30 Dec Hangmen Also Die
(1943) Inspiration for this movie was the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking Nazi who terrorized the Czech people and was nicknamed “The Hangman.”
It reminded me of a silent movie, and yes, the Austrian director Fritz Lang was famous for his silent films.
Hangmen Also Die, WWII Movie directed by Fritz Lang
Particularly when I see a film of this decade I like to look up the New York Time’s original review. The reviewer from 1943 agreed with me. This movie was about an hour too long.
I did appreciate this early depiction of the horrors of the Gestapo rule. The movie came out before the real story was known about who killed “The Hangman.” Czech resistance fighters who returned from Britain to carry out the mission. The Nazi reprisals were brutal and widespread, including the total destruction of the village of Lidice.
Update: August 2015: A new movie, Anthropoid, named after the real-life Operation in which Heydrich was attacked, is in the making.
Related Post: Hitler’s Madman
Hangmen Also Die on amazon.com
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