JoeKulik In general, I don't believe that any government has the right to use a legitimate Art Form, including Cinema, as a vehicle for propaganda, but most times I can live with it. This film, however, is S-O-O-O Filled with trite, "over the top", and even laughable propaganda that it comes across more as a Farcical Comedy rather than a Suspense Drama for me here in 2016.So, Thorndyke aims a rifle at Hitler for "sport" rather than because he intended to kill him? (LOL - Give me a break, OK??) Why the Germans would expend all the time & resources to track down this one guy all over England is never made clear, & is extremely unrealistic. That Thorndyke never acts on the fact that Jerry is obviously in love with him comes across as him being Just TOO Stupid to realize how she feels, rather than any chivalry or gallantry on his part. Only an IDIOT would've allowed Jerry to stay in that same apartment after he knew that the Nazis tracked him there. The outrageous ending, with Thorndyke literally deserting his military unit so that he can now hunt Hitler "for real" is from Deep Outer Space, or even from an alternate Bizarro Universe. Thorndyke living in a cave while wearing a suit & tie... Well, you get the idea.If I was a Brit watching this in 1941, I would've been worried for my country because of FOOLS like Thorndyke defending it, rather than to be inspired to feel Patriotic. On the other hand, it might have been a "wash" since the Germans were depicted as being Equally Moronic.I still gave it a "6" though, because it was an entertaining & suspenseful film, if you sent your brain on vacation while viewing it, that is.Although this film is interesting for several reasons, overall I found it to be an insult to my intelligence. ... [email protected]

ofpsmith I'm a big Fritz Lang fan, but I like many people think that Lang's American films don't hold up nearly as well as his German films. Man Hunt is my favorite of Lang's American films. Whilst I still don't think that Man Hunt is anywhere near as good as M or Metropolis, I do find it better than Scarlett Street and The Woman in the Window. Man Hunt introduces our main character in without a doubt the best way possible. Alan Thorndikde (Walter Pidgeon) is a British hunter who has Adolf Hitler in his gun sight. That has to be the best way to introduce a main character, just showing that he's about to kill Hitler. And we know nothing about Alan. We don't know his personality, we don't know what he does, or even who he is. We don't need to. We just need to see that he's about to kill Hitler to know he's the hero. Well done Lang. Just imagine. Inception would have been very different if it started with Leonardo DiCaprio killing Joseph Stalin. But anyways, Alan unfortunately does not kill Hitler because an SS soldier sees him. They rough him up a bit before presenting Alan to Major Quive-Smith (George Sanders). Quive-Smith is a Nazi who is willing to let Alan go providing he signs a document saying that he works for the British government. Alan refuses so Quive-Smith tries to kill him. Alan survives and the chase is on from there. Alan runs from these Nazis with the help of Jerry Stokes (Joan Bennett) in his own country. Because it's set in the United Kingdom, Bennett plays a British girl with a pretty good cockney British accent so if you haven't seen Bennett in any other movie before you might be fooled that Bennett is not American. Sanders on the other hand doesn't even try to put on a German accent while playing the German Quive-Smith. You can still tell that he's an obvious Englishman. This doesn't mean that Sanders is bad though. In fact all the acting in this movie is good. This movie is good. Go check it out.

arijit-paul The movie had all the elements which could have made it one of the greatest thriller of all time. Daring assassination attempt which could lead a continent into a war, thrilling escapades, cunning secret service agents following the trails of the wanted. Lang with his natural brilliance in this genre captivates the audience from the very first scene itself. However, unfortunately the taut suspense that the movie builds slacks through the introduction of the romantic angle in the movie. The romantic interludes slows the pace and acts as a dampener. If the screenplay could have pared these excesses of romantic interludes or could have integrated the same in a better way with the main narration of the film, this film could have become, as I said in the beginning, one of the greatest thrillers of all time.

Michael_Elliott Man Hunt (1941) *** (out of 4) Entertaining but severely flawed thriller about big-game hunter Alan Thorndike (Walter Pidgeon) who crosses over to Germany and hunts down Hitler. He has the evil man in his rifle range but when he pulls the trigger it's a blank. He's eventually captured and beaten but he swears that he had no intent on actually killing the man. He manages to escape but Major Quive Smith (George Sanders) is soon on his trail as is a hired killer (John Carradine). It's important to remember that at the time of this film's release American had yet to join WW2 so there's a lot of talk here, which is clearly meant to build up spirits for when our country did join. The ending is certainly preaching but this isn't the downside of the film. The real downside happens when Thorndike meets a young woman (Joan Bennett) who insists on following him on his journey. Up until this point the film has some nice tension building up and after her character is out of the way we get back to that tension but I must say that this added romance was downright bad and really kept this film from being much better. The biggest problem I had is that I could never make heads or tails of why it was included in the first place. There's really no "love" story being told and there's really no point in having her along for the ride as it appears the main reason she's here is for comedy relief and there aren't any laughs. Her character is so annoying that you can't help but wish she'd just go away and why she was given such a big part in the story is beyond me. Outside of that we're left with a pretty good thriller with some excellent performances and tight direction. Pidgeon is perfect as the hero who refuses to sell out his country to save his own life. I thought the character went through quite a few changes in the film and the actor perfectly handled the material. Sanders easily steals the film as the evil SOB tracking him down and you can't help but feel as if you're hearing someone who really was behind the evil wishes of Hitler. Sanders is so cold and stern in the part that you can't help but love to hate him. Carradine offers up his typical fine performance and we get Roddy McDowall, Frederick Worlock and Roger Imhof in nice supporting bits. Bennett didn't work for me but this had more to do with the screenplay and not her performance. The final moments take place inside a cave and makes for some wonderful tension but I won't ruin what happens. MAN HUNT is certainly worth watching due to the cast and Lang's direction but I can't help but feel a little disappointed that it's not better. Had the film stayed focused on the tension and left the romance somewhere else then we'd have had a much better film.