with our intrepid storm troopers patently unable to even march in a straight line, never mind start a revolution. The real right wing threat, of course, was safely being nurtured within the bosom of the Republican Party, soon to come to fruition during the Reagan era and now firmly in control of our daily lives. It's probably a stretch to claim that the NSWPP and its ilk were the stalking horse of the Republican right, but when you see their ability to so completely distract the humorless and paranoid leftist demonstrators at SF State, it does make you wonder. The California Reich is a fascinating time capsule of a bygone era when whites were still the state's ethnic majority, and it's hard to imagine them staging a comeback any time soon.
Slightly Dated but important Documentary
jholmes-219 March 2003
The film looks inside the Neo-Nazi movement in California in the 1970s. While it is somewhat dated, the frank interviews provide considerable insight into the minds of radical right wingers. I use this film in my college level political psychology class as an illustration of the origins and manifestations of authoritarianism.
hilarious!
lunkmunky23 December 2001
This documentary is great! It's so funny to see these losers talk about what they believe. Nobody could have written this. It's way too funny! Anyone who sees this movie will realize how stupid Nazis are. It will deter racists and other bigots from organizing.Allen Vincent is nuts. 10 out of 10! Recommended for all!
How did the directors "do" this?
flowerseedsus30 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This is an important film, because it does show the inner workings of the American Neo-Nazi Party. I agree with the previous writers who saw "the future" in it. Dimwitted though a lot of these people seem, they are clever and crafty enough to lure unwitting people into their organization very slowly, not mentioning hate, killing, race issues, or the name of the man they still worship -- Adolf Hitler -- until the recruited person has become friendly with them for a long time.
What I don't understand is how the directors were able to get such candid footage. To essentially "infiltrate"? the various Nazi events, and even have several members of the Nazi party show their real names as members of the movie's cast. "Who" are the directors? Have they done any other movies? What was their agenda? Was this the film that theaters had to have two copies of, since the attempted showings almost invariably brought what newspaper notices called "goons" to the theaters, who stormed the film booths and tore up the cameras and the film? Apparently because the film shows that Nazis "look like everybody else -- just middle class people; not monsters." They don't like this fact getting known.
Generally, those who wished to present the showings had a second copy on reserve someplace, and the audience members were prepared to wait a while until it was safe to run the backup film.
The movie was quite sickening to me. So much so that I could not quite make it through the entire 56 minutes, and turned off the video after maybe 45-50 minutes. I felt queasy, from a combination of boredom and disgust. It's boring to me, to see people being so strange, irrational. I'll never forget the image of the mother and little daughter playing around with icing their cake with blood-red icing and a black Nazi swastika. Made me want to vomit.
PS I almost gave this a "10" rating simply because of its value as the only film of its kind that I know of. But a "10" is reserved for movies like ones made by Michael Moore!
What I don't understand is how the directors were able to get such candid footage. To essentially "infiltrate"? the various Nazi events, and even have several members of the Nazi party show their real names as members of the movie's cast. "Who" are the directors? Have they done any other movies? What was their agenda? Was this the film that theaters had to have two copies of, since the attempted showings almost invariably brought what newspaper notices called "goons" to the theaters, who stormed the film booths and tore up the cameras and the film? Apparently because the film shows that Nazis "look like everybody else -- just middle class people; not monsters." They don't like this fact getting known.
Generally, those who wished to present the showings had a second copy on reserve someplace, and the audience members were prepared to wait a while until it was safe to run the backup film.
The movie was quite sickening to me. So much so that I could not quite make it through the entire 56 minutes, and turned off the video after maybe 45-50 minutes. I felt queasy, from a combination of boredom and disgust. It's boring to me, to see people being so strange, irrational. I'll never forget the image of the mother and little daughter playing around with icing their cake with blood-red icing and a black Nazi swastika. Made me want to vomit.
PS I almost gave this a "10" rating simply because of its value as the only film of its kind that I know of. But a "10" is reserved for movies like ones made by Michael Moore!
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