The Mad Dog of Europe

Six years ago, David Fincher tried to rescue Herman Mankiewicz from the obscurity of classic Hollywood with the biopic Mank. The man won an Oscar, among other things, as co-writer of Citizen Kane. In 1933 — by which time he already had dozens of screenwriting credits to his name — he tried to warn the world about the rise of Adolf Hitler with The Mad Dog of Europe. Hitler himself believed cinema was the ideal means of winning the masses over to his side, and Mankiewicz wanted to attack him with his own weapons. But no studio wanted to burn its fingers on the script. Rumour had it that if the film were made, Nazi Germany would ban all American titles from its cinemas. Through interviews and fascinating archive footage, the documentary The Mad Dog of Europe tells the story of this doomed film, and paints a picture of the antisemitism Mankiewicz had to endure, including in Hollywood.