An unforgettable life at the crossroads of cinema, history, and conscience.
DISCLAIMER: Although I read plenty of non-fiction and autobiographies, I rarely review them, so hopefully I discuss Dancing in the Darkness with the respect it deserves.
Publisher: i2i Publishing
Published: 26 May 2025
Print length: 700 pages
ISBN-10: 1916732550
My Review of Dancing in the Darkness by Sally Faulkner
Discovered after her death at the age of 101, Sally Faulkner’s memoir, Dancing in the Darkness, reads like something out of a movie – except every word of it is true. Born in Germany and raised in Hollywood, Faulkner lived a life that spanned continents and witnessed some of the darkest corners of the 20th century. Her story is fascinating not just because of where she was, but because of what she saw – and the choices she had to make in order to achieve her goals.
The book begins with Sally meeting Leni Riefenstahl, the most famous female filmmaker of her time and the woman Hitler called his cinematic muse and news outlets of the time referred to as “The Devil’s brilliant Diva” (from the German tabloid Bild). This happens by chance when Sally was a young script girl working on the set of Gone With the Wind with David Selznick. She grabs the opportunity to translate for Riefenstahl at the showing of Olympia in LA, which later leads Leni to offering her a job in Berlin as an assistant.
Faulkner quickly realised what looked like success came at a steep personal cost. The powerful Riefenstahl was, in many ways, just another tool in Joseph Goebbels’ (the Reich Minister of Propaganda in the Nazi Party) propaganda machine. propaganda machine. It sent a shiver down my spine when Sally recounted her first meeting with Dr Goebbels and how he became her patron in the Germany film scene. Faulkner knew if she wanted a career in Nazi Germany, she’d need to navigate that world and the people in it very carefully.
On the other hand, Sally talks about the Berlin film industry that is just as salacious as Hollywood! Her ‘love’ life and shenanigans with others in the industry, specifically Riefenstahl, Kristina Söderbaum, Veit Harlan, and even Vittorio Mussolini, are all discussed in detail in relation to her career and all the events unravelling with the Nazis.
Faulkner’s writing is clear-eyed and unflinching. She doesn’t glorify or excuse. She tells the truth – including those firsthand encounters with Goebbels and even Hitler himself. Reading this impressive account of life inside the Nazi film industry and the choices made by artists under dictatorship in Germany at the time was extraordinary.
After leaving Germany, she worked with Frank Capra on the US Army morale films (when the states joined the war), and later with Budd Schulberg at the Nuremberg Trials, helping document Nazi crimes on film. For that work, she received the US Department of Defense’s highest civilian honour.
Overall Thoughts of Dancing in the Darkness
What makes this memoir stand out isn’t just the history it covers – though that’s gripping enough – but the way Faulkner reflects on it all: the compromises, the ambitions, the regrets. It’s rare to hear a voice so direct, especially from someone who moved through such high-stakes circles.
This book doesn’t just add to our understanding of Nazi Germany – it challenges it. And it reminds us how easily art can become entangled with power, and how bravery sometimes looks like simply walking away.
I highly recommend this for fans of memoirs, history, and anyone curious about the grey zones where politics, film, and morality collide.
More Information and References about People Mentioned in the Memoir of Sally Faulkner
- Hitler and Film: The Führer’s Hidden Passion by Bill Niven
- Goebbels claims Jews will destroy culture from the Holocaust Encyclopedia
- The Nazi-Sozi by Joseph Goebbels
- Leni Riefenstahl ‘the Devil’s Diva’ – BBC News
- Archive Culture Shock: You Decide: The Films of Leni Riefenstahl
- Hitler’s Heroines: Stardom & Womanhood In Nazi Cinema by Antje Ascheid
- Tainted Goddesses: Female Film Stars of the Third Reich by Cinzia Romani
- Veit Harlan: The Life and Work of a Nazi Filmmaker by Frank Noack
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