Although Adolf Hitler's ideological autobiography remains banned in Germany and Austria, George Tabori's stage comedy of the same name, which debuted in 1987, still is held in great esteem -- so great that it has been adapted for the screen despite its barely marketable title.

International box office prospects, already dim to begin with, are further hindered by many inside jokes and allusions to Hitler's famous speeches that work in German but probably will not survive dubbing or subtitling.

The film, which recently screened at the Munich International Film Festival, opens in November in Germany.

The film centers on a young Hitler (Tom Schilling), a budding painter of great ambition and little talent, as he moves into a Vienna boardinghouse during the early 1900s. Despite his abrasiveness and poorly hidden anti-Semitism, he is befriended by Jewish bible salesman Schlomo Herzl (Gotz George), who does his best to shield the bitter young man from the inevitable disappointment as an artist and helps him cope with his loveless childhood....