Fehrenbach - Cinema in democratizing Germany: reconstructing national identity after Hitler

I have benefited from the support of many individuals and institutions over the course of this project and am delighted to have reached the point where I can at last thank them in print. The late Harold Poor won me over to the study of modern German history during my undergraduate years with his captivating lectures on the subject; I am grateful for his crucial early influence, wisdom, and support throughout graduate school. Victoria de Grazia first stimulated my interest in the cultural dimensions of Americanization and continues to be both an intellectual inspiration and an invaluable critic. I am also indebted to Robert Moeller, who patiently waded through various drafts of this project and, in a spirit of generosity and good humor, doled out astute insights, helpful criticisms, and large doses of encouragement. My thanks also go to Volker Berghahn and Omer Bartov for raising thought-provoking questions in response to individual chapters; to John Gillis and Miriam Hansen for providing careful readings and helpful comments in the early stages of this project; and to Paul Clemens and Ursula Hardt.

This book would not have been possible without the generous financial assistance of various institutions. A grant from the German Academic Exchange Service in 1987 facilitated my early research in German archives, and fellowships from the Rutgers University Graduate School and the Rutgers Center for the Critical Analysis of Contemporary Culture provided crucial financial and intellectual support. I am grateful to the Colgate University Research Council for a major grant in 1992-93, which allowed me to return to Germany to complete research for the book, and for a second grant in 1993-94, which enabled me to enlist the aid of David Cappillo, who deserves my thanks as a diligent research assistant.

Numerous archivists and librarians have extended indispensable assistance in Germany and the United States. I would like to thank Herr Rdiger Koschnitzski at the Deutsches Institut fr Filmkunde in Frankfurt, Herr Peter Latta at the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin, Herr Dr. Saupe at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in Munich, Herr Volker Viergut at the Landesarchiv Berlin, Herr Fischer at the Landesbildstelle Berlin, Herr Teutsch at the Stadtarchiv in Mannheim, Herr Hecker at the Stadtarchiv in Munich, Ned Comstock at the Cinema Library of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and the research staff at the National Archives in Suitland, Maryland, for their patient responses to my inquiries.

My thanks to John Pommer for generously allowing me access to the personal papers of his father, Erich Pommer, and to both John and Heidi Pommer for welcoming me into their home and sharing their reminiscences about postwar Germany and exiled Germans in Hollywood. Enno Patalas and Fee Vaillant consented to be interviewed about their contributions to the German film club movement in the 1950s and supplied important insights that could not be culled from archival or published sources. I owe a debt of gratitude to Eric Rentschler for offering helpful suggestions, access to his personal film archive, and hospitality in both Berlin and Irvine; and to Richard McCormick for relieving my desperation by graciously sharing his German films on video. At the University of North Carolina Press, I would like to thank Lewis Bateman for his early and ongoing interest in my project, managing editor Ron Maner, and my editor, Paula Wald, for her good judgment and meticulous attention to text and detail.

On a more personal level, Id like to express my heartfelt thanks to Bob Mensel and Jennifer Ham for their valued friendship and wise input; to my sister, Lori Fehrenbach, for a timely rescue in Berlin; and to Joseph Rotola and my family for patiently supporting me in a myriad of ways during the long life of this project. Finally, special thanks to David Buller for his editorial suggestions and companionship over the past two and a half years.