Rent Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
3.6 of 5 from 93 ratings
2h 15min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- At the height of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, four German exiles in Hollywood - director Fritz Lang, playwright Bertolt Brecht (earning his only US credit), composer Hanns Eisler and actor Hans Heinrich von Twardowski - pooled their talents to create Hangmen Also Die!, a remarkable film about the Czech resistance. Twardowski plays Reinhard Heydrich, an SS Obergruppenfuhrer and the 'Reich-Protector' of Czechoslovakia, known alternately as The Hangman' and The Butcher of Prague'. When he is assassinated by a surgeon (played by Brian Donlevy), the city is locked down and the doctor must rely on the help of the resistance to evade capture.
- Actors:
- Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee, Gene Lockhart, Dennis O'Keefe, Margaret Wycherly, Nana Bryant, William Roy, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Alexander Granach, Tonio Selwart, Jonathan Hale, Lionel Stander, Sarah Padden, Edmund MacDonald, Byron Foulger, Virginia Farmer, Ludwig Donath, George Irving, James Bush
- Directors:
- Fritz Lang
- Producers:
- Fritz Lang, Arnold Pressburger
- Writers:
- Bertolt Brecht, Fritz Lang, John Wexley
- Aka:
- Trust the People / Never Surrender
- Studio:
- Arrow Films
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like To Be or Not to Be, Films to Watch If You Like..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Fritz Lang, Top 10 British War Films (1939-45), Top Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 29/08/2016
- Run Time:
- 135 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 1.0
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio Commentary by film historian Richard Pena
- Story of a Hangman: Robert Gerwarth on Reinhard Heydrich, an interview with the author of Hitlers Hangman: The Life of Heydrich
- Restoration Comparison
- Trailer
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Reviews (1) of Hangmen Also Die!
Fascinating Propaganda Film by Fritz Lang made in 1942 about Heydrich Assassination May 1942 - Hangmen Also Die! review by PV
This is a fascinating if flawed film. Made during the war and shortly after the actual assassination of the hangman of Prague Heydrich, it is clearly propaganda for the war - it was shot in 1942, released in 1943.
Could be compared to the wonderful WENT THE DAY WELL made the same year, the first ever film based on a Graham Greene short story, to mention a Nazi invasion (lots of speculative novels and films since).
In reality Heydrich was not shot but died a week after a grenade exploded under his car in Prague. SO watch the extra here, a German professor with wonderful English explaining the history and context for half an hour.
Fritz Lang made classics like Metropolis (1927) silent film and the brilliant 'M' which made the German actor Peter Lorre a star - great films both.
Of course, there are many cartoon characters here, caricatures of Nazis, partly because it is anti-Nazi propaganda and partly because many silent film stars and directors did that - see Chaplin.ls the Great Dictator. That care get tiresome these days.
Some classic shadows and angles of Lang's German Expressionism too, making Nazis characters seem sinister just from shadows.
I am sure Mel Brooks was influenced by this to make THE PRODUCERS (original title Springtime for Hitler) - the OTT caricatures for one, but also the music, the song at the end - reminds me so much of HERE'S HITLER in that musical!
A great watch, esp for war film fans, maybe a tad long but 3.5 stars rounded up.
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