"Man Hunt" Review

 

by Daniel White

Released in June of 1941, Twentieth Century Fox's Man Hunt would be the first of four films director Fritz Lang made that dealt directly with the Nazi regime, which he had fled in 1933. It amazes me that film censor Joseph Breen was still concerned with ruffling the feathers of the German government, fearful that Man Hunt would antagonize them and upset the isolationists here in the United States. By this time, most rational folk understood that Nazi Germany was an evil entity, and I can only attribute Breen's reluctance to denounce them as his own anti-semitism, which he had exhibited early in his stint with the MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America).

Walter Pidgeon plays Englishman Alan Thorndike (cinematic cousin to Hitchcock's Roger Thornhill?), a big game hunter, caught attempting to assassinate Hitler. After refusing to implicate the British government in his aborted plan, he escapes back to London, one step ahead of his Nazi pursuers. I never think of Water Pidgeon as an action hero, and he's a trifle stodgy here (hanging out with Greer Garson can do that to a man), but more than serviceable in the role. The real surprise is Joan Bennett. Playing against type as a plucky Cockney gal who comes to Pidgeon's aid, she's wonderful. It's a spirited performance that brightens up the screen. Her earnest, naive Jerry Stokes borders on heartbreaking and the scene where she and Thorndike say goodbye on a London bridge (Waterloo?) is poignant and haunting.

And yes, the movie is propaganda, a sincere, heartfelt plea for America to jump into the fray and help a struggling Great Britain defeat a diabolical foe. Bennett's Cockney waif and Roddy MacDowell's clever, brave little cabin boy ARE good and decent and heroic. Because George Sanders and John Carradine as the villains ARE deceitful, cruel, and cunning (both come to visually satisfying demises!), and MUST be destroyed. 1941 was a time for action and thankfully men like director Fritz Lang knew this and used the mighty power of film to help awaken a great nation to fulfill its destiny as an avenger to wrongdoing in the world!

Man Hunt is available on YouTube.