Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

utgard14 WW2 short from MGM about the Devil (Edward Arnold) conspiring with Hitler to wreck the U.S. economy. He plans to do this by making Americans buy things on credit, ignore rationing laws, and cash in their war bonds. That Devil sure is a stinker! The point of this short was to make American at home think about how they could help the war effort by keeping the economy strong.I love patriotic WW2 shorts like these. It avoids being too preachy and delivers its message in a clear and entertaining way. Edward Arnold is terrific. Just the year before he was fighting Satan in The Devil and Daniel Webster, now here he is playing him and doing a wickedly delightful job. It's a great short that anybody who enjoys WW2-era material should love. Also features Esther Williams in one of her earliest roles.

atlasmb Much has be written about the use of propaganda by Nazi Germany to control and misinform its citizenry. Inflation is an American short that falls into the same category.Released in 1942, Inflation does not offer rational reasons for recommending certain behavior; it attempts to play on the emotions of the viewer. FDR outlines the unprecedented steps the government is about to take during the early months of WWII to control the U.S. economy. By 1942, the public had become accustomed to his far-reaching and federally-centric approach to public policy while fighting The Depression. The film suggests that another depression is down the road if Americans don't follow his advice.Consistent with other wartime releases, Inflation implies in a very heavy-handed way that anyone who does not comply with Washington's edicts is unpatriotic and, in fact, traitorous. Don't even think about questioning the government's approach. Inflation tells the viewer not to complain.Why? Because if you complain or act contrary to the public message, you might as well consider yourself a killer of American soldiers. Worse, you are in league with the devil. That's right, in this fable with a moral, the primary character is none other than El Diablo himself. And he converses daily with Hitler, of course. Together they plot the downfall of America. Their solution is to convince American citizens to ignore the pleas from Washington, which will cause that most dreaded of all calamaties--Inflation!The acting is intentionally over the top, except for Esther Williams who (in her first film role) plays the wife of a spendthrift jerk who, for some reason, feels compelled to buy! buy! buy! The music is appropriate, providing the ominous strains of violins when The Devil speaks.Looking back at this short film through the intervening years of history (after all the public exposures of government mismanagement and corruption)is interesting. Of course people today still fall victim to empty government promises and its foolish propaganda, especially during war or conflict (remember Freedom Fries? how about the way Mohammad Ali was condemned for following his conscience?) FDR starts with a short and accurate view of wartime realities: military buying produces scarcity in supplies which increases prices. His prescriptions for these economic consequences are sweeping and pervasive (price fixing, taxation, rationing, etc.). Too bad they couldn't rely upon reasoning to convince people. By tweaking the heartstrings of patriotism and invoking a diabolic metaphor, they sell U.S. citizens short. And they do it very well.

Michael_Elliott Inflation (1942) *** (out of 4)WW2 propaganda short features Ester Williams in a small role in her film debut. The film tells the story of how Adolf Hitler calls the Devil (Edward Arnold) and asks to make American's start spending more money so that their war efforts can be washed down the toilet. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Stephen McNally, Williams) begin a shopping spree not knowing what they're doing to the country and their souls. It's rather amazing to see how far these shorts would go in terms of the war and one can't imagine any actors doing something like this today. Arnold wasn't the biggest star in Hollywood but he did have countless lead roles at MGM and was a fairly well known face. He is quite good in his role of the Devil and you can tell he's having fun. Williams is pretty much centered in a thankless role but she isn't too bad.

MartinHafer This is a must-see film for fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood like myself. Part of it is because of Edward Arnold's wonderful performance as the Devil (second for pure entertainment value, perhaps to Laird Cregar's rendition of Satan in HEAVEN CAN WAIT). Plus, the film is such a wonderful time capsule of WWII and the efforts to enlist the support of the people at home in the war effort.The film starts with Old Scratch receiving a phone call from Adolf Hitler and they thank each other for the support! Then the Devil discusses how greed and hoarding are helping Hitler in his plans for global domination (just think,...buying that EXTRA pound of coffee might just lead to the fall of the Western World!). The performance of Edward Arnold is just hilarious (you don't actually see Adolf on screen).Then the film cuts to Joe Smith, a "typical American" who doesn't think twice about hoarding--reasoning that no one will miss it if he keeps just a few extra odds and ends. Well, Joe finally realizes that he, too, has fallen into the Devil's plans and the only way to defeat Satan AND his #1 sidekick is to stop hoarding and give 100% to the war effort! The film is just a lot of fun and a great piece of American history. Well worth seeing!