Triumph of The Will - Influences and Legacy

Influences and Legacy

Nicholas Reeves writes that "many of the most enduring images of the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler derive from Riefenstahl's film."

Extensive excerpts of the film were used in the Swedish box office hit Mein Kampf. This prompted Riefenstahl to sue the production company Minerva for copyright violation. Although her case against Minerva was unresolved, she won a temporary injunction against the German distributor. Subsequently in order to release the film, the German distributor agreed to pay Riefenstahl thirty thousand marks for Germany's release and a further five thousand marks for Austria's.

In 1942, Charles A. Ridley of the British Ministry of Information made a short propaganda film, Lambeth Walk - Nazi Style, which edited footage of Hitler and German soldiers from the film to make it appear they were marching and dancing to the song "The Lambeth Walk". The film so enraged Joseph Goebbels that reportedly he ran out of the screening room kicking chairs and screaming profanities. The propaganda film was distributed uncredited to newsreel companies, who would supply their own narration.

Triumph of the Will has also been studied by many contemporary artists including film directors Peter Jackson, and Ridley Scott. The first known movie to use Triumph imagery is Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator.