Mildred Gillars, aka Axis Sally (Meadow Williams), was the Nazis’ answer to Tokyo Rose. Known throughout the world as the Berlin Babe and Hitler’s Girlfriend, the German-American radio personality was employed by the German Broadcasting Company to circulate Axis propaganda. During her trial in America, she stood second only to Hitler as the world’s most hated human being. Ostensibly hired to weaken morale, she was also applauded for alerting soldiers’ families as to the safety of their sons and fathers. She and her lawyer James Laughlin (Al Pacino) shared one thing in common: both were in their chosen professions in part based on the publicity it brought them. (She hoped to win the case and use her notoriety to crack Broadway.) It’s a story that demands to be told, and while it’s far from a washout, the majority of the action is confined to Sally’s jail cell, the recording studio, and the courtroom. The entire film is cloaked in darkness, a decision I’m guessing was made to try and cover up for the paucity of the sets. Forced to sign an oath to the Reich and repeatedly beaten and raped by Goebbles, Mildred Gillars was no more guilty of treason than Orson Welles was guilty of murder for his participation in The War of the Worlds. Williams’ performance gradually builds steam, but when she’s called on to sing, it becomes painfully clear that as a vocalist, she makes a perfectly adequate actress. It had been almost a decade since I’d lost track of Michael Polish (Twin Falls Idaho, Astronaut Farmer) and seeing his name (or that of his identical twin brother Mark) in the credits gave cause for hope. Pacino is his usual force to be reckoned with, and while the story is fascinating, Polish was strapped to the point where the movie can at times take on the aura of a filmed stage play. (Now streaming on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Apple TV, etc.) (2021) — Scott Marks