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Martin Bormann?

posted 20 years ago by n1mr0d
10 replies | jump to latest

Martin Bormann, a nazi criminal, used as a character in a comical film? And what about the nazi anthems at the beginning? Why didn't Russ get the ADL up the ass?

[–] briankaz 20 years ago

Meyer routinely uses Nazi references in his films -- see Up, for example, where the Nazism is much more relevant to the plot. For explanation, consider that Meyer got his start as a photographer in WWII and that he tends to use themes with which he has direct experience in real life. Consider Nazism as a theme to be exploited like any other, not something sacred and untouchable. In Up, Meyer associates Nazism with aberrant sexual behavior and punishes it accordingly. In Supervixens, Martin Bormann is the butt of people's jokes, from SuperAngel's "Get your Kr**t ass out on that pump island and tell my old man to come home or I'm going to burn down this f***ing lean-to," to Harry Sledge's "You work for that old Heiney Martin Bormann." I think the Nazi anthem at the beginning is hilarious because its pomposity is juxtaposed with the blue-collar mundane tow-truck-driving Bormann. Meyer's revenge on the Nazis is subtle but in my opinion very effective!

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] puttnies 18 years ago

Meyer surely worked with the the myth around Bormann's disappearing from history without leaving a trace of his body. It was believed that he survived like Eichmann in South America. Today we know that he died in Berlin, May 1945, while he tried to leave the besieged city. His corpse was found there in 1973.
By the way: Meyer is a German, often a German-Jewish name.

[–] filmo70 20 years ago

Martin Boorman: "I bring you an ultimatum from the Fuhrer"

That line kills me.

[–] gregorynicoll 18 years ago

Yeah, Martin Boorman turns up in BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and in THE SEVEN MINUTES as well, a nice little inside joke for the fans.

Meyer was a soldier who quite literally fought against the Nazis during WWII, so he can hardly be considered a sympathizer/supporter of their cause on any level.

He's just poking fun at the idea of Boorman escaping the Nuremburg trials and winding up at some menial job, such as tending bar in Hollywood or operating a fuel stop in the western desert.

[–] pookatimes 18 years ago

He was also a character in Meyer's last film, Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens. He pops up as a musician having sex at the beginning of the film. Meyer, who closes the film himself, "checks out on a historical note", telling a fabricated story about Martin losing his teeth during the war. Once again, he has sex (this time in a coffin), which effectively ends the movie.

[–] Jimbo52 18 years ago

Henry Rowland played "Martin Bormann" in at least 3 Meyer movies, with hilarious results. I especially liked the opening of ULTRA-VIXENS where Bormann sits in smoking jacket and ascot playing a rousing march on the grand piano (which we soon find out is a PLAYER piano, and he's faking). He then climbs into a casket and covers himself with a shroud (with eye holes) and calls the buxom blonde (who had been playing Pong... remember that?) to come over and mount him as he lays in the coffin. The casket is soon doing a jig on its wheels as they have sex. Off-the-wall hilarity!

[–] jonchopwood 15 years ago

It underscores the absurdity of the whole enterprise, and of America (and her myths) itself. Cliff's nightmare is a variation of pursuit of the American Dream.

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"Why do people always laugh in the wrong places?"
--Henry Ford II

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Tresix 12 years ago

Take into consideration that Mel Brooks also often uses Nazi themes in his movies. As Brooks puts it, his mission in life now is to make Adolf Hitler the biggest laughingstock in history. Henry Rowland, who played Boormann in the Meyer's movies, also had a small part in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever. He's the dentist who gets killed when the gay assassins drop the scorpion down the back of his shirt.

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