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Hangmen Also Die!

"The shot heard 'round the world!"

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, surgeon Dr. Franticek Svoboda, a Czech patriot, assassinates the brutal "Hangman of Europe", Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich, and is wounded in the process. In his attempt to escape, he is helped by history professor Stephen Novotny and his daughter Mascha.

Top Cast

  • Brian Donlevy

    Brian Donlevy

    Dr. Franticek Svoboda

  • Walter Brennan

    Walter Brennan

    Prof. Stephen Novotny

  • Anna Lee

    Anna Lee

    Masha Novotny

  • Gene Lockhart

    Gene Lockhart

    Emil Czaka

  • Dennis O'Keefe

    Dennis O'Keefe

    Jan Horak

  • Margaret Wycherly

    Margaret Wycherly

    Ludmilla Novotny

  • Nana Bryant

    Nana Bryant

    Mrs. Hellie Novotny

  • William Roy

    William Roy

    Boda Novotny

  • Hans Heinrich von Twardowski

    Hans Heinrich von Twardowski

    Reinhard Heydrich

Overview

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, surgeon Dr. Franticek Svoboda, a Czech patriot, assassinates the brutal "Hangman of Europe", Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich, and is wounded in the process. In his attempt to escape, he is helped by history professor Stephen Novotny and his daughter Mascha.

Rating

6.9 / 10
139 Reviews
1 Popular

1 Reviews

  • CinemaSerf
    CinemaSerf
    7 Jun 26, 2022

    Fritz Lang has assembled a really solid cast for this depiction of the Nazi terror inflicted on the Czech people after they decided to rid themselves of their German overlord Reinhard Heydrich. That historical event happens pretty early on, allowing us to focus on just how brutal the regime was, and on just how courageous those left were by continuing to oppose their oppressors despite some fairly arbitrary methods of retribution. The assassin must find shelter, evade detection and learn whom to trust as he watches those around him suffer - regardless of any guilt. Probably my favourite performance comes via the collaborating "Czaka" (Gene Lockhart) who plays the local beer magnate-cum-stooge really quite well. Walter Brennan is likewise effective as the elderly historian professor "Novotny" as is Alexander Granach as the Gestapo man charged with finding the original culprit. It is a little heavy on the dialogue side at times, but the director takes his time to imbue a real sense of the horror faced by the population as lawful lawlessness gradually robbed them of even the most basic of civil liberties, and the darkly lit photography is particularly evocative too. It's been retold once or twice, but to nowhere near the same standard and though largely a work of fiction, is still potent stuff.

Trailers & Clips

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