Customer Reviews

Hangmen Also Die

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love war movies made during the war they portray. They're usually unabashed propaganda, bold strokes painted with primary colors. The stories are the ones that matter today, and will sometimes be buried by history. The bad guys are ruthless, invincible, menacing without the benefit of hindsight. It's like Red Riding Hood meeting the wolf.
Fritz Lang's 1943 HANGMEN ALSO DIE is one such film. Based on a true story, it's a moving tale set in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. The Reichprotektor Heydrich has been assassinated and the Gestapo is conducting a massive investigation to apprehend the killer.
Frustrated in their search, and by the Czech resistance, the Gestapo rounds up 400 hostages and begin executing them at regular intervals until the assassin in apprehended. Brian Donlevy plays the killer, Dr. Franticek Svoboda, Anna Lee the young woman who inadvertently (at first) throws the authorities off his trail, and Walter Brennan plays Prof. Stephen Novotny, Anna Lee's father and one of the four hundred hostages.
The Nazis in HANGMEN ALSO DIE were played by Jewish actors, refugees from a hostile Europe. Whether brooding over a pimple on the cheek, annoyingly cracking knuckles while tormenting a poor old vegetable monger, or cavorting with naughty girls, Lang's Gestapo agents are animated and interesting. The Czechs, on the other hand, are all played by American actors and all, even Brennan, give stiff, dull, and wooden performances. Donlevy especially gives some of the flattest line readings of his career.
It's tempting to blame the actors, but in Lotte Eisner's admiring biography, Fritz Lang, she quotes an old interview in which Lang discussed the movie. "We didn't want," Lang said, "analyses of characters, we simply schematized into those who resist and those who organize, those who aspire to freedom but have not yet found or chosen the means of action, and finally the collaborators, the genuine enemy of the people....
"I don't think it is possible in such a plot to go far into the psychological development because the psychology does not change." In other words Lang got the performances he wanted, without any emotional window dressing. Well, he's a genius, I'm not, but Lordy it would have been nice if his heroes had had a little more panache, a little more brio.
I had a few problems with this film. The plot pivots on a shaky point or two - the unsmeared lipstick clue, two unarmed men bearing down on a man with a gun without being shot - that seem a little manufactured and more than a little implausible. Still, HANGMEN ALSO DIE was stylish and an interesting take on a little talked about, at least in America, incident in World War II.

HANGMEN ALSO DIE,is a film directed by Fritz Lang released in 1943 I have given this wonderful movie a five star rating for more than one reason and here they are:

This movie was timely and served to keep anti-nazi morale up
at a time when there was was much uncertainty about the outcome of the European war.
What now seems like an inevitable victory for the Allies was anything but inevitable appearing back them.

The marvelous directing of HANGMEN ALSO DIE by the great Fritz Lang.
Not only does Mr. Lang use his skills in a enthusiastic and forceful manner, especially when dealing with the Nazis, he knows when to be restrained and use a touch of light humor to make the unbearable seem almost, at times tolorable.

This film is based on historical events, yes, "the hangman" really was assassinated, and the exciting story still has time for romance and various
vignettes illustrating how life was for the people under the Nazi yoke.....not to mention how fatal it could be for even the most innoffensive citizens.

HANGMEN ALSO DIE illustrates how when a dictatorship reigns, it's the rats and the informers who prosper. And very often, as is the final case in this movie, the information is maliciously and fatally false.

Losing your personal freedom is akin to death in many ways. The only difference is you may still have a chance to regain your freedom, death, of course, is the ultimate finality.

Rarely have I seen so many fine performances by a wonderful cast of people who are usually supporting actors. Walter Brennan, the marvelous Anna Lee and so many others. Especially the actors cast as Nazi officers,
many if not most I think it would be fair to assume were anti-Nazi refugees
and ironicaly are hired to portray those that they loathed. And they do a crackerjack job of it,too.

It is I think the best underground resistance WWII film that I have seen, even better than THIS LAND IS MINE, directed by Jean Renior, which was released the same year as HANGMEN ALSO DIE.

I urge anyone who has even the slightest interest in the European war to watch this excellent movie, it brings to the screen realistic portrayals of life under the Nazi heel. HANGMEN ALSO DIE is not a documentary but it is a fictional story woven on the loom of historical fact and even to this day an inspiring film.

HANGMEN ALSO DIE is probably most infamous as the film for which Bertolt Brecht did *not* receive screenplay credit. In a more than usually petty bout of Hollywood parochialism, the credit was given to his American collaborator (who shall remain nameless here), despite the testimony of director Fritz Lang that Brecht was responsible for every important aspect of the script. Imagine Elizabeth I's chamberlain saying, "Who is this Shakespeare guy, anyway? Let's say Court Favorite wrote it. He can use the credit." and you'll get a sense of the idiocy of this decision. (Lotte Eisner's FRITZ LANG describes these events with effective concision.)

It is not to deny the tremendous contributions of Lang, cinematographer James Wong Howe and a troupe of first rate character actors to suggest that everything that distinguishes HANGMEN results from Brecht's participation. In lesser hands, the events surrounding the assassination of Heydrich might make an entertaining political melodrama. The formula of stalwart, virtuous victims triumphing over a brutal tyranny rarely fails, particularly with American audiences, eager to re-affirm the democratic mythos repeatedly and uncritically.

Such a film might make more effective propaganda, something like Warner Bros.'s CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY. As such, it wouldn't warrant much more than a footnote in Hollywood history. Brecht's contribution comes from his unequaled sense of the contradictions and ironies of history and power. A victim of persecution from both the Nazis and the House Un-American Activities Committee, he had the political sophistication not to make the Germans and their collaborators in this film larger-than-life Evils, but obviously human creatures with more than a shade of appeal.

The Czechs, on the other hand, are not so much virtuous as wooden and bloodless. Their numerous, long speeches about freedom and humanity are unconvincing and platitudinous. There is, in true Brechtian fashion, no effort to make us "identify" with them, to give us goose bumps of sympathy with the high ideals. Quite the contrary, the film unflinchingly faces the partisans' complicity in the bloody events resulting from the assassination. Events unwind with clockwork precision, deadlier and darker with each step as *both* sides demand ever greater sacrifice from ordinary people.

Precisely because it does not shy away from the complexities of the situation, HANGMEN makes a much stronger statement in favor of political responsibility than a simple melodrama could. For the Germans can be somewhat sympathetic and the Czechs unappealing, and the latter can *still* be seen as ultimately right. Such a level of sophistication is rare in film of any kind. That it comes from Hollywood must be attributed to the presence of an unusually gifted set of émigré talent worthy of the theme. If HANGMEN ALSO DIE is not for everyone, it is definitely for anyone who responds to those rare instancs when a film treats us as intelligent adults.

Classic Expressionist images and sly situations by Fritz Lang; cinematography by James Wong Howe; propaganda poetry by Bertolt Brecht (so nice they recite it twice in succession, in case we've missed the point)--HANGMEN ALSO DIE is irresistable!

The story was inspired by the actual assassination of Reinhard Heydrick, who had earlier appeared as himself in Riefenstahl's TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. It's interesting to note that Heydrick continued to have a successful film career for another fifty years, for he also appears posthumously in at least eleven more motion pictures!

Some reviews complain about Brian Donleavy's alleged "lethargic" performance, though I found it consistent with his other straightforward work and quite acceptable. It's peculiar, however, to witness the Czech underground played with so many extremely American faces and mannerisms--Donleavy and O'Keefe in particular. I've never been a fan of Walter Brennan, between the geezer impersonations and his politics; but he does do very well in what elsewhere would be the "Walter Huston" role (NORTH STAR, DRAGON SEED, and others). If any non-German actor's performance seems weaker than others, it's Anna Lee's. But this entire topic only arises because the performances by German actors are so excellent.

In writings of Hollywood (notably Gore Vidal's SCREENING HISTORY and Waugh's THE LOVED ONE), much has been made of the British colony of actors and writers whose films before and during WW2 consciously endeavored to increase American sympathy and support for their homeland. But there's an unusual fascination in watching German actors (not to mention Fritz Lang and "Bert" Brecht) pulling out all the stops in this project.

Much is justifiably made of Hans Heinrich Twardowski's dazzling impersonation of Reinhard Heydrick at the beginning of the movie, which makes the "Nazis" of Otto Preminger, Conrad Veidt, and Erich von Stroheim look like Gandhi, but my "favorite" Nazi in the film is the satirical limning of a Gestapo officer in charge of "questioning" a couple key female suspects. Priceless! As is the performance of the old-lady grocer who refuses to rat out Anna Lee. She, the girl's gossipy aunt, and the Nazi in charge of the investigation have all stepped out of earlier Lang films (M, FURY, etc.) and bring tremendous Old World authenticity to their roles.

The final irony lies in the film's end-title. As Amazon notes, after the plot's presumed climax the end-title challenges whether this is REALLY the end of the story. In truth, the original film was several minutes longer, and included the execution of the hostages. Too grim for war propaganda of 1943? (Some suggest it was excised perhaps before its release in Europe; and it's known that HUAC banned the movie as possibly pro-Communist, and that the American public was "protected" from it for decades.) Or perhaps the studio said Genug already, for a film that's well over two hours long even WITH the snipping?

Doubtless that lopping contributed to Brecht's dissatisfaction with the final product. Meanwhile, the German-speaker who was hired to help him with the project, John Wexley, was indeed a Communist and, like Brecht, was later brought before HUAC--though with more dire consequences.

Fritz Lang made many interesting films; this is one of them. He also made some masterpieces. However, contrary to the DVD cover, in my opinion, this isn't one of those. But it remains an interesting film, nonetheless, primarily because it is an historical document. It is a wonderful example of Hollywood's use of German exiles to manufacture World War II propaganda.

My favourite scene, and the most memorable for me, is near the start of the film. It is the one in which Dr. Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) is being chased through the streets by the nazis. He has just shot and killed Reinhard Heydrich, the infamous nazi "Hangman". Nasha Novotny (Anna Lee), an innocent bystander doing her shopping, misdirects the nazis and Svoboda is safe. The scene is simply very well directed by Lang, and shot by James Wong Howe.

The most dramatically satisfying scene is played between Nasha and her father Prof. Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan). Writer Bertolt Brecht gives Brennan a wonderful speech which he recites to his daughter (to pass on to his son) before he is sent off to be killed. The scene is not only well written and acted, but it takes place in a small, dimly lit room that adds to the atmosphere.

Brennan gives the most compelling performance, but it is not an actor's film. As Amazon reviewer Steven Hellerstedt has pointed out, Lang schematized the performances. While this has the effect of easily separating the actors into factions; those who do and don't cooperate with the nazi invaders; it also has the effect of weakening the drama. Therefore, the majority of the "Czech" performances are really quite wooden, while the nazi characters have the more vibrant (though stereotypical) roles. The result of all this is just as Lang planned; the propaganda is stressed. Muting the drama has the effect of dating the film, but I'm not sure Lang would have cared about that in 1943. Nevertheless, it remains an interesting cultural artifact, and a boon for classic film and Fritz Lang fans.

"Hangmen" is a 1943 production by 3 German exiles: Bertolt Brecht (Unacknowledged writer), Fritz Lang (Director and Producer and co-scripter), Arnold Pressburger (no relation to Emeric Pressburger of Powell/Pressburger fame) as "Presenter" (whatever that is). The starring roles by: Brian Donlevy as Dr. Svoboda, Anna Lee as Nasha Novotny, Walter Brenna as Professor Novotny, Gene Lockhart as the turn-coat Czaka, and Alexander Granach is Inspector Gruber.

First off, as to the technical aspects of the film, let me just say that there are lots of shadows and collateral camera angles - so enjoyed by those of us who love film noir - shot by the renowned James Wong Howe. I have heard that Mr. Howe's talent was often wasted on films requiring less ability, but he certainly employed his skills on this movie. I'm not proficient enough on this subject to elaborate any further, so I'll leave the subject by saying that every scene visually held my interest.

As to content: this is the story of the murder of the infamous number two man in the SS, who was also the "co-architect" of the Holocaust, Reinhard Heydrich. [Side-note: if you could live in even worse infamy, Heydrich was also the chief official at the Wannsee Conference held January 20, 1942, at a lovely chalet in a suburb of Berlin. On that ill-fated day, Heydrich told the officials of the Nazi Regime to comply with Himmler's "Final Solution" of the Jews, whose numbers were becoming problems in the concentration camps. One of the worst solutions, of course, was the inclusion of the gas chambers. If you haven't seen the move "Conspiracy" with Kenneth Branaugh that documents this meeting, you really should do yourself a favor and rent it...oh, or buy it from Amazon!]

Where the heck was I? Oh, yes, Heydich was the Reich "Protector" of German-occupied Prague and was known as the "Hangman" due to his cruelty to the Czech people. Well, all we ever see OF hEYDRICH in this movie is right at the beginning where, before an august-looking company of officials, he is shouting orders to work, work, work ("Arbeit macht frei", after all, nicht wahr!) these "slaves" and not to pay too much money doing it. Also, he notified them that they all needed to learn German. The man who played Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski) did a bang-up job. Death, you knew, would look good on him!

Now to the story: the beginning - with its contrived looking village set, and the Brooklyn accents of the Czechs - belies the powerfully mesmerizing story to come. We soon see a suspicious looking man roaming around (a man who has just assassinated Heydrich, played by Donlevy) who encounters a young lady (Anna Lee) who shields him from the SS. She doesn't know who he is but, evidentially, the SS is the enemy and citizens naturally protect anyone fleeing them.

The assassin turns out to be Dr. Svoboda, and the young lady is Nasha Novotny. Needing refuge, Svoboda is invited to stay the evening with Nasha's family. Her father, Professor Novotny (Brennan), is an old revolutionary himself and you just get the feeling that he knows Svoboda is the Heydrich assassin. When the SS comes to round up the "usual suspects" (the intellectuals, dissidents, farmers, gamblers, air breathers) for investigation and later murder, they take Nasha's father not Svoboda. Herr Professor Novotny refuses to tell the officers that Svoboda is the man they want, much to daughter Nasha's chagrin.

For the remainder of the story, Professor Novotny remains in custody and serves as a carrot to dangle in front of Nasha by the Gestapo. The Gestapo chief, Herr Inspector Gruber (played by Alexander Granach, who portrayed Kopalski in one my favorites, "Ninotchka") keeps toying and almost succeeding in getting Nasha to succumb to the desire to free her father by turning state's evidence and giving up the identity of the assassin. Her community (and her father) tell her she must never enable the Gestapo, but this proved to be her film-long struggle. Unfortunately, she just gives enough information away that eventually Gruber uncovers the assassin.

This story is quite involved and I can't go into all the intricate details. But, suffice it to say, the informant falls into his own carefully devised trap, the Lee character matures and becomes a loyal citizen of her country, and the Gestapo gets duped through the most carefully woven set of lies you have ever imagined. All these machinations were successful because the Czechs were united. "The oppressor is always wrong", I suspect, was their motto. It was wonderful to see the power of such a love of land and nation despite the personal injury suffered.

As to the acting: it was fairly indifferent. The characters weren't uninteresting except as compared to the story. This film was completely story-driven, in my opinion. The only actor I would have put up for an academy award was Alexander Granach who played the profligate, rogue SS man.

This truly is a fantastic film, and I can't wait to see it again. I know I missed a lot at first viewing. I did catch how powerful the resistance movement was and how extremely clever and determined it had to be. I thought that I knew this having done some reading on the subject. But (perhaps because of my own lukewarm passions) each new portrayal amazes me yet again.

If you like political thrillers, first-rate war propaganda films, idealism that's not too melodramatic and Fritz Lang, you owe yourself a look at Hangmen Also Die. It was made just after the real-life assassination of the Nazi "protector" of Czechoslovakia, Reinhard Heydrich. Lang, a Nazi refugee, got together with Bertold Brecht to fashion a story of the killing that would bring greater awareness of Nazi oppression. This film is very efficient at doing that.

In the movie, Heydrich is shot by Dr. Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) in a plan involving a number of members of the Czech resistance. He escapes thanks to a young woman, Natasha Novotny (Anna Lee), who brings him into her house. He receives the protection of her father, Professor Novotny (Walter Brennan). A city-wide manhunt begins, ruthlessly conducted by the Nazis, led by a Gestapo officer, Alois Gruber (Alexander Granach). Dozens of hostages are taken, and are systematically shot in small groups to force someone to come forward and identify Svoboda. No one does, and the remaining resistance fighters -- average people who have everyday jobs as a cleaning lady, a butler, a taxi driver, a waiter -- develop a scheme to put the blame on an unctuous, scheming collaborator, Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). Czaka had pretended to be sympathetic to the resistance but was in the pay of the Gestapo. Eventually the crime is pinned on a groveling Czaka, who is executed by the Gestapo. Later Berlin tells the local Nazis that Czaka couldn't have done it, but to protect the reputation of the local German heirarchy they say that the case must be closed.

Donlevy does a fine job as a Czech surgeon who becomes Heydrich's assassin. Brennan also is very good as a quiet professor who finds great strength as he faces probable execution. And Alexander Granach as Gruber is fascinating, if always threatening to go over the top into caricature. This is probably just how Lang wanted the Nazis portrayed. Hans von Twardowsky who plays Reinhard Heydrich gives an absolutely over-the-top protrayal of Heydrich as a vicious, effeminate creep. Another repellant Nazi keeps picking at a sore on his face. Lang spares none of them.

This is a very well-developed story, with incident after incident building tension. There is no humor to speak of, but much satisfaction in seeing how Svoboda is protected, how Czaka is framed and how Gruber is dealt with to provide the finishing touch to the frame. The direction is brisk and the photography and editing are typical of Lang's style.

The DVD picture is very good. There are no extras.

"Hangmen Also Die" is a 1943 film about the true life assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi "Protector" of German-occupied Prague, aka "The Hangman". There were many films that came out during the war, about events that were happening or had just happened. The film "Wake Island" (1942), for example, came out only a few weeks after the Island fell. Similar films about the war include "Stand by for Action" (1942), "Aerial Gunner" (1943), "Air Force" (1943), "Bataan" (1943), "Bombardier" (1943), "Corregidor" (1943), "Guadalcanal Diary" (1943), "Sahara" (1943), "The Fighting Seabees" (1944), "Marine Raiders" (1944), and "Back to Bataan" (1945).

The film stars Brain Donlevy, Walter Brennan and Anna Lee and features Gene Lockhart, Dennis O'Keefe, and Alexander Granach.

Donlevy is best known for his roles as a villain, so it's surprising to see him as a hero in this film. Indeed, another one of Donlevy's few heroic roles as in "Wake Island" which appeared the year before. Donley was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1939's "Beau Geste" as the sadistic Sergeant Markoff (Thomas Mitchell won for "Stagecoach"). He appeared in almost 100 films between 1923 and 1969, but his busiest period was the 40s when he did more than 30 films including "Command Decision" (1948), "The Virginian" (1946), "Two Years Before the Mast" (1946), and "Billy the Kid" (1941). Donlevy plays a physician who assassinates the Hangman. Unfortunately Donlevy is a lot better villain than he is a hero, and the film suffers from this.

Walter Brennan won 3 Oscars for Best Supporting Actor ("Come and Get it" in 1936, "Kentucky" in 1938, and "The Westerner" in 1941) and was nominated for his work in "Sergeant York" (1941). We know him best for his Emmy nominated role in the TV series "The Real McCoys", and his film comedies ("The Over the Hill Gang") or as the grumpy side kick Stumpy in "Rio Bravo", but he was equally capable of playing the villain, as he showed in "The Westerner" (1940), "My Darling Clementine" (1946), and again In "How the West Was Won" (1962). What Walter Brennan didn't usually do is play a heroic straight man, which is what he does in this film, as a Professor whose daughter becomes inadvertently involved in the conspiracy to hide the assassin. Interestingly enough, Brennan played a similar role in the film "North Star" which was a film about the Nazi invasion of Russia. Brennan's performance is unremarkable.

Anna Lee plays the young woman who becomes involved in the conspiracy to hide the identity of the assassin, a move which puts her own father (Brennan) in peril. Lee was a favorite of director John Ford appearing in 8 of his films including "How Green Was My Valley" (1941), "Fort Apache" (1948), "The Last Hurrah" (1958), and "The Horse Soldiers" (1959). She is best known for her work on "General Hospital" where she played Lila Quartermaine.

Alexander Granach gives the film's best performance as a Gestapo agent,. Granach was a German Jew who fled Germany for obvious reasons. His first US film was "Ninotchka" (1939) and he appeared in several films as a Nazi (e.g., "Joan of Paris", "The Hitler Gang")

Versatile Gene Lockhart appeared in more than 100 films and was nominated as Best Supporting Actor in 1939 for "Algiers" (won by Walter Brennan for "Kentucky"). The father of actresses Kathleen and June Lockhart, he's best remembered for his roles as the judge in "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) and Georges de la Tremouille in "Joan of Arc" (1948), but I remember him best as Bob Cratchit in "A Christmas Carol" (1938). Lockhart plays a Czech who works for the Nazis, one of Lockhart's few villainous roles, and one has to wonder about the casting for the film, since Lockhart does not inspire the emotional reaction that his character should. Perhaps if he had switched roles with Donlevy the film would be stronger.

Dennis O'Keefe was an extra in more than 200 films, and began getting small, credited roles in 1938. He made another 50 films, most of them forgettable, and then transitioned to TV in the 50s, eventually getting his own show, "The Dennis O'Keefe Show" (1959-60). "Hangmen" was his biggest role. He plays the fiancé of Anna Lee.

Lionel Stander makes a brief appearance at the start of the film as a taxi driver. Stander is best known as Max from "Hart to Hart" (1979-84).

Fritz Lang directs. Lang was one of the fathers of film noir and was called the "Master of Darkness" by the BFI. More than anyone else he is responsible for popularizing the German school of expressionist film, with the "Dr. Mabuse" series (1922, 1933, 1960), the revolutionary "Metropolis" (1927) and the frightening "M" (1931) which launched the career of Peter Lorre. Though he wasn't a Jew, Lang fled German in 1934 when the Nazis took over. He eventually came to the US where he made such notable films as "Fury" (1936), "The Return of Frank James" (1940), and "Western Union" (1940). Following "Hangman" he made "The Woman in the Window" (1944), "Scarlet Street" (1945), and "Clash by Night" (1952), and "The Big Heat" (1953). While he was never nominated for an Oscar, his work influenced the work of many directors, including Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock.

Bertolt Brecht (called Bert in the film credits) wrote the story, along with Lang. This was Brecht's only Hollywood film. Brecht was a German who, like Lang, fled in 1933. Among his major plays are "Threepenny Opera" (1928), "Life of Galileo" (1937), and "Mother Courage and Her Children" (1938). Brecht was an ardent Communist and was blacklisted in the 50s and became one of the "Hollywood 19"

The film was nominated for Best Music and Best Sound. Hans Eisler was a German composer, and a friend of Brecht, and wrote the music for several of Brecht's plays. Like Lang and Brecht, he fled Germany in 1933. In addition to his nomination for this film, he was also nominated for "None But the Lonely Heart" (1944). The song, "No Surrender", that appears near the end of the film was written by Eisler, and the original title of the film was to be "No Surrender", but it was changed when a book with that title appeared in 1942.

The cinematography is by James Wong Howe, one of Hollywood's best cameramen. Howe's characteristic use of deep focus and dramatic lighting are well in evidence. Howe was nominated for an Oscar 10 times with 2 wins ("Hud" and "The Rose Tatoo"), making him one of the most acknowledged cinematographers in film history. The same year he shot "Hangmen" he also did "North Star" for which he received an Oscar nomination (won by "The Song of Bernadette").

During the McCarthy era the film was labeled "subversive" and thought to be pro communist. Writer John Wexley was blacklisted, as was actor Lionel Stander as well as Brecht and Eisler. The New York Times said that Lang "has returned to the starkly melodramatic style that marked his finest films," but also notes that the film is "too ponderous" and "in so far as the picture tries to echo the anguished heroism of a captive people it fails badly both in the script and in the performance."

The film will be of interest to Fritz Lang fans. It isn't among his best films, but it is certainly watchable even if at 2+ hours it is far too long. Lang's staging, use of light and dark, and camera work are definitely on display. Otherwise, the performances are not especially appealing, apart from Granach, and Lang fails to capture the gravity of the situation as hundreds of hostages are put to death. "North Star", a film that came out the same year, and concerns resistance to the Nazis in Russia, is a far better film for people who want to view this era.

'Hangmen Also Die' takes as its story, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a German Nazi official, head of the security police, chief deputy to the head of the Schutzstaffel, Heinrich Himmler, who organized mass exterminations of European Jews during the opening years of World War II... and also the subsequent retaliatory devastation of Lidice, a Czech mining village...

With his usual skill, Lang weaves a tale of gripping suspense: the Gestapo's efforts to find the assassin; the workings of the Czech resistance fighters; and the traitor who is finally hoisted on his own petard...

The film is an indictment of Nazi brutality and a tribute to the oppressed who dared to fight it...

Fritz Lang's "Hangmen Also Die", written by Bertholt Brecht is a propagandized 1943 account of the assassination of Reichprotector Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich was the despicable, pompous and belligerent Nazi appointed military governor of parts of Czechoslavakia played by Hans Heinrich von Twardowski. The hated Nazi is shot by Dr. Franticek Svoboda played effectively by Hollywood tough guy Brian Donlevy.

Donlevy is part of a Czech underground anti-Nazi movement. As a result of his involvement Donlevy is ultimately protected by the Novotny family headed by terrific character actor Walter Brennan, who plays Professor Stephen Novotny. His daughter, Nasha played by Anna Lee, is initially willing to colloborate with the Gestapo to reveal the identity of the assassin to protect her family. As punishment for the shooting, prominent Czech citizens are rounded up and put in camps to be summarily executed. Included in this group is her father, Brennan.

Lee eventually comes around, inspired by the bravery of the Czech citizens. She aids Donlevy in ultimately framing traitorous Czech beer magnate Emil Czaka played by rotund Gene Lockhart as the assassin.

Lang's creation was a powerful film that delivered an important message to the viewers in the midst of WW2. The resolve and determination of the Czech people to throw off the yoke and Nazi oppression was effectively portrayed.