Hangmen Also Die!
Hangmen Also Die! is a 1943 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 Brian Donlevy, with Walter Brennan, Anna Lee, and Gene Lockhart, and Dennis O'Keefe in support. Alexander Granach has a showy role as a Gestapo detective, and Hans Heinrich von Twardowski has a cameo as Reinhard Heydrich. Hanns Eisler composed the Academy Award nominated score, and James Wong Howe was cinematographer.
Plot
In Prague, during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, surgeon Dr. František Svoboda, a member of the Czech resistance, assassinates the brutal "Hangman of Europe", Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich. Before he can escape the scene his getaway car is discovered, forcing his planned safe house to reject him. When a stranger, Mascha, deliberately misdirects nearby German soldiers searching for him, he seeks out her home as a sanctuary, under an alias. Her father is Stephen Novotny, a respected history professor whom the Nazis have banned from teaching. He realizes Svododa must be the assassin, but is willing to risk everything to hide him.
Cast
- Alexander Granach
- Anna Lee
- Arno Frey
- Brian Donlevy
- Bud Jamison
- Byron Foulger
- Charles Middleton
- Chester Conklin
- Claire McDowell
- Dennis O'Keefe
- Dwight Frye
- Eddie Kane
- Eddy Waller
- Edward Earle
- Emmett Lynn
- Emmett Vogan
- Fern Emmett
- Frances Morris
- Frank Reicher
- Fritz von Twardowski
- Gene Lockhart
- George Irving
- Guy Wilkerson
- Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
- Harry C. Bradley
- John Abbott
- Jonathan Hale
- Kurt Kreuger
- Lester Dorr
- Lionel Stander
- Louis V. Arco
- Ludwig Donath
- Margaret Wycherly
- Nana Bryant
- Philip Merivale
- Philip Van Zandt
- Reinhold Schünzel
- Richard Alexander
- Sarah Padden
- Steve Clemente
- Tonio Selwart
- Walter Brennan
- William Farnum
- William Haade
More details
| author | Bertolt Brecht Fritz Lang John Wexley |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Prague |
| director | Fritz Lang |
| editor | Gene Fowler Jr. |
| events | World War II |
| genre | drama |
| keywords | ban betray bloodshed czech resistance fifth column fifth-columnist german soldier getaway car meet nazi occupation nazi occupation of czechoslovakia reichsprotektor reinhard heydrich safe house search teach |
| musicBy | Hanns Eisler |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic or Comedy Score Academy Award for Best Sound |
| producer | Arnold Pressburger |
| productionCompany | Arnold Pressburger Films |
| publisher | United Artists |
| theme | war |