Man Hunt. Fritz Lang. 1941.
Is this the first American war film (sort of) in this blog series? Everybody’s speaking English, though (except for the Germans), so perhaps it was just financed by Americans, but it’s British?
And it’s Fritz Lang! Golly!
The cinematography is on another plane entirely from these other American films I’ve watched previously. So many details. So stylised. (I know that’s a contradiction.)
It’s thrilling to watch on a scene-by-scene basis, even if the plot doesn’t really make that much sense. It’s been lovingly restored for this blu-ray release.
If this had had a non-moronic plot, it’d have been a classic. The acting’s great and it’s exciting and it looks wonderful. But I can easily see that others wouldn’t be this patient with this nonsense.
[time passes]
I’m now watching the documentary extras on the disc. It’s fascinating! There were congressional hearings after this film was released to investigate pro-British Hollywood activities! Because the US was neutral at this time, of course, and this film is overtly anti-Nazi.
Pro-British activity. Sheesh.
Popular movies in June 1941 according to IMDB:
| Poster | Votes | Rating | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 3867 | 7.4 | Man Hunt |
 | 281 | 7.2 | Underground |
 | 734 | 7.1 | Moon Over Miami |
 | 1258 | 7.0 | Blossoms in the Dust |
 | 951 | 6.9 | Out of the Fog |
 | 376 | 6.8 | Caught in the Draft |
 | 791 | 6.6 | Tom, Dick and Harry |
 | 3968 | 6.6 | The Big Store |
 | 643 | 6.6 | They Met in Bombay |
 | 225 | 5.6 | Broadway Limited |
This blog post is part of the Decade series.