Film Review
Himself a fugitive from Nazi Germany, Fritz Lang was better placed than
most to expose the darker side of Hitler's regime and his first
anti-Nazi film pulls few punches, portraying all Germans as nasty,
cold-hearted thugs who were single-mindedly intent on provoking a war
against the liberal democracies of the West. The film was made in
1941, at a time when America was standing aloof from the war in Europe
and reluctant to take sides. The head of Twentieth Century Fox,
Darryl F. Zanuck, was particularly concerned by the film's negative
portrayal of the German people, to the extent that he forbade Lang from
participating in its editing. The Hays Office, Hollywood's
censor, described
Man Hunt as
a hate film and insisted on changes to the script to tone down the
brutality exhibited by the Nazis (hence much of the violence takes
place off screen). Even with these high-minded tamperings,
Man Hunt remained an uncompromising
attack on Nazism and on the threat posed by the German war
machine. It became one of the first, and arguably most effective,
anti-Nazi propaganda pieces to come out of Hollywood. Of course,
after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, six months
after the film's American release, things were very different.
Lang's three subsequent anti-German films were far better received and
more in keeping with the public and political sentiment of the time.
Man Hunt is atypical for Lang
- a rambling Boy's Own adventure thriller that feels like a close
cousin of Hitchcock's
The 39 Steps. By adapting
a novel by Geoffrey Household, Lang was able to express his loathing
and fears for the regime that he had fled in the early 1930s, seeing
further than most where Nazism would lead. It is therefore no
accident that it is one of the director's bleakest films and Lang
employs his flair for expressionism to convey the brutality and
immorality of the Nazis in subtle but extremely effective ways.
The best example of this is the scene in which the hero (Walter
Pidgeon), having been badly beaten up, is taken to the principal
villain (a sadistic Nazi played with chilling relish by a superb George
Sanders) who is intent on extracting a confession. We see only
the magnified shadow of the hero on the floor and consequently have a
far greater sense of the savagery that has been meted out to him by the
Nazi thugs. This expressionistic touch also accentuates the
hero's personal resolve, diminishing the power of his Nazi tormentor,
who resembles a petulant and ineffectual child in the face of such
indomitable stoicism.
In addition to the exceptional performances from Pidgeon and Sanders,
the film boasts some impressive contributions from a young Roddy
McDowall (in his first American film after being evacuated from
London), a captivating Joan Bennett and a sinister John
Carradine. The humanity and generosity exhibited by McDowall and
Bennett (both idealised impressions of British spunk and virtue)
offer a stark contrast with the calculating
villainy of the Nazis, adding further muscle to Langs's overt political
agenda. Whilst the film is well-directed, well-acted and
well-designed (the sets, including a strikingly authentic mock-up of
the London underground, are exceptional), its obvious bias, tendency
for caricature and uneven pacing prevent it from being a favourite
among admirers of Fritz Lang's work. The main value of
Man Hunt is that it powerfully
captures the mood of its time and allowed Lang to express his revulsion
for what is now judged to be one of the most evil regimes in human
history. It took a while before America saw what Lang saw and, in
retrospect, his film now feels chillingly prescient.
© James Travers 2013
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Next Fritz Lang film:
Moontide (1942)
Film Synopsis
In July 1939, British big game hunter Captain Alan Thorndike manages to
reach Hitler's country residence and is about to shoot the dictator
with his rifle when he is attacked by a guard. Thorndike is taken
to a senior Nazi officer, Major Quive-Smith, who threatens to have him
tortured unless he signs a confession that he was sent by the British
government to assassinate Hitler. When the prisoner refuses to
comply, Quive-Smith arranges for him to have a fatal accident.
Thorndike survives and is able to make his way back to England, not
knowing that he is being tailed by Nazi agents. With the help of
a good-hearted young London girl, Jerry Stokes, Thorndike manages to
reach his brother Lord Risborough, an important British diplomat, who
advises him to go into hiding to avoid being extradited to Germany for
a mock trial. Unfortunately, Quive-Smith is a far more ruthless
and cunning opponent than either man imagines...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.