Schichlegruber Doing the Lambeth Walk

Schichlegruber Doing the Lambeth Walk is a 1942 short propaganda film by Charles A. Ridley of the UK Ministry of Information.[1] It consists of edited existing footage taken from Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will to make it appear as if they were dancing to the dance style "The Lambeth Walk".[1]

The film was distributed uncredited to newsreel companies.[1]

Alternative titles

The film has many alternative titles:

  • Hoch der Lambeth Valk[2]
  • Germany Calling[2]
  • Hitler Assumes Command[2]
  • Lambeth Walk[2]
  • Hoch Der Lambeth Walk[2]
  • Hoch der Lambeth Valk: A Laugh-Time Interlude[2]
  • Lambeth Walk – Nazi Style[2]
  • Hitler Doing the Lambeth Walk[2]
  • Schichlegruber – Doing the Lambeth Walk[2]
  • Gen. Adolf Takes Over[3]
  • Panzer Ballet[4]

Background

"The Lambeth Walk" was becoming popular in Berlin.[1] In a speech that achieved attention in 1939, a speech about "revolution of private life" (one of the next big tasks of National Socialism in Germany), a member of the Nazi Party declared it "Jewish mischief and animalistic hopping".[1]

The name "Schichlegruber" derives from Adolf Hitler's father Alois Hitler, who was illegitimate and originally named Alois Schicklgruber after his mother, Maria Schicklgruber.

Reception

The Public Domain Review co-founder Adam Green claimed that the film was once screened to Joseph Goebbels, who allegedly ran out of a screening room in anger after watching the film, kicking furniture and yelling profanities while doing so.[1] This claim was also published on the website of The Public Domain Review.[5]

The film was weaponized by members of the Danish resistance, who would raid theatres and force the projectionists to show the film among others.[6]

As a humorous mashup that satirizes its original footage, the film shares similarities to 21st-century remix culture, particularly that of the post-2006 YouTube poop.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Adam Green. "Lambeth Walk – Nazi Style (1942)", Archived 2022-01-01 at the Wayback Machine Open Knowledge Foundation, 20 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Schichlegruber - Doing the Lambeth Walk (1941) Release Info", imdb.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  3. ↑ The short film Gen. Adolf Takes Over is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
  4. ↑ "Germany Calling [Main Title]". IWM Film. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  5. ↑ "Lambeth Walk - Nazi Style (1942)". The Public Domain Review. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  6. ↑ Barnouw, Erik (1993). Documentary: A History of the Non-fiction Film. Oxford University Press. pp. 149–151. ISBN 978-0-19-507898-5.
  7. ↑ Coppa, Francesca (2022), "Introduction: Vidding and the Rise of Remix Culture", Vidding, A History, University of Michigan Press, pp. 1–22, doi:10.3998/mpub.10069132, ISBN 978-0-472-03852-7, JSTOR 10.3998/mpub.10069132, retrieved 2022-12-16
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