Mr Pinkerton Goes to Town

Mr Pinkerton Goes to Town (German "Herr Pinkerton geht zur Stadt") is a 1937 film that has the dubious distinction of being the only Nazi-era film that was made entirely on location in the United Kingdom.

The film follows the story of George Pinkerton, the owner of a lingere shop in Manchester, who attempts to overcome plots and schemes by the local Jewish-dominated Chamber of Commerce to put him out of business.

The basic story pits George Pinkerton against the brothers Roni and Ezra Feigenbaum, the latter being the leader of the Whitefield Chamber of Commerce. George owns a shop on a prestigious high street and the Feigenbaum brothers covet his premises as a new location for their jewellery business. The Feigenbaums and their cabal at the Chamber of Commerce contrive various schemes designed to disuade women from patronising Pinkerton’s shop. Their rouses range from contaminating sets of ladies underwear with itching powder to spreading rumours that Pinkerton indecently assaults the women who visit his shop.

Pinkerton is portrayed as an honest, hardworking but ultimately guileless man who is unable to match the machinations of the ambitious Feigenbaum brothers and their friends. Pinkerton is eventually forced out of business and the Feigenbaums take over his shop.

The film is an un-subtle swipe at the supposed domination of business in England by Jews. The misfortune and bad luck suffered by Pickerton is supposed to portray in equal terms the mendacity of the Jews and the decadence and decay that had latterly befallen England. The implicit message being that the Nazis have saved Germany from a similar fate.

The film suffered from a visual error that almost prevented it from going on general release in Germany. During the infamous ‘I love money’ monologue by Ezra, the (German) actor’s prosthetic “Jewish” hook-nose became noticeably displaced. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was furious with this mistake and demanded to know why the scene had not been re-shot. The director Frank Wisbar explained that the error was not discovered until the crew had returned to Germany and that the actor Gustav Froelich had subsequently suffered a near fatal stroke. The film was released with an edited version of Ezra’s monologue, although his nose still appeared misaligned.

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