Man Hunt
Directed by Fritz Lang
Written by Dudley Nichols from the novel Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
1941/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video
[box] Captain Alan Thorndike: I present you with this dangerous weapon, madmoiselle, with my undying gratitude and admiration. May you never lodge it in the wrong heart.[/box]
This is the first time I have run into this unsung little suspense/propaganda flick from Fritz Lang. I liked it.
The story takes place just prior to the Nazi invasion of Poland. Alan Thorndyke (Walter Pidgeon) is a famous big game hunter. As the movie opens, we find him on a ledge overlooking Berchtesgaden and taking aim at Hitler through his gun sight. When he presses the trigger it turns out the gun is unloaded. He loads, aims again, and is wrestled to the ground by a guard.
He is dragged in before Gestapo official Major Quive-Smith (George Sanders), who is also a big game hunter and admirer of Thorndyke. Thorndyke says that he was merely stalking Hitler for “sport” as he no longer believes in killing his prey. Quive-Smith says he will let Thornkyke go if he will sign a confession stating that he was attempting to kill Hitler on behalf of the British Government. Thorndyke refuses to agree even after torture, so Quive-Smith pushes him off a cliff. Thorndyke survives and escapes to England thanks to the help of a cabin boy (Roddy MacDowell) on a Danish freighter.
Once there he finds he has become the prey of creepy Nazi “Mr. Jones” (John Carradine). He spends the rest of the film on the run from Jones, and later Quive-Smith, with the help of street walker Jerry Stokes (Joan Bennett). The complete film is in the public domain and also available on YouTube.
Shades of The Most Dangerous Game (1933)! Lang makes this work well both as a taut thriller and as a relatively sophisticated anti-Nazi propaganda piece. There are plenty of signature Expressionist shots to enjoy. Sanders is just fantastic. I continue to have a problem with Pidgeon. Was there ever anyone less romantic or more pedantic and condescending than this actor? His love scenes with Bennett made me cringe. Speaking of Bennett, I have long found her one of the most beautiful of the 40’s actresses and she is really lovely in this film, though she has little else to do.
Trailer
