Hitler's Madman (1943)

Story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Nazi SS commander, by Czech partisans and the reprisals inflicted by the Nazis on the Czechs.

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Peretz Hirschbein, Albrecht Joseph (story),

Stars:

Patricia Morison, John Carradine, Alan Curtis

Cast

Credited cast:
Patricia Morison	...	Jarmilla Hanka
John Carradine	...	Reinhardt Heydrich
Alan Curtis	...	Karel Vavra
Howard Freeman	...	Heinrich Himmler
Ralph Morgan	...	Jan Hanka
Edgar Kennedy	...	Nepomuk the Hermit
Ludwig Stössel	...	Herman Bauer, Burgomaster
Al Shean	...	Father Cemlanek
Elizabeth Russell	...	Maria Bartonek, Anton's Wife
Jimmy Conlin	...	Dvorak, the Shopkeeper
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louis V. Arco	...	German Sergeant
Richard Ryen	...	Gestapo

Storyline

Somewhat fictionalized account of the destruction of the village of Lidice in Czechoslovakia and the events leading up to it. In 1942, the Allies parachuted a Czech resistance fighter into the area. He quickly reunites with his former girlfriend and many of the villagers who knew him from before the war. The Nazis are evil however and under the command of Reinhardt Heydrich rule the country with an iron fist, arbitrarily arresting innocents and charging them with fictitious crimes. When Heydrich is severely wounded in a roadside attack - he dies three days later - Henrich Himmler orders the destruction of Lidice. The men are herded into a church which is set aflame and the women are sent to concentration camps. The town itself is leveled.

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Plot Keywords:

evil man | czechoslovakian history | based on novel

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 June 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hitler's Hangman

Filming Locations:

Angeles Crest, Angeles National Forest, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although this film was originally filmed by poverty-row studio Producers Releasing Corp. (PRC), the word got out in Hollywood that the picture was far and away the best thing PRC had ever done; eventually MGM executives got a look at it, were suitably impressed, bought it from PRC and it was released as an MGM picture.

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Connections

Featured in Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (2004)

User Reviews

Nothing too great but it's good enough all.

This is one of those little typical WW II allied propaganda-flicks, made during WW II. It's rather simplistic and cheap looking all but its all enough to still make this movie a good watch, of course especially when you're a fan of the genre. Of course the biggest problem with this movie now days is its propaganda undertone that can be basically seen back in every sequence of the movie. Cowards become heroes and bad men turn into good ones. It makes the movie a bit ridicules and not always credible enough to watch now days but it's a part of the time period the movie got made in. The story itself is quite interesting on its won right but you feel it deserved a better and more fair and closer to the truth treatment. Who knows, maybe filmmakers will pick up this story once again and give it the treatment it really deserves and making it the great movie that this movie in potential could had also been. None of the actors really known to impress within this movie but John Carradine still manages to push the movie to greater heights with his role of Nazi SS commander. It's a movie worth watching due to its main story but it's production values and acting make this movie also far from a great or impressive one. 6/10