Indecisión fatal

Captain Alan Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon) is captured by the Nazis after having been caught aiming a rifle at Adolf Hitler. He insists that he wasn't consciously making an assassination attempt, that he was merely a hunter relishing the prospect of taking down "big game". They naturally don't believe him, and try to make him a sign a "confession" that he was acting on behalf of his government. He refuses to sign his name to a lie, and they proceed to torture him and set him up for execution, but he escapes. Soon he makes it back to London, but they continue to pursue him on his home turf. Fortunately, he receives the help of a street waif, Jerry Stokes (Joan Bennett), who quickly overcomes her distrust and becomes quite taken with him. He tries not to put her in harms' way while evading sinister Nazi officials such as the well-spoken Major Quive-Smith (George Sanders).

Fritz Langs' wartime film, based on the story by Geoffrey Household, may not suit all tastes because it doesn't actually have a sense of urgency, at least not all the time. It even gets lighthearted and romantic at times, as Alan and Jerry start hitting it off. There still are some wonderfully moody moments, such as Alan managing to sneak onto a ship (where a precocious lad, well played by a very young Roddy McDowall, helps to hide him), and the sequence where a Gestapo thug portrayed by an effectively creepy John Carradine tails Alan into a subway tunnel. You do worry for the safety of Alan, especially when the odds are so stacked against him. Pidgeon does indeed have an interesting "devil may care" quality to him at times, and he and the lovely Bennett do have nice chemistry. Ms. Bennett is appealing playing a "common" type of gal who relishes in the comfort of a mansion at one point. Sanders is excellent, delivering just the right amount of quiet, refined menace.

Langs' direction keeps you riveted, especially in the opening few minutes where very little dialogue is spoken. The material may strike some viewers as far-fetched, but in his hands it makes for stylish entertainment.

Eight out of 10.

Compact well directed drama of the dawning realization of the Nazi threat in Europe. A noir before that was a popular genre. Walter Pidgeon handles his role well, his suave dignity enabling him to move from the lighter tone at the start of the film to the serious one later on. Joan Bennett is a breezy delight as a practitioner of the world's oldest profession although the Hayes office ludicrously insisted she have a sewing machine in the corner of her room to make it appear she's a seamstress. She did some of her best work in Lang films, he was a tough director but she was herself a straight shooter who had no problem giving as good as she got enabling them to work well together through four films.

"Man Hunt" is an excellent thriller that doesn't look like it is almost eighty years old, and is one of my favorite Fritz Lang films. Ahead of its time in the complexity of its characters, it is about a man (Walter Pidgeon) who tries to assassinate Hitler but gets caught. Left for dead at the bottom of a cliff by the authorities, he lives and makes his way to a boat on its way to London. However, on the ship there is someone all too interested in his story. Soon he realizes he is being followed and, once back in England, turns to Joan Bennett for help. Lang manages to do a very good job of portraying the Nazis in a more complex and insightful manner than other films of this time period (it was made in 1941).

Rumors were at the time (2009) that this was cleaned up and released on DVD to capitalize on the DVD release of Tom Cruise's Valkyrie. Oh well, I'll take my classic films any way that I can get them.

Fritz Lang's Man Hunt is a remarkable achievement in visual suspense and editing. Lang sustains tension throughout by creating a series of plausible hurdles for the protagonist to deal with giving the viewer little time to catch their breath as he is hunted by the Gestapo from Germany to London.

British officer and renowned big game hunter Alan Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon)literally sets his rifle's sight on Hitler at Berchtesgarten but is foiled by security then tortured by the Gestapo to sign a confession. When he refuses they throw him off of a cliff to cover-up but his fall is broken and he manages to escape back to England on a tramp steamer where Nazi agents (England and Germany were not at war at the moment)continue to pursue him. Enlisting the assistance of a cockney streetwalker (Joan Bennett) he eludes their grasp until cornered in a cave.

Fritz Lang's complete command of the medium in Man Hunt is a master class in film-making. Timing, atmosphere, mise en scene, use of sound and editing deftly create a realistic world that morphs into Kafkaesque nightmare of unrelenting tension and suspense.

Pidgeon's Thorndike has a clumsy James Bond like quality and charm about him as he parries with head nemesis George Sanders Gestapo chief. Sanders is a fascinating villain displaying a fluent bi-lingual authority (another testament to Lang's superb ability at visual story telling) checkmating Thorndike continuously.

Within in this suspenseful framework Lang manages to comment on the English class system, hunting ethics, the enemy within and the need for US involvement in fighting Fascism without missing a beat. The score does some arm twisting but doesn't interfere too much with Lang's magnificent construction and follow through. Man Hunt is precision suspense film making at its best.

I just saw this film on the Fox Movie Channel (DirecTV Satellite, 9 p.m., May 12th) and enjoyed it immensely! As a big WW II movie fan, I'm surprised I hadn't seen it before. Several things struck me about it: Walter Pidgeon's devil-may-care performance, George Saunder's excellent portrayal of the Gestapo leader, and John Carradine's eminently creepy role as the Gestapo agent sent to London to track his prey.

Also interesting were the surprisingly eloquent characterizations of Hitler's regime by the characters. Rather than the usual, emotional propaganda-driven exhortations prevalent in war movies at the time, the writing seemed to make an effort to take a higher, more articulate stab at the regime and those who blindly followed it. The writing overall is superb, as is the direction by Fritz Lang. Even the almost overdone ending matches the story perfectly and leaves us wanting more. I'm surprised they didn't make a serial about it throughout the remainder of the war!

This is a classic, classic WW II propaganda piece that was suspensefull, engaging and a joy to watch. If I could get it in ANY format, it would be a permanent fixture of my collection. If you find it, record it!