Alliance Atlantis Communications took a big chance, and whether it pays off will become clear on May 19. That’s when the numbers will come in for the miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil, a US$15-20-million production from the Canadian media giant. The first of the mini’s two parts debuts in the U.S. on CBS and domestically on Global affiliates CH Hamilton and CH Vancouver Island on Sunday, May 18, in the heart of the crucial sweeps season.

Any miniseries offered up when the international market demand for the form is deflated is risky enough. This one has the added wrinkle of its protagonist being Adolf Hitler, perhaps the most reviled individual in the history of mankind.

The race is on for the producers to complete the film, which shot in Prague between December and March. Few have yet to see a cut, and yet the project has drummed up more than its share of controversy, dating back to CBS’ announcement of it at the broadcaster’s fall launch. The mini had been criticized by the likes of the Anti-Defamation League – which recently reversed its stance – and appears to have led to the departure of a top AAC executive.

John Pielmeier (Agnes of God) adapted the script from British historian Ian Kershaw’s acclaimed biography entitled Hitler, 1899-1936: Hubris, but the film traces the dictator’s formative years only up to 1933, when he assumes the role of German chancellor. Scottish actor Robert Carlyle plays Hitler as an adult. Carlyle might be best known for his bare-all performance in the blockbuster comedy The Full Monty, but any who doubt his ability to take on a less cuddly character need only reference his harrowing supporting turn in 1996’s Trainspotting.

The cast also includes Stockard Channing as Hitler’s mother Klara, Peter O’Toole as German president Paul von Hindenburg, Matthew Modine as Fritz Gerlich, a newspaper editor nemesis of Hitler’s, and Liev Schreiber as Ernst Hanfstaengl, the Fuhrer’s foreign press secretary. Directing is Montreal helmer Christian Duguay, who has proven capable of commandeering large-scale logistics in the action flick The Art of War and the AAC mini Joan of Arc, but who has never gone anywhere near a project with such complex political themes.

The politics behind the production are complex in their own right.

Last month, Ed Gernon, executive VP, television movies/miniseries and motion pictures, and co-exec producer of the project with Peter Sussman, expressed a controversial perspective on the project in an interview for the April 12 TV Guide. Gernon drew indirect parallels between the fear felt by the German populace in the 1930s – and their acceptance of Hitler’s aggressive methods – with the current climate in the U.S. and the homeland approval of George Bush’s preemptive military strikes. The Bush-Hitler comparisons reportedly infuriated CBS, which has to sell the film to U.S. audiences. Both it and AAC went into major damage control mode, publicly distancing themselves from Gernon’s statements, and Gernon departed from his long-held post within days.

Although Sussman, CEO of AAC’s Entertainment Group, will not comment on Gernon’s departure, his optimism for the project remains unwavering.

‘It’s a film about a period of time and a story that hasn’t been well documented,’ he says. ‘There’s been tons of films done about stories and events that flowed from the behavior of Hitler and the Nazis – all post 1938 or 1939 – and Alliance Atlantis has contributed to many of those – Nuremberg, Haven, Sunshine and others – but we realized that nobody ever really went back to the beginning. How did this all start? We felt like it was a chance to contribute to the missing piece of a puzzle.’

Those most adamantly against production of the film, including Abraham Foxman, head of the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, initially questioned the ethics of making a film with an abhorrent, genocidal leader as its central character. AAC can feel vindicated, however, following Foxman’s about-face a couple of weeks ago. Upon finally seeing a version of the film, the Holocaust survivor was reported to have praised Carlyle’s performance, adding, ‘The film shows Hitler for the monster that he was.’

Another concern put forward by critics is that ending the film before showing Hitler carrying out his murderous Final Solution omits the extent of his evil, making him less villainous. Sussman acknowledges the validity of this viewpoint but believes the film is covered.

‘There are places to go to get that information, but not withstanding that, the film does end with an epilogue that describes the events from ’34 to ’45,’ he says. If the mini proves successful, Sussman says he would like to do a sequel tracking Hitler’s fateful years in power.

AAC’s interest in this particular time and place in history showed again earlier this year, when its motion picture distribution group handled the Canadian release of Max, starring Noah Taylor and John Cusack. The feature is a fictitious account of Hitler’s stint as a painting student in 1918. At one point AAC actually owned the property and was developing the script, but when both it and the miniseries began generating market interest, the company decided to pursue only the mini.

Adolf and Max

‘We didn’t want to confuse one with the other, and because the material is so sensitive and so important, we also didn’t want to distract our voice on the subject,’ Sussman says. ‘The project that we felt was more dear to us – or more important – was the one that addressed his rise to power, and not a fiction-based-on-fact of his moment in time as an artist.’

But the question remains whether the market has an appetite for the historically driven drama. Further, the controversy that has dogged the mini may have tethered its broadcasters’ initial promotional efforts. Two Canadian media buyers contacted by Playback were not even aware of the upcoming airdate with three weeks to go. The sales push has seemed particularly underwhelming given the ‘event’-like nature of the project.

But will advertisers ultimately want to be associated with the project? No doubt it would be less difficult to sign up sponsors for the likes of Nuremberg, in which the protagonists are the ones putting the bad guys on trial.

‘We would be sensitive about it for most of our large clients, given the earlier press,’ says Michael Dougherty, VP, managing partner at Toronto’s The Media Edge, the media buying division of Young & Rubicam. ‘Hitler’s such a symbol of all things evil that it’s hard not to conjure that up as soon as you say his name, and it’s right there in the title.’

Dougherty agrees that controversy also often translates into eyeballs, which some advertisers would obviously want to take advantage of. But those sitting on the fence would likely take a pass.

‘There’s lots of other programs to buy,’ Dougherty says. ‘It’s easy not to participate in something that’s running two nights. We represent a lot of major clients, and as far as I know, nobody’s in it.’

Playback has learned that Global is now playing catch-up, distributing the recent positive press to media buyers, giving the film a ‘PG’ rating and a glowing review and explaining that the broadcaster’s silence until now was due to the fact the mini was a recent pickup. However, an AAC press release from more than a year ago announces Global’s involvement. Calls to Global executives were not returned in time for this story.

Alliance Atlantis says it has made ‘substantial sales’ on the international front based on the mini’s three-and-a-half-minute promo reel, with an announcement to follow shortly. The program has a quick turnaround to its second broadcast window on AAC’s own History Television June 21 and 22. One source at the company says the channel will give the film ‘extensive on-air promotion,’ likely taking advantage of AAC’s other stations.

-www.allianceatlantis.com

-www.globaltv.com