Hitler Phone Scene

The Hitler Phone Scene is a scene used in Downfall parodies.

In Downfall
The scene begins with Hitler emerging from his private study and asking where the artillery fire is coming from. Burgdorf, feeling reserved, wished him a happy birthday first, before breaking the news that the city center of Berlin is under fire, elaborating that the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag are being shelled. Hitler demands to know where the shells are coming from. Burgdorf didn't have the answer, but he suggests that Hitler talk to Koller, who is on the phone. Upon being asked of the origin of the artillery firing, Koller responded that he doesn't know, explaining that he's in Wildpark Werder. Hitler speculates that the Soviets might have captured the railway bridge over the Oder.

Koller, however, denied that there is one. He explains that the artillery isn't long range, and the shells' caliber are only 10 and 12 cm, so the enemy is closer and would have positions near Marzahn, which Hitler noted is a mere 12 km from the city center. This makes the Führer rant on how the entire Luftwaffe leadership should have been hung. He hangs up the phone.

Recovering from his temperamental burst, he describes the 'unheard-of' situation back to the generals. As he is making his way back to his study, Krebs admits to the possibly that it is long range artillery after all. However, Hitler brushes it off, saying that it is "nonsense".

In Parodies
This scene is frequently used by parody makers as a means of providing bizarre crossovers with other films and providing Hitler with a means of interacting with people outside of the movie Downfall. In order to do this, a lot of Untergangers edit out the scenes with Koller and replace them with a piece of footage, a music video, a clip from a movie, or something else. The result is that Hitler calls (or in some cases gets phoned by) all kinds of strange people, among them:


 * Lady Gaga
 * Santa Claus
 * Elmo
 * Barney
 * Justin Bieber
 * Rebecca Black
 * Anton Chigurh
 * Brian Cowen
 * Group Captain Lionel Mandrake
 * King Leonidas
 * Angry German Kid
 * Patrick the Starfish
 * Inglorious Basterds Hitler
 * Willy Wonka
 * Lionel Ritchie
 * Gotye
 * God Himself
 * Another version of Hitler ranting
 * The real Hitler
 * Pingu
 * Kim Jong-un
 * Eminem

However, on quite a few occasions, the scenes with Koller are kept in, such as in Hitler Phones and ISP Center.

Other uses of the scene include Hitler making phone orders (e.g. to the Krusty Krab) or taking an oral exam.

Trivia

 * Koller is the most edited-out person from this scene. In addition, Hitler's adressee of "Koller" is nearly always replaced with "Hello" in the first line of the phone dialogue.
 * Other than Hitler and Koller, Burgdorf, Krebs and Bormann appear in the scene, but with a minor role. Out of the three other characters, Bormann is the only one who doesn't have any dialogue at all.
 * Unlike the movie, where Hitler asks where the artillery fire is coming from, the parodies usually show him asking either who's on the phone or if they've managed to call a specific individual.
 * This is the earliest scene from the movie that is commonly used for parody making, occurring a few minutes into the movie (Apr. 20, 1945 in the timeline).
 * The line, "Ach, unsinn!", known better as "Piss off!", is spoken by Hitler in this scene anytime it ends; unless it was skipped or edited out. Interestingly it literally means "Nonsense", which has the same connotations.
 * Hans Krebs was not in Berlin on 20 April. He only arrived on the 21st.
 * Goof: At the beginning of the scene there is a man standing with a tray of dinner plates in the corridor behind Hitler, the same corridor where Krebs come out. He seems to disappear after Hitler picks up the phone, the fact is that the camera never pointed to that corridor again (the corridor where Krebs comes from leads to the Vorbunker, while the corridor where Hitler walks leads to his study room.)
 * Used in part 4 of Glove and Boots' "Countdown to New Year's" video series.