Man Hunt, based on the novel by Geoffrey Household, directed
by Fritz Lang
9.7 out of 10
This outstanding film, released in 1941, in black and white,
has been included on The New York Time's Best 1,000 Movies List...
And it is a glorious motion picture.
A story of bravery, patriotism, self-sacrifice, nobility,
love, role models, wicked anti-heroes...indeed, it is hard to think of anything
missing in this almost perfect film.
Perhaps it is perfect and only the notion that we can never
find absolute flawless human creations may prevent us from saying so.
Captain Alan Thorndike is the Ultimate Role Model, The
Paradigm of the Ubermensch.
Walter Pidgeon is formidable, aristocratic, amusing,
graceful, complete in the leading role.
The hero starts the show in the vicinity of the fuhrer,
looking at the monster from atop a hill nearby.
He has placed the rifle in position and just as he may have
been saving the world from calamity, a soldier jumps on him.
Alas, Hitler is saved and the world would go through hell as
a result.
The Englishman is caught and has to face Major Quive- Smith,
who would be his nemesis, the archetypal villain in the cinematic narrative.
The sublime George Sanders has this role, an actor that has
reached the zenith...there are other fabulous artists, but I think we can't say
they are better than him, just his equals.
The Germans want the prisoner to sign a confession,
indicating the British government as the initiator of the plot to kill the
moustachioed Devil.
Alan Thorndike rejects the idea, insisting that not only had
he acted alone, but it was not a question of shooting the failed painter.
He states that killing animals is no longer an endeavor he
takes - that is excellent- and he is interested in getting near the prey,
without shooting it.
If he can succeed that, he has won the game, the rest is
just calculating mathematical probabilities.
Hence, he had just wanted to see if he can get close to
Hitler, without killing him.
His captors disagree and torture the English, thinking he
would sign whatever they want as a consequence.
He doesn't and so then Nazis plan to murder him, making the
death look like a suicide.
All those who know me will know I will have not killed
myself!
Well then, accidents happen.
Quive- Smith and his acolytes push the prisoner from a cliff
and plan to find him by chance, the next morning.
Only he is not there.
The Man Hunt is launched.
The prodigious, intelligent, brave, resilient Super Hero
escapes the Germans and climbs onboard a ship with British crew, under
Scandinavian flag.
Thorndike is saved by a boy who is not yet ten, I guess,
Vaner, played by the exceptional Roddy McDowall, who would become - well, he
already is at this tender age - a formidable actor.
I think we have reached the middle of the film, at about
here.
In order to let enjoy the rest, without spoilers, I will
stop even before Jerry Stokes aka the charming, splendid Joan Bennett enters
the stage.
What a wonderful film!
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