Adolf Hitler was aided in his rise to power by western bankers who appreciated his tough line on communist agitators and worker power, Oliver Stone told reporters in Bangkok yesterday.

Following on from the comments he made to TV critics in Pasadena earlier this month about his upcoming 10-hour TV documentary on The Secret History of the United States, the film-maker said the German dictator had seduced the nation's military industrial complex with his ambitious promises.

In the Thai capital to deliver a lecture to high-school students on the role of film in peace-building, Stone said: "Hitler is a monster. There is no question. I have no empathy for Hitler at all. He was a crazy psychopath.

"But, like Frankenstein was a monster, there was a Dr Frankenstein. He is product of his era," he added....