Hitler--Dead or Alive (1942)

Director:

Nick Grinde

Writers:

Karl Brown (writer)
Sam Neuman (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 April 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A team of ex-con bounty hunters go to Germany in search of Hitler. If they can find him, a million dollar reward is to be paid to them. |

Plot Keywords:

Hitler | Nazi | Escape | Plot To Kill Hitler | Character Name In Title

Cast

Ward Bond	...	Steve Maschick
Dorothy Tree	...	Else von Brandt
Warren Hymer	...	Hans 'Dutch' Havermann
Paul Fix	...	Joe 'The Book' Conway
Russell Hicks	...	Samuel Thornton
Bruce Edwards	...	Johnny Stevens
Felix Basch	...	Col. Hecht
Bobby Watson	...	Adolf Hitler (as Bob Watson)
Frederick Giermann	...	Meyer
Kenneth Harlan	...	Cutler
Fee Malten	...	Greta (as Faye Wall)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:15

Company:

Ben Judell

Quotes:

Samuel Thornton: Our enemies are the warlords and their followers, not just one person or one group. We must shatter the mailed fist forever... and silence their cry of blood and iron, with blood and iron.

Super low-budget stinker! Makes the Germans in Hogan's Heroes look dangerous!

I was always interested in viewing a Bobby Watson vehicle. Recently I purchased this film solely for that reason. Film historians tell us that Mr. Watson was a dead ringer for Adolf Hitler and I had to see this for myself. Watson only shows up in the film after about two thirds of the way through.

All in all, this film is so bad that it's pathetic. Putting aside propaganda reasons, it boggles the imagination why an accomplished actor like Ward Bond (Gentleman Jim, Wagon Train, Gone With the Wind) would actually star in such a farce. My only guesses are that 1) he was hard up for money or 2) he felt it was his patriotic duty to do this stinker.

The Nazis in this film are shown to be idiotic boobs and incompetent to the point of not even being able to keep POWs from escaping from Dachau. Actually, Dachau wasn't even used as a POW camp. At any rate, that aside, they are depicted as a group of nincompoops, much like the ones in the TV program, Hogan's Heroes. I always thought that Stalag 17 spawned the idea for Hogan's Heroes, but now I think that Hitler Dead or Alive may have been the movie that influenced Bing Crosby to air that TV classic!!

Simply put, this movie is nonsensical, moronic and unrealistic. It's worth the time to view it once, just for laughs, but to view it a second time is a waste of time!