"The Emperor of California"

Considering “The Emperor of California” as solely a Nazi cinema piece is problematic because of its clear distinctions as a Western and Trenker film. This is not to say that the movie cannot be all three, but I found the movie to be a lot more similar to other Westerns and to “The Prodigal Son” than to any piece of Nazi cinema we have seen thus far. I find it tough to classify the piece as pro-Nazi, or anti-semantic, or move along with any real messages from the Nazi party. Instead, I would classify the movie as a Trenker film because of its anti-American sentiments of workers full of greed and disloyalty, its adventurous journey through the wild, and the sense that home is where hard work and simplicity create true happiness. While the argument can be made that hard work to create wealth is a Nazi outlook, there is no credit given to the party when Sutter reflects. Classifying it as a Western is far to simplistic when viewing the deleterious ramifications of the Gold Rush to Sutter’s vision and lifestyle. Trenker portrays Americans in “The Prodigal Son” as greedy, deceptive opportunists, which is exactly how Sutter’s immigrants are depicted. I found that “The Emperor of California” best fits a Trenker film, rather than a Western or Nazi cinema film because of the distinct similarities to “The Prodigal Son.”