Lights Out in Europe

1940 0h 40m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 3

Documentary

Synopsis

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This pulse-pounding documentary from the filmmaker Herbert Kline traces the rise of Hitler up to the very brink of WWII. The commentary, written by James Hilton and read by Fredric March, urges American viewers to abandon neutrality and enter a conflict about to explode.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Herbert Kline
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 5

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 40-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 5

ERA

Did you know

86 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 5

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 5

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0195882 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 5

WILD

Did you know

Only 3 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Herbert Kline directs. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 40-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
286 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4IMDB entry: tt0195882 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
5Only 3 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Runtime: 40 min · 0h 40m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Lights Out in Europe (1940)

Also by

Herbert Kline

Community reviews

What people are saying

Renoir2020-09-19
In researching the work of Herbert Kline, I came across these excellent notes from a 2017 screening at "Cinema Rediscovered" in Bristol, England, which I reproduce here for preservation and to provide much needed information about this rarest of films. Rarely seen since its initial 1940 release; Herbert Kline’s timely documentary traces the final months of an uneasy peace in 1939 and records a Europe on the brink of total war. Unlike many other documentaries made at the time, Kline’s incredible directing highlights the real people of the cities of London, Danzig and Warsaw and rarely mentions the international leaders involved in the summer of 1939. If anything, this beautifully shot film is about the people whose lives are about to change forever. On his first professional assignment as a cameraman, a young Douglas Slocombe found himself accompanying director Kline to the Free City of Danzig and then onto the Polish border. While there, the two men began to realise the Nazis’ had begun their invasion of the country. The pair joined the mass of refugees fleeing the invading forces, filming what they could along the way and capturing some of the most impressive and unique images ever to be filmed of the Second World War. Digitally restored by The Museum of Modern Art, New York from the only surviving print of the original full length version, Lights Out in Europe is a forgotten masterpiece of documentary wartime filmmaking and the first adventure for the great cinematographer, Douglas Slocombe.