NONFICTION - Jan. 12, 1992

TAINTED GODDESSES: Female Film Stars of the Third Reich by Cinzia Romani (Sarpedon: $19.95; 192 pp.) . Names like Henny Porten, Heidemarie Hatheyer and Zarah Leander (above) may not ring any bells in Hollywood, but according to this serious, intriguing study, they were among the brightest luminaries on the German film scene during World War II. Hitler’s minister of culture, Joseph Goebbels, liked escapism as much as any studio chief, green-lighting a whole series of comedies and musicals for the weary wartime audience. Actresses invariably paid for Jewish connections (Renate Muller, whose husband was Jewish, was either murdered or forced to commit suicide), and when Goebbels’ affair with Lida Baarova became a public scandal, Hitler himself exiled her to Prague. A fascinating light on one of film history’s darkest corners.