The Black Parachute (1944) User Reviews

A conquered King fights for freedom.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 9 September 2018]

In a small Uritanian country, King Jonathan Hale finds himself a prisoner of the Nazis, with a phony imitator broadcasting the urging for his people to submit to German will. It's another war propaganda action film, decently made, with John Carradine once again utilizing his severe demeanor to play a nasty Nazi. Columbia's newest leading man, Larry Parks (later accused of being a Communist sympathizer and unjustly blacklisted), plays the hero who dones a German officer's uniform and infiltrates the king's castle to try to get him out so he can expose the Nazis for their false claims of the king's willing participation.

This is an action packed, tense war drama, where Osa Massen plays the supposed traitor to her people, aiding Parks in his efforts but possibly playing double agent. This has many tense moments, especially after Parks is exposed, set out towards a giant mouse trap by the clever Carradine who has no qualms about killing his own men when they make a mistake. Of course, the Nazis are hissably evil and the nationalists tough, suspicious but determined, even with sacrifice. It's good entertainment and a reminder of how good vs. evil usually ends with evil cowering in cowardice.

Another Nazi role for Carradine

[kevinolzak · 3/10 · 30 April 2008]

A long forgotten, rarely seen Columbia programmer was another Nazi role for John Carradine during the busy WW2 years, and while he gets top billing as the main villain the picture focuses on the hero played by Larry Parks, who parachutes into enemy territory to link up with the Allied underground. Jonathan Hale appears as the imprisoned King while other small roles feature familiar faces such as Charles Wagenheim and Trevor Bardette, with Osa Massen doing the female lead. The first of Carradine's Axis villains was Mr. Jones, the furtive stalker lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce on Walter Pidgeon in the excellent "Man Hunt" (1941). Perhaps his best was "Hitler's Madman" (1943) in which Carradine's Reinhardt Heydrich repudiates Hitler from his deathbed to superior Howard Freeman. "Reunion in France"(1942) was a vanity showcase for Joan Crawford, who aids a downed American flier played by John Wayne. A very low budget Monogram programmer in 1943 called "No Escape" (aka "I Escaped form the Gestapo") took place entirely in an amusement park run by Carradine, menacing Dean Jagger and Mary Brian (with a cameo from Spanky McFarland.) Another Poverty Row effort came from PRC, "Waterfront" (1944), with Carradine's Victor Marlow matching wits with his treacherous fellow Nazi agent J. Carrol Naish as they both attempt to recover a lost codebook (this was the final Nazi role of his career). On the horror side,let's not forget his star turn in 1943's "Revenge of the Zombies," in which he gave a strangely low-key performance as Dr. Max Von Altermann, who spends his time in the bayou swamps of Louisiana breeding zombies for the Axis cause. "The Black Parachute" is strictly routine, somewhat plodding, but at least JC doesn't get killed at the end.

Nazi's vs Partisans

[gordonl56 · 7/10 · 5 April 2015]

THE BLACK PARACHUTE – 1944

This one is a low budget flag-waver put out by "Columbia Pictures". The film is set in an unnamed country somewhere In the Balkans.

The Germans have occupied the country and are holding the King, Jonathan Hale, captive. They want Hale to publicly support the Germans. The Germans believe this will cut down on partisan activity. The German General in charge is John Carradine.

At the same time as this is going on, American news reporter, Larry Parks, is in Switzerland. He is approached by several men from the country in question. It seems that Hale has been making radio broadcasts asking his people to obey the Nazi occupiers. The men would like Parks to take part in a mission to rescue Hale. They figure that Hale is only doing the radio bit under pressure.

It seems that Parks' mother is a niece of the King and Parks knows him well. Needless to say Parks agrees to help out. He is decked out in a black parachute and dropped outside the capital city.

The man is quickly gobbled up by the local guerrilla leader and his party. The group is not sure if Parks is on the level, or a German agent. They soon decide that he is indeed on their side and offer to help.

Later that night, the party ambushes a German patrol and wipes them out. Parks finds some interesting documents on a dead German officer. The documents say that the German's have been using an impostor to fake the King's voice on the radio.

Parks now has a flash on how to gain entry into the German headquarters where the King is held. He takes the uniform of the dead officer and will pretend to be him. He joins another German patrol out looking for the first one.

He is soon shown in to see Carradine etc. The switch works because no one in the capital knows the voice impostor by sight. Also in the mix here is pretty Osa Massen. Massen is a local countess who now collaborates with the Germans.

Anyways, Parks manages to get in to see the King and lets him know they plan on springing him. Of course the plan falls to pieces forcing Parks and company to make it up as they go along. Now the countess, Massen appears to switch sides again and offers to help Parks. Of course this would be too simple and she is really a stooge working for Carradine. There is a chase through the countryside and several brisk gun battles needed before Hale can be whisked to safety in a waiting aircraft. Once Hale is safe in Switzerland he hits the airwaves and tells the world of the nasty Nazi types.

This low budget fare is handled by veteran B- helmsman, Lew Landers. The prolific Landers cranked this kind of stuff out by the barrel. The year this film was made, Landers directed nine features. He worked in every genre, from horror, westerns, noir and war. When film work dried up, he switched to television and directed several hundred episodes in that medium.