''Man Hunt'' is a 1941 American

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

and starring

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...

and

Joan Bennett Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...

. It is based on the 1939 novel '' Rogue Male'' by

Geoffrey Household Geoffrey Edward West Household (30 November 1900 – 4 October 1988) was a prolific British novelist who specialized in thrillers. He is best known for his novel '' Rogue Male'' ( 1939). Personal life He was born in Bristol; his father Hora ...

and is set in Europe just prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Lang had fled Germany into exile in 1933 and this was the first of his four anti-Nazi films, which include ''

Ministry of Fear ''Ministry of Fear'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang, and starring Ray Milland and Marjorie Reynolds. Based on the 1943 novel by Graham Greene, the film tells the story of a man just released from a mental asylum who finds ...

'', ''

Hangmen Also Die! ''Hangmen Also Die!'' is a 1943 noir war film directed by the Austrian director Fritz Lang and written by John Wexley from a story by Bertolt Brecht (credited as Bert Brecht) and Lang. The film stars Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Brian Donlevy, W ...

'', and ''

Cloak and Dagger "Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common in the Renaissance involving a knife hidden beneath a cloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage, or mystery. Overview In " Th ...

''. It was

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

's first Hollywood film after escaping London following

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. ''Man Hunt'' was one of many films released in 1941 that were considered so pro-British that they influenced neutral members of the U.S. public to sympathize with the British side in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The film portrays Britain's pre-war policy of appeasement with Germany in its willingness to

extradite Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

one of its own citizens without any defense, and its depiction of Nazi agents freely walking about London, impersonating police, and terrorizing civilians. The story was filmed again under its original title, '' Rogue Male'' (1976), by the BBC in a version starring

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

Plot

On July 29, 1939, renowned British

big-game hunter Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for meat, commercially valuable by-products (such as horns/antlers, furs, tusks, bones, body fat/oil, or special organs and contents), trophy/taxidermy, or simply just for recreation ("spo ...

Captain Alan Thorndike slips through the forest undetected near the Berghof,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's residence near

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; the ...

. With Hitler in his

telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a ''reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate po ...

, he pulls the trigger on his unloaded rifle and gives a wave. He ponders a moment, then loads a live round, but is discovered at the last second by a guard, and the shot goes wide. After being beaten, Thorndike is taken to Major Quive-Smith, who is also a devoted hunter and an admirer of Thorndike. Thorndike explains that he was not trying to kill, but did it just for the thrill of going after the biggest game of all. The major is unsure whether to believe him and insists that he sign a confession that he was working for the British government. When Thorndike refuses, he is tortured, but remains steadfast and warns of "questions being asked in high places" if he is killed, as his brother Lord Risborough is a very important diplomat. Quive-Smith arranges to have Thorndike pushed off a cliff to make his death look like suicide. Thorndike survives when his knapsack gets caught in a tree, breaking his fall. He eludes his pursuers and reaches a port. He steals a rowing boat, but is forced to abandon it when a patrol boat comes near. He swims to a Danish ship about to sail for London. British

cabin boy ''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film, directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for '' Late Night with Dav ...

Vaner helps Thorndike hide aboard. The Germans find Thorndike's coat and passport aboard the rowboat and search the nearby ship. Though they find nothing, they place agent Mr. Jones on board using Thorndike's passport to continue searching after the ship departs. Jones is met by German agents in London. Thorndike, mistakenly believing he is safe, casually disembarks and is spotted. He manages to hide in the apartment of a young woman called Jerry Stokes who lends him money so that he can reach his brother. When Lord Risborough tells his brother that the British government, continuing its pre-war policy of appeasement, would have to

him if he were found, Thorndike decides to hide in Africa. Jerry tries to refuse a large reward, leading Lady Risborough to assume that it is payment for other services, but Thorndike insists. He also buys her a new hatpin, as she had lost hers when they first met. She chooses a cheap chromium arrow and insists that Thorndike present it to her. Thorndike likens it to her, saying both are "straight and shiny". By this point, Jerry is in love. Quive-Smith arrives in London to join the hunt. When Thorndike calls on his solicitor, Saul Farnsworthy, the Nazis are once again on his trail. Chased into a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station, Thorndike struggles with Jones, who is killed when he is thrown onto an electrified rail. Thorndike tells Jerry to have Lord Risborough send him a letter in three weeks to the care of the

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Herita ...

post office. Thorndike hides in a cave, but then tries to pick up the letter, alarming the postmistress. Thorndike grabs the letter and retreats back to his cave, where he finds that the letter is from Quive-Smith, who has followed him to his lair. Quive-Smith seals the only entrance and passes Thorndike the confession and a pen through an airhole, threatening to leave him trapped inside. Quive-Smith slides in Jerry's beret with the arrow pin, informing Thorndike that she was thrown out a window to her death when she would not betray him. The Germans found him by using the address that Thorndike had written for Jerry. Badgered by Quive-Smith, Thorndike finally admits that he subconsciously intended to assassinate Hitler. He then agrees to sign the confession. Quive-Smith unblocks the entrance, but waits to shoot Thorndike as he crawls out. However, Thorndike uses his belt, a slat from his bed and a stick to fabricate a bow, using Jerry's pin as the tip of a makeshift arrow, and shoots Quive-Smith through the airhole. When Thorndike emerges, Quive-Smith wounds him before dying. By the time Thorndike recovers, the war has started. Thorndike joins the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

as a

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

crewman. On a mission over Germany, he parachutes out with his hunting rifle.

Cast

as Captain Thorndike *

as Jerry *

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth, bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous chara ...

as Quive-Smith *

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later Jo ...

as Mr. Jones *

as Vaner *

Ludwig Stössel Ludwig Stössel (12 February 1883 – 29 January 1973) was an actor born in Lockenhaus, now Austria, then Hungary. He was one of many Jewish actors and actresses who were forced to flee Germany when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Biography St ...

as the doctor *

Heather Thatcher Heather Thatcher (3 September 1896 – 15 January 1987) was an English actress in theatre and films. Dancer By 1922, Thatcher was a dancer. She was especially noted for her interpretation of an Egyptian harem dance. Her exotic clothes were desig ...

as Lady Risborough *

Frederick Worlock Frederick Worlock (December 14, 1886 – August 1, 1973) was a British-American actor. He is known for his work in various films during the 1940s and 1950s, and as the voice of Horace in ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961). Career On sta ...

as Lord Risborough *

Roger Imhof Frederick Roger Imhof (August 15, 1875 – April 15, 1958) was an American film actor, vaudeville, burlesque and circus performer, sketch writer, and songwriter. Early years Imhof was born in Rock Island, Illinois on April 15, 1875 to Nicholas ...

as Captain Jensen *

Egon Brecher Egon Brecher (18 February 1880 – 12 August 1946) was an Austria-Hungary-born actor and director, who also served as the chief director of Vienna's Stadttheater, before entering the motion picture industry. Early years The son of a professor, ...

as the jeweler *

Lester Matthews Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. Matthews pla ...

as the major *

Holmes Herbert Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman. Early life Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sou ...

as Saul Farnsworthy *

Eily Malyon Eily Malyon (born Eily Sophie Lees-Craston; 30 October 1879 – 26 September 1961) was an English character actress from about 1900 to the 1940s. She had a stage career in Britain, Australia and America before moving to Hollywood to perfo ...

as the postmistress *

Arno Frey Arnold Frey (11 October 1900 – 26 June 1961) was a German actor who portrayed the Nazi villain Dr. Lang in the Frank Buck movie ''Tiger Fangs'' (1943). Biography Frey arrived in the United States in October 1926, according to the New Yor ...

as the police lieutenant * Frederick Vogeding as ambassador *

Wilhelm von Brincken Wilhelm von Brincken (May 27, 1881 – January 18, 1946), also known as Wilhelm L. von Brincken, William Vaughn, William von Brinken, and William Vaughan, was a German diplomat and spy during World War I, who went on to become an American charac ...

as the harbor police chief *

Cyril Delevanti Harry Cyril Delevanti (23 February 1889 – 13 December 1975) was an English character actor with a long career in American films. He was sometimes credited as Syril Delevanti. Early years Delevanti was born in London to the Anglo-Italian mus ...

as the cab driver (uncredited) *

Olaf Hytten Olaf Hytten (3 March 1888 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish actor. He appeared in more than 280 films between 1921 and 1955. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack, while sitting in his car ...

as Piel, Saul's law clerk (uncredited)

Production

''Man Hunt'' became the first

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

to attract the attention of the

Hays Office The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

in the neutral United States.

Joseph Breen Joseph Ignatius Breen (October 14, 1888 – December 5, 1965) was an American film censor with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America who applied the Hays Code to film production.Staff report (December 8, 1965). Joseph I. ...

was alarmed by the script, calling it a "hate film".p.58 Glancey, H. Mark ''When Hollywood Loved Britain'' 1999 Manchester University Press Breen felt that in the

isolationist Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entangl ...

atmosphere of the 1941 U.S., the film showed all Germans as evil, unlike other films that depicted both good non-Nazi Germans as well as evil Nazis. Breen insisted that the Germans should not be characterised as being so brutal and that the office would pass the film only if it would "indicate" brutality rather than show it. As a result, Thorndike's torture was not shown, but the idea was made apparent to the audience.

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

was also worried about Lang's anti-Nazi enthusiasm and banned him from the editing room. However, Lang and his associate Gene Fowler, Jr. secretly edited the film without Zanuck's approval. Isolationists and Nazi sympathizers took issue with the film, along with ''

That Hamilton Woman ''That Hamilton Woman'', also known as ''Lady Hamilton'', is a 1941 black-and-white historical film drama produced and directed by Alexander Korda for his British company during his exile in the United States. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, th ...

'' (1941) and others, describing such films as pro-British propaganda to change American public opinion about going to war. The film features an instrumental version of "

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" is a British romantic popular song written in 1939 and published in 1940, with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin. Setting Berkeley Square is a large leafy square in Mayfair, a part ...

" by

Eric Maschwitz Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE (10 June 1901 – 27 October 1969), sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive. Life and work Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, and desc ...

Manning Sherwin Manning Sherwin (January 4, 1902 – July 26, 1974) was an American composer. Born in Philadelphia, Sherwin attended Columbia University before embarking upon a long career in musical theatre and films. His most enduring composition is the music ...

and

Jack Strachey Jack Strachey (25 September 1894 – 27 May 1972) was an English composer and songwriter Born John Francis Strachey in London on 25 September 1894, he began writing songs in the 1920s for the theatre and the music hall, scoring his first success ...

as a recurring romantic theme. The score's recurring theme for the Nazis was composed by the film's musical director Alfred Newman.

Response

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in June 1941, commented that "''Man Hunt'' rates somewhat above the run of ordinary 'chase' films" projecting "certain subtle psychological overtones", but "it doesn't fulfill its possibilities completely".

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

reviewing a DVD release in the same publication in 2009, commented "as agitprop the film could not be more effective", but "it also has the timeless quality of a work of pure imagination".

Preservation

The

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

preserved ''Man Hunt'' in 2000.

Radio adaptation

''Man Hunt'' was presented on ''

Philip Morris Playhouse ''Philip Morris Playhouse'' is a 30-minute old-time radio dramatic anthology series.Terrace, Vincent (1981), ''Radio's Golden Years: The Encyclopedia of Radio Programs 1930–1960''. A.S. Barnes & Company, Inc. . P. 214. The program " nerally .. ...

'' July 31, 1942, starring Robert Montgomery.

Notes

External links

* * * *
''Man Hunt'' review
at Mystery*File (David L. Vineyard)

''

'', May 15, 2009 (

) {{Authority control 1941 films 1940s thriller films 20th Century Fox films American political thriller films American black-and-white films Films about assassinations Films about hunters Films about Nazi Germany Films based on British novels Films directed by Fritz Lang Films set in 1939 Films set in Bavaria Films set in London 1940s German-language films American World War II films Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler World War II films made in wartime 1940s English-language films 1940s multilingual films American multilingual films