Directed by:
Fritz LangCinematography:
James Wong HoweComposer:
Hanns EislerCast:
Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Nana Bryant, Margaret Wycherly, Dennis O'Keefe, Gene Lockhart, Alexander Granach (more)Plots(1)
Reinhard Heydrich, known as the "Hangman," was mortally injured on May 27, 1942 by a bomb attack and died on June 4. As retribution the Nazis executed thousands of Czechs and Jews, including the entire Czech village of Lidice. The assassins were eventually found and killed by the Nazis. (official distributor synopsis)
Reviews (1)
Guilty pleasure. Historically and with the presented realities, the same travesty as if the Czechs had filmed, for example, the attack on Pearl Harbour in their own conditions. Here, the assassination of Heydrich is not committed by paratroopers, but by a single resistance fighter, a certain Dr. Svoboda. Heydrich is a caricature of evil, and the depiction of martial law and the resistance are almost an unwanted parody. The movie doesn't even focus on the assassination itself; for the vast majority of the runtime, we watch the Czech resistance attempt to blame Heydrich’s killing on an outed confidant, with Ocean’s Eleven-style trickery and subterfuge. The Americans, well… it's all so earnest, so blatantly stupid, but nice. A nice Hollywood recognition of the importance of the Czechoslovak resistance. For the record, this film was a favourite among the top of the SS at the time, especially Reich Protector K.H. Frank.
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