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21 out of 27 people found the following review useful: One Great Classic Film, 17 January 2004 Author: Brikindewall-12 from Bay Area, California
Man Hunt (1941) is one great classic film. Recently Nominated as 1 of 400 movies to be part of America Film Institutes (AFI) "100 Years 100 Thrills" Americas Most Heart Pounding Movies. I can not say enough about this film starring Walter Pidgeon and Directed by Famed Director Fritz Lange. I first saw this on a independent local television station when I was 10 some 23 years ago and was the begining of a never ending love affair with old movies. I think it was the first time I ever saw anything in black and white and realized this is good stuff. The ending to this Film is one of the Greatest, Most Ingenious, Most Heart-pounding in Film History. The Fact that Man Hunt was never released on Video or put to DVD "up to the present date" is a true Tragedy. People don't know what their missing.
19 out of 24 people found the following review useful: A WW II Treasure, 13 May 2003 Author: Frank Lange (lange-frank) from San Francisco
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!
15 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Great film, 2 July 2005 Author: lars95028-1 from United States
This film is far superior to most of the tripe that is currently being shown in the theaters. I am amazed that it has not been released on DVD or VHS. I am equally amazed that TCM or one of the similar channels has not shown it in quite a while.It is a tight thriller that holds its audience even so many years after WWII. The interaction amongst the characters is quite good and the fast pace of the action makes the film a nail biter. In the film the general public is quite oblivious to the danger around them and one person is pitted against a real enemy. While this may appeal to the conspiracy theory audience the reality of the fifth column in pre-war UK lifts the film beyond the recent and current film using those themes.
12 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Great film even after almost 70 years., 6 January 2001 Author: gary-224 from Stuart, Florida
I was only seven years old when I first viewed this film and never forgot it. I have been seeing several of the scenes in my minds eye for the last seventy years or so. The scenes I remembered for so long included the the beginning ones involving Hitler, the part on the London Underground and the finale. Now that Man Hunt is out on DVD, everyone can view and enjoy it. It's even better than I thought with a marvelous cast such as Roddy McDowell who went on to make almost 500 more films. The black and white photography, especially the scenes depicting London at night and in fog are extremely well done. This is the only Fritz Lang film that ever saw. Maybe I should look into his other ones. Another surprise was the main song played as a background theme with the scenes in London. This song "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square," has allows been one of my favorite WWII songs. You can hear as sung by Vera Lynn, by typing in the title in Google and clicking the U-tube location.
7 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Most enjoyable film, 3 March 2000 Author: mandjsopher from usa
It's been years since I have seen this movie, but it's one I seem to never have forgotten. I would like to know why TCM or AMC or one of the other movie channels haven't shown it. I keep hoping it will come out on DVD or video. I remember George Saunders being a "great" Nazi agent(great-as far as acting). I also seem to remember a song that was used throughout the movie. If you ever get an opportunity to see this flick, please get the popcorn and soda and run to view.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: top-drawer Lang, 15 September 2009 Author: mukava991 from United States
Man Hunt is one of Fritz Lang's most satisfying films: with the help of the superior scenarist Dudley Nichols, he has crafted an action-packed, humorous, emotionally wrenching, well- paced if not always plausible, literate and imaginatively photographed thriller. The plot grabs you immediately: in the summer of 1939 a tweedy British gentleman game hunter decides that it would be an interesting challenge to see if it would be possible to shoot Hitler if he wanted to, just for the sport of it, so he sneaks to the dictator's Bavarian retreat and fixes him in the sights of his unloaded hunting rifle. After satisfying his curiosity he makes a snap decision to actually load the weapon and fire, but just as he is about to pull the trigger a leaf falls on his gun sight and as he brushes it away, a guard sees his moving arm, jumps him and captures him. After a beating by Nazi goons, he is presented to suave bigwig George Sanders (in a matchless performance that goes a long way toward capturing and holding audience attention in the early scenes) who tries to convince him to sign a confession stating that he had intended to assassinate Hitler. When Pidgeon refuses to comply, Sanders and Co. shove him off a cliff in the middle of the night, but his fall is broken by a tree branch and he escapes with the Nazis at his heels. He manages to make his way to a port where he eludes his pursuers by hiding on board a cargo ship bound for London, with the help of a young ship mate played winningly by Roddy MacDowall. But the henchmen, led by the menacing John Carradine, follow him abroad. The rest of the film involves the cat and mouse action between the hero and villains.I would be tempted to argue that this is Walter Pidgeon's finest work but I haven't seen everything he's done. Fritz Lang certainly got an uncharacteristically passionate performance out of him, especially in the final scenes. As the prostitute who gets caught up in his intrigues Joan Bennett makes a stronger emotional impact than she had made in films up to that time. Somehow Lang was able to draw out of her an appealing warmth which had escaped her previous directors. Her Cockney accent is perfectly serviceable, especially by contemporary Hollywood standards. Typical of Lang, the set pieces and the camera-work that takes place within them are stunning, from a spooky and forbidding nocturnal London of narrow streets and wet cobblestones to an extended sequence in the claustrophobic and crowded passageways of the London Underground, with a gorgeous, frenzied, chiaroscuro climax. There are so many superlative visual moments in this film that it's pointless to list them. I can only recommend the film highly to anyone interested in masterful shot compositions. Anyone familiar with Hitchcock's SABOTEUR, made around the same time, will see multiple parallels not only in plot and situation but in an environment bursting with booby traps and evildoers lurking around every corner.
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful: very good propaganda film, 16 February 2008 Author: blanche-2 from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Walter Pidgeon is the subject of a "Man Hunt" in this 1941 film directed by Fritz Lang. Joan Bennett, George Sanders, John Carradine and Roddy McDowell also star. Alan Thorndike (Pidgeon) is caught by the Nazis as he prepares to shoot Hitler. After he is worked over and denies it was anything but a "sporting stalk" to see if it were actually possible to shoot the Fuhrer, the head man (Sanders) demands that he sign a document stating that he tried to shoot Hitler at the request of the German government. As a reward, they'll let him live. Thorndike won't sign, and his reward for that is being thrown off of a cliff and left for dead. He survives and makes his way onto a ship, where he is helped by a young boy (McDowell). However, there is a suspicious and too curious man on the ship (Carradine). Once in London, Thorndike realizes he is being followed and gets into the apartment of Jerry Stokes (Bennett) who helps him. Eventually he escapes to a small town, only to find out he's still being hunted.This is an exciting and suspenseful film with good performances by Pidgeon, who doesn't try a British accent, and Bennett, who sports a Cockney one. Boy, Lang must have loved her. She was certainly perfect for the roles he cast her in. Here she's her usual low-class self but instead of being rotten as in "Scarlet Street" and "Woman in the Window," she has a heart of gold and falls for Alan.Some of this movie is predictable, but one really roots for Thorndike, and the denouement is quite original. I have a quibble with the film - Alan should have realized that he had put Jerry in danger and taken her to his brother's. To me it was a big hole in the script and a deliberate one.Though released in 1941, the story takes place probably right at the beginning of the war, so we can see what the next years bring. Nothing good, that's for sure.
5 out of 8 people found the following review useful: excellent film from the 1940's., 31 July 2007 Author: mentalguitar343 from New York, U S
A very effective evocation of a playboy's politicization. One thing the above comments have not mentioned is the use of the background song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" a British popular song from the 1940s (I believe). I managed to purchase a ragged video tape version of this classic Fritz Lang thriller (on ebay). I love this movie (My dad was a big Fritz Lang fan). I long for the appearance of this flick on DVD. There should be a DVD collection of Fritz Lang films; I haven't been able to find one of his American/British films. This is one of George Sander's best roles. And the mood is quite powerful-- very film noir. When the TV cable stations play patriotic films on holidays this one should be programmed.
6 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Plot to kill Hitler, 21 March 2007 Author: ctrebla from United States
I am 54 years old and viewed this film in film history class back in 1975 on a 16 mm print. Man Hunt made a great impression on me and continues to have fond memories of Walter Pidgeon's performance and discovered other great actors for the first time. I had the opportunity to see it that one time, I think Fritz Lang put his heart and soul into this film. It is beyond me how this film has not yet become available on DVD. It has been over 30 years since then and I continue to look for it on the internet to purchase. It reminds me of the excitement that I just discovered in the movie The Big Clock, at least that's on DVD! I want that excitement again, Please give us Man Hunt on DVD!
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: A Fugitive from the Law of Averages, 3 November 2009 Author: jzappa from United States
Fritz Lang loved to leave one's heart in one's throat with his story about how, in the 1930s, Adolf Hitler ordered him for a meeting. The Fuhrer had seen Metropolis and wanted Lang to be an official Reich filmmaker. Lang said, "Oh well yeah sure of course," and then fled the country as fast as he could, not even stopping to withdraw his bank account. In Hollywood soon after, Lang had a little window to clear the air with this dramatic thriller.I know it seems like the plot is best withheld once you read as far as that a British hunter happens to all the sudden have Hitler in his crosshairs. I won't tell you anything more about that situation. But I will say the film is episodic. There is a chapter involving Roddy McDowell aiding and abetting, and another concerning a cockney streetwalker played by Lang regular Joan Bennett who very quickly falls in love with him, although the context and situation allow a more sensible reason for there to be an easy token love subplot than usual. The hero is played by Walter Pidgeon, a refreshing actor of the studio era owing to his guilelessness, his lack of any affectation, though it grows bothersome that he appears as a well-to-do Englishman with an inexplicable American accent.The film's lasting issues crop up simply because of the fact that it was 1941. There are several moments where you will be absorbed in Fritz Lang's trademark approach wherein points on social evils and multi-faceted subtext sneak up on you, but other moments don the guise of a zealous, conventional pro-war film, but luckily, that assault on the Lang's ominous omniscience mostly ushers in during the final few minutes. For the most part, this underdog war picture, which the Hays Office claimed in the time and place's atmosphere which avoided entangled alliances and controlled any cultural exchange, showed all Germans as evil as opposed to other films showing both good non-Nazi Germans as well as evil National Socialists, is a very carefully laid, continuously ambushing and expertly played bit of watchful waiting.
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