The story of Mildred Gillars (aka Axis Sally), the American expatriate who was charged with treason for making radio propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis during World War II, is an interesting one-and we can thank Meadow Williams for producing it. Inheriting $800 million after her vitamin tycoon husband passed away in 2015 sure helped Ms. Williams in bringing the little known historical drama to the screen.
Williams is around 55 but looks quite good for her age, playing Gillars who was in her early forties when collaborating with the Nazis. The story jumps back and forth between Gillars' time in Germany and during her trial in a Washington, DC Federal Court in 1949. Al Pacino plays her defense attorney James Laughlin during the trial scenes along with the inexperienced young co-counsel Billy Owen (Swen Temmel, Williams' boyfriend in real-life).
Gillars had already been in Germany for approximately seven years when war broke out between Germany and the US. She was hired by Joseph Goebbels (Thomas Kretchmann) and worked for his Propaganda Ministry, utilizing her skills as an actress and singer, attempting to convince Americans that they should stay out of the war which was promoted as an exclusive "European affair."
Gillars was no different than many Americans who championed isolationism as the preferred national foreign policy. She got into trouble however by deciding to remain in Germany after war broke out between the US and Germany. Gillars had fallen in love with a German national who could not countenance the idea of living with Villars back in the US but he eventually was sent to the Eastern front where he was killed.
Gillars then fell in love with another American expatriate, radio producer Max Otto Koischwitz (Carsten Norgaard), who wrote one of the radio plays she acted in which ultimately got her convicted of treason.
The story becomes interesting when it becomes obvious that the film scenarists decide to treat Gillars sympathetically. The script calls for Williams to play Villars as extremely arrogant and it becomes clear that defense attorney Laughlin finds her so distasteful that instead he sends co-counsel Owen to deal with her directly in person while she's incarcerated.
It's not exactly Williams' fault for initially depicting Gillars as such a one-note character. The script shows her as bitter as she is the subject of mass hatred and unable to tell her side of the story. Eventually she warms up to Owen who lends a sympathetic ear-and during the trial she finally does get to explain why she did what she did.
The crux of the film is Laughlin's bold defense that Villars was forced to work for the Nazis against her will. Her passport had been confiscated and she was threatened with death if she did not cooperate. These points are made during the defense attorney's riveting closing argument.
As evidence that Gillars was a victim of Nazi perfidy (and not a collaborator), there's a scene where Goebbels beats and rapes her for going off script using the word "unbeatable" instead of Goebbels' preferred word "invincible" to describe the superiority of the German army. I question the veracity of all these scenes in which Gillars interacts with Goebbels as I had no idea that Goebbels spoke English at all and that a man in his position would have actually dealt with her directly.
I have mixed feelings about the strategy to treat Gillars sympathetically throughout the narrative. On one hand the feelings of sympathy were reflected in the jury's ultimate decision-she was acquitted of seven of the eight counts of treason. But public opinion was such that the jury probably felt obligated to convict her of at least one count. And although she was sentenced to 10-30 years in prison (paroled after 12), Laughlin's defense can be seen as a victory as he ensured that his client avoided the death penalty.
Although the sympathetic view may have ultimately been the correct one, such a view needed a little more nuance. In other words, there may have been a little too much sympathy here. While there is a scene in which Gillars bitterly complains about not being allowed to go home, there is also the whole issue of her relationship with Koischwitz who seems a lot more sympathetic to the Nazi cause than Gillars. How much of an influence did he have on her? Perhaps in reality she had mixed feelings about her German hosts as they did enable her to become a successful entertainer (and that of course is what she wanted in the first place).
Laughlin also made some interesting points in his client's defense, indicating that the soldiers did not take Gillars' propaganda broadcasts seriously and their morale was never seriously undermined. What's more at Gillars' insistence, she interviewed American POWs on the air and gave comfort to families who had no word up until that time as to the fate of their loved ones.
Williams puts in a serviceable performance as Gillars, saddled by a script that calls for an overly sympathetic portrait. Pacino, with his usual over-the-top demeanor, manages to be thoroughly entertaining and makes some good points in the role (particularly when he addresses the jury and asks them what they would have done if they were in Gillars' position). Similar to Williams, Kretchmann as Goebbels is saddled with a script that makes the German propaganda minister into the evil heavy (some charm might have fleshed out the character a bit).
The jury is still out as to whether "Axis Sally" was a true victim or dastardly collaborator. I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in between.
Williams is around 55 but looks quite good for her age, playing Gillars who was in her early forties when collaborating with the Nazis. The story jumps back and forth between Gillars' time in Germany and during her trial in a Washington, DC Federal Court in 1949. Al Pacino plays her defense attorney James Laughlin during the trial scenes along with the inexperienced young co-counsel Billy Owen (Swen Temmel, Williams' boyfriend in real-life).
Gillars had already been in Germany for approximately seven years when war broke out between Germany and the US. She was hired by Joseph Goebbels (Thomas Kretchmann) and worked for his Propaganda Ministry, utilizing her skills as an actress and singer, attempting to convince Americans that they should stay out of the war which was promoted as an exclusive "European affair."
Gillars was no different than many Americans who championed isolationism as the preferred national foreign policy. She got into trouble however by deciding to remain in Germany after war broke out between the US and Germany. Gillars had fallen in love with a German national who could not countenance the idea of living with Villars back in the US but he eventually was sent to the Eastern front where he was killed.
Gillars then fell in love with another American expatriate, radio producer Max Otto Koischwitz (Carsten Norgaard), who wrote one of the radio plays she acted in which ultimately got her convicted of treason.
The story becomes interesting when it becomes obvious that the film scenarists decide to treat Gillars sympathetically. The script calls for Williams to play Villars as extremely arrogant and it becomes clear that defense attorney Laughlin finds her so distasteful that instead he sends co-counsel Owen to deal with her directly in person while she's incarcerated.
It's not exactly Williams' fault for initially depicting Gillars as such a one-note character. The script shows her as bitter as she is the subject of mass hatred and unable to tell her side of the story. Eventually she warms up to Owen who lends a sympathetic ear-and during the trial she finally does get to explain why she did what she did.
The crux of the film is Laughlin's bold defense that Villars was forced to work for the Nazis against her will. Her passport had been confiscated and she was threatened with death if she did not cooperate. These points are made during the defense attorney's riveting closing argument.
As evidence that Gillars was a victim of Nazi perfidy (and not a collaborator), there's a scene where Goebbels beats and rapes her for going off script using the word "unbeatable" instead of Goebbels' preferred word "invincible" to describe the superiority of the German army. I question the veracity of all these scenes in which Gillars interacts with Goebbels as I had no idea that Goebbels spoke English at all and that a man in his position would have actually dealt with her directly.
I have mixed feelings about the strategy to treat Gillars sympathetically throughout the narrative. On one hand the feelings of sympathy were reflected in the jury's ultimate decision-she was acquitted of seven of the eight counts of treason. But public opinion was such that the jury probably felt obligated to convict her of at least one count. And although she was sentenced to 10-30 years in prison (paroled after 12), Laughlin's defense can be seen as a victory as he ensured that his client avoided the death penalty.
Although the sympathetic view may have ultimately been the correct one, such a view needed a little more nuance. In other words, there may have been a little too much sympathy here. While there is a scene in which Gillars bitterly complains about not being allowed to go home, there is also the whole issue of her relationship with Koischwitz who seems a lot more sympathetic to the Nazi cause than Gillars. How much of an influence did he have on her? Perhaps in reality she had mixed feelings about her German hosts as they did enable her to become a successful entertainer (and that of course is what she wanted in the first place).
Laughlin also made some interesting points in his client's defense, indicating that the soldiers did not take Gillars' propaganda broadcasts seriously and their morale was never seriously undermined. What's more at Gillars' insistence, she interviewed American POWs on the air and gave comfort to families who had no word up until that time as to the fate of their loved ones.
Williams puts in a serviceable performance as Gillars, saddled by a script that calls for an overly sympathetic portrait. Pacino, with his usual over-the-top demeanor, manages to be thoroughly entertaining and makes some good points in the role (particularly when he addresses the jury and asks them what they would have done if they were in Gillars' position). Similar to Williams, Kretchmann as Goebbels is saddled with a script that makes the German propaganda minister into the evil heavy (some charm might have fleshed out the character a bit).
The jury is still out as to whether "Axis Sally" was a true victim or dastardly collaborator. I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in between.