Review of 49th Parallel (1941) by Eric F — 17 Aug 2009

Man, who would of thought that the Nazi road trip genre would never take off?

The duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as the Archers, released this propaganda film in 1941 with intentions to convince the Americans to enter the second World War. The idea was brought to Powell by the British Ministry of Information, expected to "scare the pants off of the (then-neutral) Americans". It was the third film by the duo, an exceedingly silly and shallow production, yet remarkably entertaining. By using the German Nazi's as protagonists, albeit fairly unsympathetic ones, the film certainly gains our interest by looking through the eyes of atypical leads. We, against our better judgment, tend to root for the Nazi's in the face of their opposition, especially as their numbers dwindle.

The film, originally titled "The Invaders", became known as "49th Parallel" as a reference to the Canadian-American border. Near the border, a German U-Boat is attacked after they had been bombing supply ships. Six Nazi crewmen escape from the wreckage, evade capture, and swim their way into Canada. Their intentions are to head to the still-neutral United States and eventually make their way back home to their motherland.

The lieutenants, Hirth (Eric Portman) and Kuhnecke (Raymond Lovell), lead the four sodliers through encounters with a number of different eccentrics. First is a French-Canadian trapper (Laurence Olivier), and then comes a visit to a farming community of German pacifist Hutterite farmers. As the Nazi's make their way through the wilderness, their numbers begin to dwindle - and finally, the chase comes down to the dastardly Lieutenant Hirth and a Canadian Soldier, Andy Brock (Raymond Massey), in a train car.

The performances are all over the place, some exceedingly over-the-top and others robotic. Laurence Olivier, in particular, is quite hilarious in what appears to be an homage to Pepe Le Pew. Eric Portman is delightfully evil, with his vicious sneer etched permanently on his face. Despite some of the cheesy performances, however, the film succeeds in it's ability to create suspense while still giving the audience ample breathing room.

Although the film is certainly not as inventive and thought-provoking as the Archers' later works, I was pleasantly entertained throughout and enjoyed the humanization of the Nazi protagonists. The film is definitely a bit silly, but it's delightful in that same way.