Tran and Helle () were a comedy duo of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

era, played by

Ludwig Schmitz Ludwig Schmitz (January 28, 1884 – June 28, 1954) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than forty films during his career including the 1951 comedy ''The Heath Is Green (1951 film), The Heath Is Green''. He was part of the popular comedy ...

(Tran) (1884–1954) and (Helle) (1901–1984).

History

From September 1939 the pair appeared in a number of weekly 2–3 minute short films, which usually accompanied ''

Die Deutsche Wochenschau , ) is the title of the unified newsreel series released in the cinemas of Nazi Germany from June 1940 until the end of World War II, with the final edition issued on 22 March 1945. The co-ordinated newsreel production was set up as a vital ins ...

'' newsreels or feature films screened in cinema. Tran was a bald, simple-minded, yet also shrewd and jovial character, whose frequent transgressions would run counter to the German war effort or security. In different episodes Tran would listen to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, refuse to donate his accumulated

kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...

scrap metal, or engage in

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

activities. His friend Helle—taller, handsome and appearing to be more considered in judgement—served as the

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

who would ultimately show his fellow

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

er the error of his ways. While Jews were portrayed as untrustworthy, the series lacked the heavy-handed

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

found in some other German film productions of the Nazi era. Tran and Helle's shorts were discontinued in the fall of 1940, possibly due to the authorities becoming concerned that audiences might sympathise with the duped but essentially human Tran, who would on occasions utter ideas contrary to the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

regime. Schmitz was a member of the SS from 1 March 1934 and a member of the Nazi Party from May 1937, however he was barred from the German film industry from 1941 "due to unworthy behavior". It was only in the 1950s that the popular comedian was seen again in the West German cinema. He died of a heart attack in 1954.

References

External links

''Feindbücher'' episode
(YouTube video)
''Hamsterfragen'' episode
(YouTube video) Films of Nazi Germany German black-and-white films German comedy short films Nazi propaganda films Short film series {{short-comedy-film-stub