Hangmen Also Die! (1943)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Bertolt Brecht (adaptation) (original story) and
Fritz Lang (adaptation) (original story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 April 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Thriller | War

Tagline:

Fritz Lang's masterpiece of intrigue and deception.

Plot:

After the Nazi administrator of Czechoslovakia is shot, his assassin tries to elude the Gestapo and struggles with his impulse to give himself up as hostages are executed.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Assassination | Resistance | Gestapo | Hostage

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	Reinhard Heydrich
Brian Donlevy	...	Dr. Franticek Svoboda / Karel Vanek
Walter Brennan	...	Prof. Stephen Novotny
Anna Lee	...	Nasha Novotny
Nana Bryant	...	Mrs. Hellie Novotny
William Roy	...	Boda Novotny (as Billy Roy)
Margaret Wycherly	...	Ludmilla Novotny
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Jan Horak (Nasha's Fiancé)
Gene Lockhart	...	Emil Czaka (Brewer)
Tonio Selwart	...	Chief of Gestapo Kurt Haas
Alexander Granach	...	Gestapo Insp. Alois Gruber
Reinhold Schünzel	...	Gestapo Insp. Ritter
Ludwig Donath	...	Schirmer (as Louis Donath)
Arno Frey	...	Camp Lieutenant Itnut
Sarah Padden	...	Mrs. Georgia Dvorak (Grocer)
Jonathan Hale	...	Dedic
Byron Foulger	...	Bartos
Edmund MacDonald	...	Dr. Pillar
Lionel Stander	...	Banya (taxi Driver)
Lester Sharpe	...	Rudy (Waiter)
Arthur Loft	...	Gen. Votruba (Hostage)
George Irving	...	Neeval (Hostage)
James Bush	...	Pescacek (Hostage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Abbott	...	Hostage (scenes deleted)
Louis Adlon	...	Adjutant (uncredited)
Erville Alderson	...	Liberal Official (uncredited)
Richard Alexander	...	Slugger in Theater (uncredited)
Jack Alfred	...	Busboy (uncredited)
Louis V. Arco	...	Nazi Official (uncredited)
Florence Auer	...	Czech Patriot (uncredited)
Felix Basch	...	(uncredited)
Hank Bell	...	Cabbie (uncredited)
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Kylar (uncredited)
Edna Bennett	...	Pregnant Woman (uncredited)
Margaret Bert	...	Market Woman (uncredited)
Lane Bradford	...	Gestapo Officer (uncredited)
Harry C. Bradley	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Frederic Brunn	...	SS Officer (uncredited)
Richard Clarke	...	Priest (uncredited)
Steve Clemente	...	Knife Thrower (uncredited)
Chester Conklin	...	Cook (uncredited)
Edith Conrad	...	Woman in Audience (uncredited)
William Costello	...	SS Guard (uncredited)
Max Davidson	...	Bearded Man (uncredited)
Bryn Davis	...	Girl (uncredited)
Earle S. Dewey	...	Wine Waiter (uncredited)
James Dime	...	Gestapo Detective (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	Aldrich Krapke (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Gretl Dupont	...	Angry Woman (uncredited)
Poldi Dur	...	Slugger's Girlfriend in Theater (uncredited)
David Durand	...	Bicycle Boy (uncredited)
James Eagles	...	Svatak (uncredited)
Edward Earle	...	Professor (uncredited)
Fern Emmett	...	Peasant Woman (uncredited)
Fred Essler	...	Dr. Kesselbach (uncredited)
Virginia Farmer	...	Mrs. Nimitz (uncredited)
William Farnum	...	Viktorin (uncredited)
Betty Farrington	...	Heavyset Woman (uncredited)
Dwight Frye	...	Hostage (uncredited)
Hans Fuerberg	...	Personal Adjutant (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Polcar (uncredited)
Inna Gest	...	Hatcheck Girl (uncredited)
George Guhl	...	Workman (uncredited)
William Haade	...	Mildrad (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Man at Briefing (uncredited)
Bud Jamison	...	Fat Man (uncredited)
Eddie Kane	...	Novak (uncredited)
Victor Kendall	...	SS Leader (uncredited)
Manart Kippen	...	Dovolga (uncredited)
Fred Kohler Jr.	...	Czech Patriot (uncredited)
Kurt Kreuger	...	Gestapo Officer (uncredited)
Rita La Roy	...	Girl (uncredited)
Hope Landin	...	Czech Patriot (uncredited)
Rolf Lindau	...	De Lauge (uncredited)
Emmett Lynn	...	Gerta (uncredited)
Robert Malcolm	...	Czech Patriot (uncredited)
Claire McDowell	...	Counterwoman (uncredited)
Paul McVey	...	Jan Pestuca (uncredited)
John Meredith	...	Czech Man (uncredited)
Philip Merivale	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Louis Merrill	...	Industrialist (uncredited)
Peter Michael	...	SS Captain (uncredited)
Charles Middleton	...	Patriot at Meeting with Svoboda (uncredited)
Robert Milasch	...	Jewish Prisoner (uncredited)
Edwin Mills	...	Eduard (uncredited)
Harold Minjir	...	Butler (uncredited)
Frances Morris	...	Dr. Svoboda's Nurse (uncredited)
George N. Neise	...	Mueller (uncredited)
Carl Neubert	...	Economist (uncredited)
Kurt Neumann	...	SS Man (uncredited)
Manuel París	...	Townsman on Street (uncredited)
John Piffle	...	Industrialist (uncredited)
Russ Powell	...	Tobacconist (uncredited)
Lucien Prival	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Reicher	...	Interpreter (uncredited)
Otto Reichow	...	Gestapo Agent Schultz (uncredited)
Albin Robeling	...	Clerk (uncredited)
Ernest Roberts	...	(uncredited)
Henry Roquemore	...	Patriot at Meeting (uncredited)
Hans Schumm	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Janet Shaw	...	Katerina Honiga (uncredited)
George Sherwood	...	SS Lieutenant (uncredited)
Pietro Sosso	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Robert R. Stephenson	...	Nazi Guard in Visitors' Pen (uncredited)
Carl Stockdale	...	Cigarette Smoker (uncredited)
Henry Sylvester	...	Tall Czech (uncredited)
Forrest Taylor	...	Pipe Smoker (uncredited)
Walter Thiele	...	Police Official (uncredited)
Sigfrid Tor	...	Gescky (uncredited)
Fred Trowbridge	...	Man in Audience (uncredited)
Lisl Valetti	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Philip Van Zandt	...	Officer (uncredited)
Lucio Villegas	...	Townsman at Briefing (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Hostage Wearing Glasses (uncredited)
Hans von Morhart	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Sam Waagenaar	...	SS Man (uncredited)
Fay Wall	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Eddy Waller	...	Hansom Cab Driver (uncredited)
Crane Whitley	...	SS Headquarters Man (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson	...	Santrock (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	Ugly German Bodyguard (uncredited)

Directed by
Fritz Lang

Writing credits
Bertolt Brecht		(adaptation) (original story) (as Bert Brecht) and
Fritz Lang		(adaptation) (original story)
John Wexley		(screenplay)

Produced by
Theo. W. Baumfeld	....	assistant producer (as T.W. Baumfeld)
Fritz Lang	....	producer
Arnold Pressburger	....	producer

Original Music by
Hanns Eisler

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe

Film Editing by
Gene Fowler Jr.

Art Direction by
William S. Darling

Makeup Department
Robert Stephanoff	....	makeup artist (as Blagoe Stephanoff)

Production Management
Carley Harriman	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Walter Mayo	....	assistant director
Fred Pressburger	....	assistant director

Art Department
Julia Heron	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Fred Lau	....	sound
Jack Whitney	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Ned Scott	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eleanor Behm	....	dresses: Miss Lee

Music Department
Artur Guttmann	....	conductor

Other crew
Max Pretzfelder	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Arnold Pressburger Films (as Arnold Productions Inc.)

Distributors

• United Artists (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Favorite Films (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Kino Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Rough Trade Distribution (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Les Films Roger Richebé (????) (France) (theatrical)
• DVDY Films (????) (France) (DVD)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Spiegel Media GmbH (????) (Switzerland) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Bret Wood  producer (DVD version)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:134 min (Turner library print) | France:117 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | Australia:M

Company:

Arnold Pressburger Films

Trivia:

French censorship visa : # 5465.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The character of Reinhard Heydrich wears the collar tabs of an SS-Gruppenfuehrer (group leader, roughly lieutenant general), three oak leaves. As Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia his rank was higher, SS-Obergruppenfuehrer (higher group leader, roughly full general). The proper insignia for this rank in 1942 was three oak leaves with a single pip underneath.

Quotes:

Gestapo Insp. Alois Gruber:[Slamming his fist on the table] Miss Novotny, this time you're going to talk!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Contempt (1963)

Soundtrack:

No Surrender

Good anti-nazi propaganda, but not good history.

One suspects this film registered better with viewers in 1943 than it does today. Despite being suggested by the actual assassination of Reichs Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Reinhard Heydrich, better known to the Czechs as "The Hangman" because of his excessive brutality in dealing with residents of the conquered regions, it is almost total fiction. Even so it is not bad as a rather involved drama and was very likely good anti-nazi propaganda.

Perhaps it is well to start with what actually did happen to Heydrich on May 29, 1942. Two young Czechs, Jan Kubis and Josef Ganchik, parachuted in from an RAF plane and managed to ambush "the Hangman" riding in his open Mercedes. Armed with both machine pistols and a bomb, the apparently did little harm by shooting, but did explode the bomb under the car. Heydrich's spleen was penetrated by bomb fragments and debris causing death several days later, possibly more by infection than anything else. The two Czechs evaded capture briefly, but witnesses under torture revealed their hiding place in a church and the SS killed them. In a massive retaliation, Hitler picked the village of Lidice, more or less at random, from among places known to harbor anti-German sentiment, and ordered its total annihilation. The people of Lidice had nothing whatever to do with the assassination, of course.

In HANGMEN ALSO DIE we have the story of a lone assassin, using an English made pistol, whose getaway taxi was forced to move by German soldiers, causing him to take refuge during the curfew at the home of a Czech professor. The professor's daughter, Mascha, had impulsively directed the German pursuit away from him. The German police suspect the girl, but release her in the hope she will lead them to the wanted man. They also round up many Czechs, including the girl's father, and begin shooting them as hostages. The girl at first intends to give information, hoping to save her father, but in the end is persuaded otherwise by the Czech resistance. A plan is concocted to bamboozle the SS and save the assassin and the girl, but what it is you will have to see for yourself. Be assured it is incredible.

As you see, this story has little to do with the historic assassination and its aftermath, beyond illustrating the SS brutality, but it does make a mildly entertaining wartime adventure with good propaganda value, largely because of the rather low key, intensely personal nature of the plot elements. Some of the characters are very real and believable, e.g. the Gestapo Inspector Gruber, the girl Mascha, and her father, all ably portrayed by Alexander Granach, Anna Lee, and Walter Brennan respectively. On the other hand, some characters are more like cardboard cut-outs and get wooden performances to suit. Brian Donlevy as Dr.Svoboda, the assassin, fits this category alas, as do a number of others. What realism there is seems likely to have been the contribution of Bertolt Brecht rather than John Wexley, who got the credit for the screenplay. One likes to think that Fritz Lang did the best he could with a mixed bag of acting talent, but this can hardly be said to be his best effort.

Just why Hollywood producers seem to prefer fiction to the facts when dealing with historical material is a major mystery to me. In 1943 the general facts of the assassination were known, if not all the details, and could have made just as dramatic a story as this fictional one. It is worth a watch, though, especially if you like Anna Lee.