Hangmen Also Die

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Hangmen Also Die

Released Apr 15, 1943

2h 14m

War

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Popcornmeter

87%

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15 Reviews

67%

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250+ Ratings

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovokia, insurgent Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) assassinates the brutal German leader Reinhard Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski). Svoboda escapes with the aid of history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan), but Novotny is then captured, along with 400 other Czechs, through the machinations of Nazi sympathizer Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). The Czech prisoners are then told that if Svoboda does not surrender, they will all be executed.

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TIME Magazine

Although Director Fritz Lang gives this familiar material occasional touches of distinction, the picture still misses Grade A rank.

Feb 25, 2013

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Variety Staff

Variety

From a directorial standpoint this is a triumph for Fritz Lang, who succeeds with singular success in capturing the spirit of the Czech people in the face of the Nazi reign of terror.

Feb 25, 2013

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Theodore Strauss

New York Times

For all of Mr. Lang's finesse, his film is too patient -- it runs well over two hours -- too ponderous to hit its stride as melodrama. Nor does it match in emotional power and conviction its heroic theme.

Rated: 2.5/5

Feb 25, 2013

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Joshua Polanski

Midwest Film Journal

Still inspiring as text, the choir of voices of the oppressed victims of fascism transforms the resistance poetry into a marvelous song that matches nearly anything in Lang’s filmography.

Jul 4, 2024

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T.C. Kemp

Birmingham Post

The picture is brilliantly produced and acted. Theatricalism is notably absent. It is sufficient in a film of this sort to allow the facts to speak -- and here, action is eloquent beyond words.

Feb 19, 2022

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Josephine O'Neill

Daily Telegraph (Australia)

The title makes you expect the usual raw melodrama. Actually, you see a vivid, engrossing film, with brilliant direction by Fritz Lang, and some extraordinarily fine character acting.

Apr 2, 2019

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Martin B

A WWII propaganda movie. The Czech people universally defiant and noble. The Germans cartoonishly evil. The consumers of the movie not the ones living under Nazi rule nor making the sacrifices. A good example of the extent the movie industry would go to support the cause but not very accurate.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/22

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peter w

The theme of collective and individual guilt was held back by indifferent performances by Donlevey and Lee. While they under-played their parts, the Nazis' bravado was over-played resulting in an unbalanced performance that made it more of a propogandist film - an understandable response to world events in 1943.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I am from Prague. Dr. Svoboda was the neighbor of my grandparents. He was a roentgenologist, and he had service just in the time Heydrich was brought into hospital. So yes, he did his roentgen picture. And that was, the rest was taken over by German doctors.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Audience Member

Overlong and occasionally dull, however it deserves serious recognition for being one of the few "Propaganda Films" made in America during WWII that specifically attacks the Nazis and Fascism more broadly for their evil ideas and not just because they were our enemies.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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s r

A Czech perspective on Nazi occupation. Well made, but a little long.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Donlevy stiff. Obvious propaganda film doesn't hold up well, as sympathetic to the cause as I am!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

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Fritz Lang

Director

Brian Donlevy

Dr. Franticek Svoboda

Walter Brennan

Prof. Stephen Novotny

Anna Lee

Nasha Novotny

Gene Lockhart

Emil Czaka

Dennis O'Keefe

Jan Horak

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Hangmen Also Die: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovokia, insurgent Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) assassinates the brutal German leader Reinhard Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski). Svoboda escapes with the aid of history professor Stephen Novotny (Walter Brennan), but Novotny is then captured, along with 400 other Czechs, through the machinations of Nazi sympathizer Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). The Czech prisoners are then told that if Svoboda does not surrender, they will all be executed.

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Fritz Lang, Arnold Pressburger
Screenwriter: John Wexley
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Arnold Pressburger Films
Genre: War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 15, 1943, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 9, 2014
Runtime: 2h 14m

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