"A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth."
That's not a quote from a movie. That was Hitler's Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels.
Wartime propaganda is something we don't see much in the media, yet its effectiveness can result in devastating consequences.
American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally is a courtroom and historical drama based on the actual trial of an American who became a major voice of Nazi propaganda during World War II.
The film is a lot like The Conspirator, in which a reluctant lawyer has to represent a detestable person. Mildred Gillars had a number of nicknames, but she was best known as "Axis Sally," and Al Pacino plays the lawyer who has to defend the notorious broadcaster.
Villains are not always one-dimensional, but American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally might be slightly biased. While Mildred Gillars was widely hated, the legal defense, as portrayed in the movie, made compelling arguments, and I appreciate keeping an open mind, but some of the material in the German Nazi broadcasts, which included anti-Semitism, are indefensible.
Ironically, Axis Sally had millions of regular listeners in the United States. The story is another fascinating insight into American history I didn't learn about in school.
Al Pacino is an acting legend, and while it may not be one of his best-known films, American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally is definitely worth checking out (as well as The Conspirator).
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